The Smithsonian Institute:
Becoming Visible
Original high-quality hand-drawn illustrative pieces that animate and showcases the lives, efforts, innovativeness, and accomplishments of five women in America, whose contributions took part in building The United States.
These original pieces were created for both the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum's premiere interactive website and multimedia video introduction.
Smithsonian museum curators narrate the five stories alongside the introduction narrated by actress, designer, and producer Rosario Dawson.
Since its launch, the museum is building toward a permanent home on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In the meantime, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum is continuing the critical work of bringing out women’s stories from under the cover of darkness and into the light, by creating incredible digital experiences that engage audiences nationwide.
Team
Visual Designer, Corey Hemingway
Designer, Jamie Bourne
Design Lead, Corey Jones
UX Designer, Avery Timmons
Developer Lead, KJ Monahan
Role
Illustration, Motion, Visual Design
Tools
Procreate (Software)
Adobe After Effects
Timeline
October 2023 - November 2023
Official Site
https://www.becomingvisible.si.edu/
Press Release:
First Digital Exhibition Launch
Background
As the team Visual Designer working on the premiere interactive website of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, I was given the significant and incredible task of creating striking illustrations for an immersive storytelling digital experience.
This project was on an extremely tight deadline, there was little to no room for either mistakes nor a comprehensive iterative process. To achieve the best deliverables possible in the quickest way we knew how, my team and I asked strategic and direct questions. The line of questioning that was asked in our discussions:
“What should be included?
“What can we include?”
“What can we create?”
“What should the illustrations look like? Hand-drawn or Vector?”
“How many illustrations will be presented on the website?”
“How many should be included in the video?”
Launching a premiere project is always daunting as there isn’t typically a roadmap to refer to; but we understood our client, understood our users, and understood how important this premiere event was, as it could set precedence for the future of digital exhibitions at the Smithsonian.
Asking the necessary questions was the easy part. Now that we had our answers and a better understanding of the goal, it was time to start the design process.
Visual Design Approach
The Process
Typically, when handling illustrative-based projects, starting off the project with some pen-and-paper action is top of mind. However, in this particular scenario, time was of the essence. A non-existent website had to be storyboarded, illustrated, fully engineered/developed, and delivered live in one and a half months. Just in time to commemorate International Women’s Day.
After some intentionally limited rounds of rough ideas and semi-rough sketches, high-quality illustrative pieces began to come out of the woodwork. Every illustration presented on the website and the introductory video represents the stories and the innovativeness of each woman featured.
Over twenty high-quality illustrative pieces are placed in a manner that elevates the storytelling and narration being shown throughout the introductory video, while a select, chosen few appear on the official site itself.
I feel honored to have been trusted to illustrate such visually strong and compelling pieces leading the launch of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
Dr. Jill Biden and Lynda Carter spoke at the launch event.
“Inside Look: “Becoming Visible” Digital Exhibition
Coverage appeared in The New York Times and The Art Newspaper.
Impact & Press
The Smithsonian’s Becoming Visible digital exhibition provided an eloquent and compelling platform for the unheard, ensuring that the stories of women who had been overlooked or forgotten were brought to light.
Its innovative use of digital media garnered press attention and expanded access to women’s history for a wide audience.