Hammer Collections
Hidden gems of Hammer Museum’s collection presented to all for the first time
Los Angeles, California, USA
Thousands of unique objects from the Hammer Museum’s vast and varied collection, available in high resolution, deep-zoom format for the first time
Powerful and intuitive search capabilities that enable users to navigate the collection effortlessly, whether searching for specific pieces or exploring by themes and criteria
Automated connections and recommendations, so users are empowered to journey through the collection, fostering continued exploration and discovery
The Hammer Museum, situated in the heart of Los Angeles’ bustling Westwood Village, embodies a visionary approach to contemporary art and cultural dialogue. Founded in 1990, the museum has become a cornerstone of the city's artistic landscape, offering a diverse array of exhibitions and programs that reflect the dynamism and diversity of its collection.
Funded by the Mellon Foundation and Perenchio Foundation, the new online expression of the museum’s eclectic collections recognises the need for the museum's vast holdings to be available to all, in line with the Hammer Museum's commitment to free admission and public accessibility.
The ambitious aim of the wider project was to create sustainable and accessible infrastructure for digitizing, cataloguing, and researching the collection. Cogapp’s collaboration with the Hammer team ensures nearly every work of art in the collections is now available online, providing opportunities for audience engagement and educational programs.
Building a better online world for audiences
The Hammer Museum is a vibrant, inclusive space; exhibitions are its heartbeat and provide a rhythm for visitors and the team at the museum. Having said that, there is so much more to the museum than the current exhibitions. Behind the scenes there are thousands of art works that are not on display and may never be. Behind these artworks are the museum experts who acquire, catalogue, and take care of them.
These artworks can now be enjoyed online by anyone who wishes to visit the online collection site. These artworks can now be used by the teams at Hammer to deliver programs to visitors. Online access opens doors to research, inspiration, and enjoyment of artworks that until now could not be engaged with.
Accessibility
Aligned with the core mission of the Hammer Museum, which advocates for the transformative power of art and ideas in fostering a more equitable society, the collections website provides a fully accessible experience for all visitors. This commitment to accessibility is deeply integrated into the final presentation and was nurtured throughout our creative process.
Cogapp prioritizes user experience, recognizing the tangible impact that improved accessibility can have on people's lives. To uphold this principle, all our work undergoes rigorous accessibility testing. This process involves both automated testing and manual evaluation by our dedicated QA Lead to systematically assess accessibility performance.
From the outset, the sites we build are developed with accessibility in mind. For example, our process for the Hammer includes implementing semantic markup, establishing a logical tabbing order, and meticulous care in relation to colour contrast (while keeping within The Hammer Museum’s established brand guidelines).
Going even further for site visitors, early in the project we decided to incorporate a light and dark mode toggle, which defaults to the user's device settings while allowing for easy switching between modes if desired.
Search
At the heart of the site lies its robust search functionality, designed to cater to both the general public and the needs of academics and museum professionals. It is essential that any search feature be straightforward and user-friendly for all, while also offering advanced options for users with more targeted requirements.
A primary search bar serves as the initial point of entry, cross-referencing various fields, while a selection of filterable search facets allows for more refined searching. Users can explore current museum exhibitions, and by filtering for items currently on view. Additionally, histogram sliders offer a simple visualization of search result distribution over time when filtering by creation or accession dates.
Furthermore, users have the flexibility to adjust search result ordering and customize the display format to suit their preferences. They can also copy individual searches, facilitating the sharing of specific filter combinations and search results.
The Hammer's online estate comprises several distinct web applications, so it's important to present these as a coherent whole to web visitors. With this in mind, the online collection is seamlessly integrated into the site-wide search, allowing for a broad set of results to be returned for all visitors. This integration ensures a more comprehensive and unified user experience, enhancing the exploration of the museum's vast resources.
My Collection
In the initial stages of the project, it became clear that various users of the collections, including museum professionals, academics, and teachers, would greatly benefit from the ability to bookmark artworks for future reference or for sharing with others. This could, for example, empower teachers to effortlessly curate lists of artworks for student study and review, eliminating the need to painstakingly compile individual pages.
The "My Collection" feature addresses this need. By discreetly integrating buttons on each artwork page, as well as adjacent to works on the home and search pages, site visitors can easily save artworks to their own personal list. In addition, a prominent counter in the navigation bar ensures straightforward access and provides clear guidance on utilizing the feature.
