Challenge

The experience offered by Virginia War Memorial (Richmond, Virginia) is often perceived by millennial and Gen Z visitors to be single-dimensional and nationalistic

Rebrand

Name Change

How can a war memorial be seen as relevant to a generation that has fewer connections to troops that have died in service to their country?

We made a bold proposal: renaming Virginia War Memorial to Virginia Peace Center.

Right now, Virginia War Memorial is a place where people go to reflect, and its name suggests that it’s a monument to the past. But with an education center and various interactive exhibitions and programs, the place is more than just a memorial - it’s an institution capable of facilitating explorations on the complex nature of wars and discussions about past, present, and future events.

Rebrand

Logo Redesign

Rebrand

Brand Guidelines and Collaterals

DIGITAL

A Brand New Home Page

We redesigned the web experience to be compatible with the clean and contemporary visual style of the new brand guidelines.

We also improved information architecture and removed non-essential features and widgets from the home page, so that the content is more intuitive and better aligned with the three pillars of our mission - show dimension, facilitate dialogue and encourage reflection.

SOCIAL

Owned Instagram Content

We want to use Instagram as the primary platform for storytelling and social sharing. We utilized photos and stories from the Virginia Peace Center’s archives to bring more dimension to the static names on the wall of the war memorial.

Experiential

Data Visualization Installations

We want to provide people with a wealth of information and empower them to draw their own conclusions. There are a lot of educational content provided to visitors, but none of them were presented in a memorable way. So we designed a data visualization installation that turns statistics to a 3D experience. Visitors are encouraged to touch and feel the displayed pieces and viscerally internalize the numbers.

Interactive

Open Wall for Tough Conversations

After we’ve given visitors a lot to ponder about, we will ask visitors to engage in a dialogue, whether that’s with their family or friends, strangers, or docents. We want to encourage free expressions of educated opinions by suggesting that there is often no right answer.

Environmental

Remembrance Field

We designed Remembrance Field, an outdoor experience that makes active reflection a more seamless and profound part of the whole experience. Visitors can purchase handmade poppies made of weatherproof synthetic paper and pen down their thoughts before planting them in the Remembrance Field. All proceeds go towards the material and labor cost of poppies and maintenance cost of the field.

Environmental

Remembrance Bench

Additional outdoor seatings provide visitors moments of serenity and encourage them to end the experience with deep reflection. Named “Remembrance Bench”, these stone benches are part practical, part symbolic. A wire sculpture representing a fallen troop serves as a reminder of the purpose of the memorial. The patch of blossoming poppies revealed by curling concrete symbolizes the troops’ courage, resilience, and sacrifice in the face of ravage and destruction of wars.

Environmental

Outdoor Projection

Despite being located right next to one of Richmond’s central highways, the institution remained outside many Richmond residents’ radar due to its non-descriptive exterior. We proposed to utilize the vast space on the exterior wall to promote the brand with projections at the night time.

Integrated

Newspaper and OOH Communications

Our newspaper and billboard ads are designed to provoke discussions about war and peace, showing that Virginia Peace Center is a place that asks questions and encourages exploration.