National Historical Museum - Athens

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Project: Graphic Applications & Way Finding System for the National Historical Museum of Athens.

Brief: A promotional approach for NHM, with posters, brochures and other printable material. Study included gift design and packaging for the in-house shop.

Tools: Illustration & Graphic Applications, Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop, Infographics, Sketching

Stage: Completed work (September 2015)

Description: The National Historical Museum of Athens, is located in the city's center, near Syntagma Square and beside the current House of Parliament. Between 1875 and 1932 the Greek Parliament was housed in that exact building, so its importance is composite and timeless. The museum houses the collection of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece (IEEE), and is founded in 1882. It is the oldest collection of its kind in the country, and prior to its transfer to the Old Parliament, was displayed in the main building of the National Technical University. The collection contains historical items, concerning the period from the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, to the Second World War, emphasizing especially the period of the Greek Revolution and the subsequent establishment of the modern Greek state.

Although the collection contains weapons, personal belongings from historical personalities, manuscripts and traditional costumes from various regions of Greece, the brief was mainly focused on a more flexible direction. The design inspiration emerged from the existing logotype, the building itself, a selection of components that identifies Greece and the element of water (sea).

1.0 Development

Existing logotype was very appropriate on creating motifs and patterns for gift shop items, wrapping paper and tickets. The conference room of the building gave the curved shape from which the brochure, posters, banners and the color palette were born. The six Greek components were also inspired by the logo and they were a perfect match for the chosen colors.

Finally, the element that combined the above list it was nothing else than the sea (water). Most of the battles that were won during 19th and 20th centuries, took place in the sea. For the concept I used some figureheads, which belonged to some of the most important ships of the Greek naval. Their combination with the timber ribbons of the ship structure and the color palette, gave the final result of most of the printable items.