Onward Journeys
Onward journeys are crucial elements of website design, especially for institutions like the Hammer Museum, as they play a pivotal role in guiding visitors towards deeper engagement with the museum's mission and collections. This approach aligns with the Hammer Museum's core mission:
“The Hammer Museum at UCLA believes in the promise of art and ideas to illuminate our lives and build a more just world.”
Beyond simply enticing visitors to explore more artworks, onward journeys serve as pathways to enrich understanding and foster meaningful connections between art and ideas.
To realize this vision, several key areas on the object pages are emphasized. The object fields positioned adjacent to the primary image include details such as the artist's name, the artwork's classification, and its credit line. Each of these fields is clickable, enabling users to navigate to pre-faceted search results pages showing other artworks with the same field. Further down the object page, carousels featuring additional artworks by the same artist and other pieces within the specific collection are prominently displayed.
A separate dedicated section automatically integrates any related Hammer Channel content, presenting users with thumbnails of related videos for enhanced engagement and opportunities to learn more about each artwork. Additionally, a final section on each object page displays the user's previously viewed artworks in chronological order. This streamlines navigation and facilitates exploration, offering an accessible alternative to the main navigation options.
Technical Approach
Maintaining accurate and up-to-date information is crucial for the integrity of any online collection. Automated updates directly from the Hammer Museum’s main system of record ensure that any changes in metadata are immediately reflected in the collection, providing the most accurate and current information.
The Hammer Museum’s collection metadata is maintained in TMS, with collection images stored in NetX. A data publishing mechanism running on a virtual server inside the museum network extracts data from TMS automatically, following a set of established rules to identify the objects and related fields to be published. It also uses TMS data to identify images relevant to the objects and, with an image publishing mechanism, delivers these to the collection image server.
These images are formatted to support flexible decompression, allowing for direct retrieval of thumbnails from larger images without decompressing the entire file. Utilizing the IIIF protocol, images can be requested at any size or crop, supporting deep zooms for a simple yet immersive experience for the user.
Creating an environment where everyone can do their best work
Discovery
Discovery sessions allow Cogapp to evaluate the client’s needs and expectations, gain a comprehensive understanding of the project and ensure alignment with the client's goals.
By engaging with the entire Hammer Museum team, Cogapp captured the museum's vision and priorities, establishing a solid framework for the project.
The Hammer team and Cogapp assessed existing online collections and gathered feedback on aspects such as aesthetics, search functionality, accessibility, and navigation of collection pages. This feedback was crucial for understanding the Hammer team's preferences, likes, dislikes, and aspirations regarding their own online collections, providing valuable insights for planning and development.
Building upon the project brief, participants defined and prioritized user personas and corresponding user experience goals. These fed into a final session focused on defining key features for the online collection. Through open discussions and referencing the previously established personas and user experience goals, participants identified and prioritized features aligning with the project's objectives.
These sessions collectively laid a robust foundation for the project, ensuring alignment between stakeholders, defining project goals, and setting the direction for subsequent technical and design exploration sessions.
Branding and Design
Branding and design play a pivotal role in the success of any digital project, especially when it involves an institution with an identity as established as the Hammer Museum.
At Cogapp, our longstanding partnership with the Hammer Museum equipped us with a deep understanding of their brand identity. Having previously redeveloped their homepage and also created the Hammer Channel portal, we appreciate the importance of staying true to their brand while enhancing their digital offering. For the new Online Collections site, this means adhering to the museum’s visual language while exploring creative avenues that elevate the presentation of the artwork.
Our approach to branding and design began with extensive research into the Hammer Museum’s existing visual elements. This allowed us to identify key design principles and create a cohesive online experience that seamlessly integrated with the museum’s broader digital ecosystem.
The finished site focuses on striking a balance between familiarity and innovation. Typography, color schemes and layout structures are refined to ensure they complement the diverse range of artworks showcased in the Online Collection.
By leveraging our expertise in digital design and our intimate knowledge of the museum’s branding, we created a visually compelling and user-friendly platform that resonates with both art enthusiasts and casual visitors alike.
Conclusion
Having successfully collaborated with the Hammer Museum on three projects, we have consistently aligned our efforts with their mission to illuminate lives and build a more just world through art and ideas. The new site brings the museum's incredible collection online for the first time, providing unprecedented access for the public and academics alike. This digital transformation not only preserves the integrity and accessibility of the museum’s vast holdings but also enhances the educational and inspirational impact of their art, fostering deeper connections and broader engagement with audiences around the globe.
Hammer Online Collection
Press
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If you want to hear more about our work, or you’ve got a project in mind that you think Cogapp could help with, please get in touch.