The judges said:
From the first chord, this delightful educational site tells you you're embarking on an adventure. Its mix of music, color, and bold graphics engages the
viewer while the Flash zooms, user interactivity, QTVR object movies, voice-overs and videos blend seamlessly with the interface. And speaking of interface!
The site's spatial organization is exemplary: content is divided into the four stages of the life cycle, each beginning with a single bold, declarative sentence
onscreen. Yet while that sentence holds our gaze, we are simultaneously within one click of fifteen other links capable of taking us either deeper into the
topic at hand or anywhere else in the program. It sounds like a nightmare-but the information is so clearly organized and the hierarchies so exquisitely built
into the interface that you only focus on what is of immediate interest to you, as your attention is led deeper down the paths of the various content chapters.
"Brilliant spatial organization," "a perfect interface" our judges said. And the content was every bit as good. Rather than pretending to be a
comprehensive collection of African art, Cycles uses the specimens of a single Museum's collection to communicate broader truths about life, ritual, and cultural
specificity... and then to relate those truths to the lives of American audiences today, life stage by life stage and ritual by ritual. In the end, we have learned
not only about Africa and these specific objects, but about our own cultural relativity as well.
The producers said:
Cycles: African Art and the Human Experience is an online interactive exhibit developed by Terra Incognita for the Indianapolis Museum of Art that explores important
themes in African art using a wide variety of media: works of art, curatorial commentary, historical and cultural context, photography and music. The site is
intended as an educational resource for Indiana 7th grade students and their teachers in their studies of Africa. Rather than dividing the continent by region,
the Web site is organized into four sections focusing on youth, adulthood, leadership and ancestors. Within each section, visitors explore features of African
culture such as unity, diversity, and dynamism. Visitors can also learn about works of art featured on the Web site in a virtual interactive gallery. Works can
be sorted by geographic location, time period or theme and visitors can "zoom in" on details.
Culled from the IMA's extensive collection of African art, curators and educators carefully chose works for Cycles to illustrate its overarching concept—the circle
of life. Developer Terra Incognita ingeniously designed a bold and engaging interface that further reinforced this concept. When content, form, and functionality are
seamlessly interwoven to support a theme, the project comes alive.
Multimedia / PDA Tour
The judges said:
This bilingual handheld gallery tour successfully addresses dilemmas faced by those hoping to develop mobile digital experiences for museum visitors. The screen
graphics are elegant, as the navigation follows the museum's own narrative stream, tracking Van Gogh's creative career through its successive geographic locations.
Initially, the PDA acts as an enhanced audio tour: specimen paintings from each locale are described in depth, with the screen image grayed back—the viewers
are, after all, in the presence of the original artwork as they listen. After the initial commentary, additional options are offered through a visual menu, which
presents Vincent's letters, drawings, and related images onscreen. Flash mini-documentaries address important and/or notorious aspects of the Van Gogh myth: his
love life, the "Ear Story," etc. Thanks in part to the monographic nature of this museum, the producers are able to deliver a new form of audio-visual narrative,
one that you hold in your hand and refer to alternately by ear alone or with the eyes as well, as you stroll through the gallery or sit down to reflect before
moving on.
The producers said:
The Van Gogh Museum multimedia tour was conceived with the aim of developing an innovative approach to content design that would reflect the museum's identity.
The program (interface design) is arranged chronologically, to create a journey through Van Gogh's life and work that unfolds as the visitor navigates the museum.
The target audience is primarily young and urban, so we knew in designing the program that most of the users would be reasonably comfortable with interactive
technology. The content is designed to be dynamic and multi-layered, and to allow the user many opportunities to navigate information according to their own
interests.
We learned a number of interesting lessons in the course of producing this project. The interface design sets a new standard for multimedia tours in major museums.
Rather than a simple numbered keypad or menu interface, the basic architecture of the tour centers around a timeline that users can scroll backward and forward as
they follow Van Gogh's biography. The interface required a high level of visual design, with images and graphics combined and layered, often using levels of
transparency.
All Antenna Audio's multimedia productions aim to integrate audio throughout the program, as the "go-between" medium that allows us to guide the user's
attention between the screen-based content and the works of art in the museum. The design of the screen-based content was to be beautiful and consistent with the
look and feel of the museum, and to rely on audio to engage visitors directly with the works of art.
