“The mission of El Museo del Barrio is to present and preserve the art and culture of Puerto Ricans and all Latin Americans in the United States. Through its extensive collections, varied exhibitions and publications, bilingual public programs, educational activities, festivals and special events, El Museo educates its diverse public in the richness of Caribbean and Latin American arts and cultural history.”
Sterile, bland, not mobile friendly
Not many Latin American museums out there. Hispanic museums focus on the Spanish-European influence and culture, Mexican museums focus on nationality. The challenge is to be inclusive to the diversity of all Latin American culture while bringing the museum’s location, El Barrio in NYC, to the forefront.
Latin American culture is dynamic, warm and rich in color. Inspiration can be drawn from it’s naturally diverse geography and culture that are warm, friendly, inviting and full of life.
After some redistribution of the hidden menu, the main navigation was broken up into 4 items-- making it easy to find information and not overwhelm the user. This lends itself to be more mobile-friendly with room for larger buttons and spaces for users to easily click on, read and scroll. A global navigation was added for easy-access items such as hours, museum online store as well as contact info. Equally important is having a bilingual site to reach a wider audience.
Several wireframing options were considered before reaching a final design that put a spotlight on the trademark and featured artwork. Just as important was evoking the overall inviting, fun and accessible culture the museum was founded on as the user clicks through. Simple brand guidelines were established to help guide the visual parameters and themes of the site.