Naturalis
Digitised a collection of 2.5 million objects
CLIENT: NATURALIS BIODIVERSITY CENTER - NL
PROJECT: WEBSITE EXPERIENCE, POC
ROLE: CONCEPT, DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION
Naturalis is the Netherlands’ national institute for biodiversity research. With over 2.5 million objects collected, many stored behind the scenes, much of this treasure trove has remained out of public view.
Expedition Online opens up Naturalis’ vast collection through an interactive world map. Each object is pinpointed to its original discovery site, complete with images, data, and descriptions from Naturalis, Wikipedia, and Google. You can also dive into curated expeditions created by Naturalis researchers, using personal photos, videos, and archive material
Have you always wanted to dig for dinosaurs, or do you wonder how a Naturalis' "cutting team" sets to work when a whale washes up on the Dutch coast? Then the curated expeditions are just the thing for you. These expeditions have been created by Naturalis Researchers
Join the expedition
With the logbook functionality, we hope to bring out the researcher or scientist in everyone. Visitors can collect favorite objects, and create their own page in the Expedition Logbook. This is also a great resource for teachers, for example as part of a biology assignment. The logs are visible to all users of Expedition Online and can be shared on social media.
The Expedition Online Log
In order to promote Expedition Online, we came up with a social media campaign that allows you to see 3D Naturalis animals up close. In other words, life-size! You can choose an animal in the campaign dashboard, a black-footed penguin for example, and using the camera on your smartphone you can make it appear right there in your room. This way you can admire the animal from all sides, and of course share it with your friends.
Life-size Naturalis animals up close and personal
A consortium, consisting of Fabrique, Q42 and Naturalis, developed Expedition Online using public funding. Partly because we were working with community funds, we explicitly chose to design as a white label. This edition of Expedition Online was designed for Naturalis, but the platform is also available for other parties who want to share their collections with a large online audience. The Natural History Museum Rotterdam will be the second museum to unlock its collection using this platform.
* Q42
* Stimulation Foundation Creative Industry
* Mondriaan Foundation
* Foundation for cultural participation
* Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Developed together as a white label
