The Dutch National Museum of Antiquities brings the ancient world to life. Age old civilisations such as Egypt, the Classical World, the Near East and the Netherlands in prehistoric, Roman and medieval times. The museum recently celebrated it’s 200th anniversary with a complete rebranding, provided by Studio Dumbar. The extensive website, which also functions as a digital archive for the complete collection needed to be restructured and designed to fit this new identity. I started with mapping out the current content of the website, analyzing the structure, pages and views combining them with the wishes and parameters set out by the client. With this I created a strong but simplified wireframe design that visualized the possibilities, and clarified the problems and “hiccups” we would encounter during the design phase.

Studio Dumbar’s newly created identity combines a certain graphic antiquity with modern flare. The typeface is modern with hints of baroque drama, echoing the historic shift in graphic style that took place during the early 20th century photo setting phase. This authentic, historic yet modern mood is reinforced by the colorful geometric graphic overlay’s, creating a podium for storytelling that sets the right mood. History, viewed through our modern eyes.