Origin Studios and media partner Orange Sprocket have created a virtual exhibit for "Beaumont-Hamel and the Trail of the Caribou" that extends and complements the exhibit in The Rooms' Royal Newfoundland Regiment Gallery.
We didn't want to make just another page-turner website – essentially a book on the web – but rather we wanted to create something that rewards visitor exploration. We also wanted something that used the visual design language of the actual exhibition, which we designed (check out the project here).
The grid pattern of the graphics in the physical exhibit was repeated in the virtual exhibit. The result is a website that encourages exploration through the juxtaposition of images and artifacts.
The website, which is organized more or less like the actual exhibit, relies heavily on images to attract and move visitors through the site. Large and small images, blocks of text on coloured backgrounds, and media features populate horizontally scrolling sections. Visitors can peruse the virtual exhibit much like they would walk through the real exhibit. They can stop and click on every photo, every artifact, and every text block to find out the who, what, where, when, and sometimes why. They can scroll through the site clicking on what catches their eye, selectively engaging with content based on their interests. Or, they can just skim the exhibit, taking in images and text as they scroll by.
Visitors are presented can click every block for more information, click on just what interests them, or simply scroll through the website.
Related Links
Beaumont-Hamel and the Trail of the Caribou: Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at War and at Home 1914-1949
http://theroomsgreatwarexhibit.com
The Rooms Great War Exhibit Online at The Rooms
https://www.therooms.ca/exhibits/the-rooms-great-war-exhibit-online-0
"The Rooms launches First World War online exhibition and virtual tour," The Telegram (April 13, 2017)
http://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/2017/4/13/the-rooms-launches-first-world-war-online-exhibition-and-virtual.html#