Responses by Build in Amsterdam

Background: When the Haarlem, the Netherlands–based museums Frans Hals Museum and De Hallen Haarlem merged together, its new aim was to create a welcoming place where visitors are introduced to a mix of old and contemporary art in a surprising and contentious way. As part of the marriage of the two museums, the purpose of the new site is to attract more diverse audiences, contribute to the new branding and strengthen the new Museum’s authority.

Highlights: The combination of old and new is found everywhere throughout the website. Content wise, we have combined the collections into a big and playful tool made for exploring. We split screen most images, backgrounds and typography headers. Another core feature is the menu structure. We reorganized the menu and created a smart menu concept that is variable to user devices.

Challenges: Finding the right balance. The identity made by the Amsterdam-based creative communications agency KesselsKramer is very outspoken. It uses big headers, uncommon color combinations and quirky typography. There was no “white” allowed, which normally makes a website very readable.

Favorite details: The website is set up in such a way that it’s functional, yet playful. For example, the collection page feels more like a “tool” than an overview. With fun variations like color, age or artist, users can filter down the content in an interactive way. And users can also check out all three of the games in the “play” section on the desktop. They’re not only fun, but they also inform users about what the museum has to offer.

Navigational structure: It’s based on intuition. We have so many types of users and everyone has their own purpose when browsing the website. Therefore, we added a sidebar with the most important information on the left. The main menu is on the top. On mobile, we combined these menus.