DIGITAL MAP
ARCHIVE
A Legacy of
Showing the World
National Geographic
Museum of Exploration
Museum of Exploration
24-minute multimedia experience visualizing 138 years of mapping history
at National Geographic.
︎︎︎Challenge
1.
Disconnected Archives
2.
Storied Brand
Reputation
3.
Early-Stage Museum Context
National Geographic's cartographic legacy spans more than a century. Until recently, it lived largely in offsite archives and in scattered exhibitions, disconnected from how a contemporary audience experiences the history of the storied institution.
As the Society prepared to open its new flagship venue, the Museum of Exploration, it needed a platform to give this legacy a permanent presence, one that did not require a dedicated viewing but could instead live alongside other exhibitions and continue to evolve as the institution's collections grew.
As Senior Interactive Designer and Cartographer, I translated decades of institutional material into a single immersive multimedia experience for the Archives Space, one tasked to communicate the full arc of National Geographic's history as a pioneer in showing the world in new and innovative ways.
As the Society prepared to open its new flagship venue, the Museum of Exploration, it needed a platform to give this legacy a permanent presence, one that did not require a dedicated viewing but could instead live alongside other exhibitions and continue to evolve as the institution's collections grew.
As Senior Interactive Designer and Cartographer, I translated decades of institutional material into a single immersive multimedia experience for the Archives Space, one tasked to communicate the full arc of National Geographic's history as a pioneer in showing the world in new and innovative ways.
︎︎︎ Opportunity
1.
Synthesize Archives into Narrative Arc
2.
Articulate Institutional Mission
3.
Design Experience
to Grow
Over Time
In close collaboration with the Society's archival teams, c-suite leadership, and knowledge experts, we identified the central idea that would tie the experience: A Legacy of Showing the World.
Rather than spotlight isolated artifacts from the archive, we would showcase evolution. Across distinct artifacts, we would reinforce an institutional throughline of mapping the world with new techniques, new data, and new storytelling methods.
The system needed to be evergreen and modular by design. The museum operates with a phased exhibit rollout planned on multi-year timelines.
The experience would need to grow as new collections and event-specific content came online, allowing the Archive to grow alongside the Museum rather than age into a dated installation.
︎︎︎Methods
1.
Synthesize Archives into Narrative Arc
2.
Articulate Institutional Mission
3.
Design to Grow Over Time
We built this narrative around five signature subjects the Society has mapped repeatedly over time: Mount Everest, Bird Migrations, the Moon, Africa, and the United States.
This allowed us to imagine the archive not as a fixed record, but as a representation of the organization’s mission of pushing technology forward to show the world in new ways.
The system needed to be evergreen and modular by design. Maps, subjects, and the regions featured in the experience can all be swapped or expanded as new exhibits and collections came online.
Archive selection was conducted in close collaboration with senior and legacy leadership at National Geographic.
︎︎︎Outcome
1.
Built Custom Graphic Interface
2.
Stood Up 3D Asset Library
3.
Bespoke Built Motion Graphics
4.
Long-Term Engagement Strategy
We designed a custom graphic system to serve as the experience's interface. A 3D globe opens the piece and travels between regions of the planet as it introduces each subject. A carousel of maps then establishes the full set of five subjects as a single connected collection. When arrived at a subject, the experience transitions to a submenu of its individual map artifacts, each labeled with its year of publication and title.
The completed experience runs twenty-nine minutes end to end, a runtime calibrated specifically for ambient viewing and built so visitors can enter and exit at any point without losing the narrative thread.
Delivery spanned the full production pipeline, including a ground-up 3D asset library, a full-resolution 3D model of the Moon, and hand-tuned animation across the globe, carousel, and submenu system.
The Digital Map Archive now anchors the Archives Space at the Museum of Exploration and is sequenced to flow directly into a companion film, giving the Society's cartographic legacy a
permanent, evolving home within its most important venue.
︎︎︎Details
Sector:
Cultural Institutions, Museums,
Media & Publishing
Services:
Experience Design, Creative Strategy,
3D Production, Interactive Systems
Location:
National Geographic Museum of Exploration
1145 17th St. NW
Washington D.C, USA
Toolkit:
Figma
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Blender
Collaborators, Partners:
Martin Gamache, Chief Cartographer
Alex Tait, The Geographer
John Cullum, Senior Producer
Figma
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Blender
Collaborators, Partners:
Martin Gamache, Chief Cartographer
Alex Tait, The Geographer
John Cullum, Senior Producer