NMM: Forgotten Fighters

As part of the National Maritime Museum’s commemoration of World War One, Simon was appointed to develop the design a new permanent gallery about the Forgotten Fighters.

This new gallery explores the naval and maritime dimensions of The Great War, fought on an epic scale and with terrible human loss. Forgotten Fighters foregrounds the personal stories of those who participated through a wide range of objects including weaponry, photographs, medals and ship models.

The brief was to refurbish the rather drab interior of the old ‘ships gallery’. We retained the long dramatic showcases and refreshed them by updating the cladding, object layout, furniture and graphics. The approach referenced Dazzle Camouflage, which was used during World War I as a method of disguising ships from the enemy at sea. This approach then became the underlying concept for the whole gallery using these distinct angles to develop the details in the object mounts, furniture and graphics for the walls. 

Simon worked closely with the museums curators, media designers and graphic designers to  explain the stories of key personnel who fought at sea, these people became known as the ‘Forgotten Fighters’ whose stories are told through the medals and objects on display. The key to unlocking the stories was to introduce ‘digital’ pods where visitors can explore each individual story in more detail.

Content: National Maritime Museum
Exhibition 3D Design: Simon Milthorp
Graphic Design: National Maritime Museum
Setworks and Build: setWorks Limited
Photography: National Maritime Museum

Further information on the stories of each soldier can be found here