The judges said:
This site, developed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, is an ambitious and creative introduction to the considerations behind good architectural
design. Unlike most educational sites, it goes beyond didactic overviews and invites users to participate actively by choosing a client and a site and designing a
structure to suit them. There are both low- and high-bandwidth implementations: the latter uses 3D modeling effectively and is bound to appeal to its target teen
audience. The site provides users with step-by-step walk-through instructions simulating the design process, and allows users to play multiple scenarios. You can
respond to clients as an architect would, learn about their differing needs, or craft your own inventions. These client examples help shape the ideas in a personal
and professional way. Finally, you can post projects to the site for others to view. ArchitectStudio3D is a creative learning experience with a lighthearted tone and
interactivity that fully realizes its goals with flair. Although created for ages 11 - 14, it will be useful to people of all ages.
The producers said:
With Architect Studio 3D, youth audiences act as architects, using their imaginations to create their own design solutions to problems posed by clients and
environmental sites. Students visualize spatial concepts as they gain awareness of the design process and knowledge of the techniques employed by architects.
Developed to serve an audience that may have limited opportunities for learning about basic architectural and spatial concepts, the Architect Studio 3d site will reach
students without the ability or means to travel to Frank Lloyd Wright sites or our educational programs.
The site's Design Studio makes the jump from "Web site" to "software application" by offering sophisticated architectural design and visualization
tools using Flash, Director and Shockwave 3D. We faced many decisions when defining the Design Studio's features and toolset. How many choices and controls could we
offer without overwhelming novice users (recognizing Jakob Nielson's notion of "ephemeral applications")? On the other hand, at what point would features and
tools become too constrained to provide a satisfying creative experience? Careful attention to learning goals and user scenarios were critical in keeping our eyes on
the prize. As a result, formative testing proved that our final design struck a happy balance between complexity, creativity, and usability.
The judges said:
The Metropolitan's Timeline of Art History describes itself as a "chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world,
as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection." It is a veritable gold mine of information, consisting of thousands of pages spanning
the cultures of twenty-two millennia and six continents, the distillation of countless hours of scholarship on the part of America's most prestigious and encyclopedic
museum of art. As such, the site represents an unparalleled resource for Web surfers worldwide.
The producers said:
The Timeline of Art History Web site (www.metmuseum.org/toah) is a presentation of world art history from prehistory to the present, featuring the Met's permanent
collection. The Timeline contains more than 300 chronological narratives, 800 thematic essays, and 5,000 illustrations of works of art, comparative maps, images,
external links, and comprehensive indexes. In both scope and quality, it is a master resource for curators, conservators, librarians, and educators, and is visited
daily by more than 8,000 users including scholars, students, and teachers from around the world.
Video/Film
The judges said:
This video introduces a broad, risky topic of what it is to be Southern. While the video medium is a traditional one for museums, this one pushes familiar boundaries
by using techniques that make viewers active participants and exemplify the central theme of unity within diversity. It does this through a mixture of sound,
imagery, editing rhythm, and above all, visual texture. The images are of high quality, and the evocative sound design reinforces the message. It gives a touching
message about common threads of humanity woven into a diverse culture.
The producers said:
The Place I Know: Visions Of The South is intended as the orientation film for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans. It introduces museum attendees to the
cultural and historic elements that make Southern Art unique while at the same time a vital part of the country's culture in general. Southern Art is many things,
gathering influence and inspiration from many directions, but it is, above all, American Art.
The production defines and contextualizes Southern Art — works that are found in a museum are inspired by what is around us, by what we know. Using documentary
footage (Betacam, MiniDV, DVCam, Super 8 film), archival footage and photographs, and art work from the Ogden Museum collection, this production visually binds
together images from throughout the American South. Graphically composed on a 16x9 palette, elements interact and respond to each other — image building
on image — so that Southern Art is understood as not one thing, but a collection of many things. And it is not just in a museum. As the narrator says,
"Just look around, it's everywhere".
GOLD: Cycles: African Life through Art
BRONZE: Architect Studio 3D
HONORABLE MENTION: Timeline of Art History