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Video description: Visitors in a gallery space discuss an interactive touch display showing five illustrated portraits, watch projected animations, and then rotate imagery of a historical rifle by swiping with one finger on a touchscreen.

Museum of the American Revolution

Museum of the American Revolution

The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia highlights the history of the American Revolution through immersive exhibits and interactive displays, bringing to life the struggle for independence. Bluecadet partnered with the museum from its inception, designing the logo, website, fundraising materials, and an award-winning educational app, culminating in a suite of permanent exhibits.

Project Details

Services

  • Concept Development
  • UX & Visual Design
  • Original Filming
  • Content Strategy & Development
  • Animation & Motion Graphics

Posters of Protest

Historic ephemera through a modern lens

"Posters of Protest: 1765-1774" deciphers the historic handbills and broadsides that inspired colonists to become revolutionaries. The interface combines a large multi-user timeline with a document explorer. Visitors can click, scroll, zoom, and explore annotated documents, learning firsthand how these handbills and broadsides both foretold and created the impetus for revolution.

A young girl interacts with a digital touchscreen exhibit, displaying historical content, while an adult watches

Video description: Visitors explore an immersive touchscreen exhibit on pre-Revolutionary resistance, covering the Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, and Sons and Daughters of Liberty.

Mapping the Revolution

Tracing the rise of a movement

This experience allows visitors to explore the viewpoints of would-be revolutionaries before the first conflict. Using custom illustrations, the interactive presents historical characters on a map of colonial America. Visitors can then scroll through a timeline to see how the revolution spread and how everyday citizens became important revolutionaries.

A man interacts with a digital touchscreen display showing a map, possibly historical, highlighting areas in Virginia and North Carolina with marked locations. The scene is dimly lit, creating a focused atmosphere.

Video description: A visitor scrubs a 1776 timeline on a touchscreen map showing where towns declared support for independence before the Continental Congress voted in July.

African American Stories

Illustrating rich, untold histories

The African American experience during the Revolutionary War is often misunderstood, simplified, or disregarded. With limited visual documentation, we collaborated with leading scholars to create "African American Stories," vividly illustrated, branching, animated tales of five real African Americans who lived through the War.

Through interactive narratives, visitors come face to face with the ill-documented decisions, perils, and complexities that African Americans faced during the war for independence.

Illustrated portraits of five historical figures from Virginia, 1781, each with a distinct expression. They represent diverse stories and roles: Eve, London, Jack, Deborah, and Andrew, each depicted with era-appropriate clothing, reflecting determination and resilience.

Video description: An interactive exhibit kiosk presents five enslaved African Americans — Eve, London, Jack, Deborah, Andrew — and invites visitors to explore their individual stories.

A woman and a child interact with a touchscreen display in a dimly lit museum. She points at the screen, engaging the curious child beside her.
A watercolor painting depicts a historical scene with a woman in a bonnet at the center, surrounded by people. A man plays a banjo.

Video description: A montage of watercolor-style illustrations that depict African Americans who lived during the Revolutionary War.

The Weapons Explorer

Zooming in on the details

From muskets to intricately-etched powder kegs, the weapons of the American Revolution are rich in detail and story. Unfortunately, much of what makes these artifacts fascinating is hard to convey when presented en masse on a gallery wall. We designed the Weapons Explorer to let visitors explore these details.

An ornate, ancient sword with a lion head hilt displayed horizontally on a black background, labeled 'Lion Head Saber.'

Video description: An exhibit kiosk lets visitors zoom into a Revolutionary War-era Lion Head Saber, rotating and magnifying the ornate gilt lion pommel in extreme close-up detail.

Display of rifles, swords, and hats in a museum exhibit titled "Arms of Independence, 1775-1783." Central painting depicts a battle scene. Dimly lit, historical ambiance.
A carved powder horn against a black background features intricate engravings, including text and decorative patterns, showcasing historical craftsmanship.

In collaboration with the museum’s curator, we created a custom rig setup for the camera, which enabled us to shoot every angle with precision and in high-resolution. Our process balanced a commitment to capturing and presenting the visual subtleties of each artifact, while strictly maintaining the security of every collection item.

A film set with professional camera equipment and lighting. The scene includes a camera on a tripod, bright lights, and reflective surfaces.

Video description: Behind the scenes view of a studio crew operating a specialty precision camera rig with Zeiss lenses to create the high-resolution artifact scans seen in the exhibit kiosks.

A studio filled with camera equipment and screens. A person fine-tunes a firearm under bright lights, focused on a monitor showing a close-up shot.

Animating the Revolution

Immersion sets the stage

Ambient projections and animations fill the museum’s galleries with immersive context. "Musket Blasts" uses projection mapping to bring a seminal battle to life. Other animations add quotes, context, energy, and texture to the visitor journey.

A group of people stand before an illuminated mural titled "The Shot Heard Round the World." The scene depicts a historical battle.

Video description: Visitors watch a large projected, and animated, engraving of the Battle of Concord titled "The Shot Heard Round the World," with musket smoke rising over the bridge.

Awards & Press

  • SEGD Design Awards

    2018 Finalist

  • Comm Arts

    2017 Interactive Annual Featured Project

  • The New York Times

    Project opening featured in piece, “A New Museum of the American Revolution, Warts and All”

  • Philadelphia Inquirer

    Coverage of project opening highlighted strength of the exhibit experience

Creative Partners

AV Partner

Electrosonic

Linear Media Production

Donna Lawrence Productions

Fabrication

Kubik Maltbie

Exhibition Design

Healy Kohler

Illustrator

Wood Ronsaville Harlin

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