National Portrait Gallery

Project Overview

Working to tight deadlines and content restrictions, the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) requires a development partner who is able to react quickly and dependably to their changing needs. Meeting these specifications, Link has supplied creative, design and technical support to the NPG since 2001.

The NPG website is updated monthly and kept up to date with online previews of past, current and future exhibitions. The design and development of exhibition subsites and portrait features is an ongoing requirement, with sites needing to be provided for each major exhibition.

In April 2008 the NPG closed its doors, ahead of relocating to its new premises in late 2008. This meant that for a period of approximately six months the NPG website needed to be the primary public face of the gallery. During this time the website also needed to be redeveloped and redesigned in order for a new refreshed site to be launched in conjunction with the opening of the new space.

Our Solution

While maintaining the gallery's only public connection presented a challenge in itself, more confronting was the idea of having to redesign and develop a website for an organisation that was not only temporarily homeless but was also completely rethinking its organisational structure. In order to predict tools and functionality staff would require, Link conducted interviews with key staff and held weekly meetings where new developments and the evolving organisational structure were addressed.

A key component of the new site development and of the ongoing work with the NPG is understanding and interpreting the artworks and exhibitions that are published on the website. Whether it is capturing the feel of an entire exhibition or developing an interactive interpretation of a particular portrait, a complete appreciation of the subject, artist and medium must exist in order to portray the content in an online environment. Link collaborates closely with the management and curatorial staff at the NPG to ensure that the presentation of all online content represents the artistic nature of the work and is consistent with the style with which the Gallery presents itself to its worldwide audience.

Drawing on our comprehensive understanding of the NPG, Link sought to design and develop an intuitive, attractive, flexible and functional site that introduced a tailored Content Management System to suit the NPG's unique creative requirements.

Link further initiated the design and development of seven Touch Screens to be made available to NPG visitors. Providing a reconfigured version of the full NPG website to suit the touch screen environment, the work has involved changing menus, restyling links and removing external links, all serving to increase the 'touch' area. Link was also tasked with creating a new screensaver utilising video web cameras in all screens to show live footage of visitors as they pass by, almost like a living portrait.

In regard to the NPG's ongoing online projects, Link determines technical solutions that present the artworks appropriately and provide users with a rich and accessible experience. For portrait features, we use technology such as Adobe Flash to bring the portrait to life and demonstrate aspects of the artefact from various perspectives. Exhibition subsites are generally developed in HTML and are heavily influenced by the theme of the exhibition itself, while both video and audio solutions have also been adopted on a number of these projects.

Successful Outcome

In early December 2008 the new National Portrait Gallery building opened to the public. Ahead of the opening celebrations, Link completed the major redevelopment of the Gallery website in November 2008.

Thanks to our ongoing monitoring and interview process we were able to predict, design and build a new NPG site that suits the galleries new look and structure. The new site features an accessible design which keeps the focus on the portraits. The management system which drives the site content has been substantially reworked to include modules that manage blogs, resources, videos, narratives and the stunning full screen images seen on the home page. The in-house Touch Screens enhance the visitor experience and provide another means for the Gallery to connect with the public through its website.

Since 2002 Link has produced more than 30 exhibition subsites and 20 portrait features for the Gallery. We have also developed several DVDs capturing artist interviews and visitor's perceptions.

Our broad understanding of the Gallery; from its vision and mission through to the specifics of running the space and outreach programs, enables us to consult on a number of key business areas including marketing, publications, public relations, media, education, public programs and membership programs. This valuable consultation even extends to providing advice on exhibition design and online curatorial matters.

Link's work for the NPG has received Museums Australia Publication Design Awards (MAPDA's) on four occasions. Most recently the new NPG site and 'Animated' subsite each received 'Highly Commended' nods at the 2009 MAPDA's. In 2003 a 'Highly Recommended' Award was presented to Steven De Costa for his work on the Barry Humphries exhibition Rarely Everage. In 2005, Michael Caruana received the 'Best Website Design' for his work on the Masters of Fare exhibition and in 2006 he again received the same award for his work on the Glossy 2 subsite.