Alphonse Mucha Website

The Mucha Foundation was founded in 1992 with the aim of promoting the work of visionary 19th-century artist Alphonse Mucha. Through an ambitious programme of exhibitions and publications, the Foundation works to strengthen the public's understanding of the artist’s oeuvre. Keepthinking created a website that reflects the diversity of this work, with the Qi CMS used for collection management and web content management.

The previous Mucha Foundation website, created in 2004, was still generating a significant amount of traffic (approx 750,000 unique visits in 2010). However, the design and structure felt dated and out of step with the Foundation’s international reputation. Four key problems had been identified: dated visual design, incoherent information architecture, confusing navigation and absence of user-defined functionalities, which Keepthinking set to solve with the new design.

Browsing works needed to reflect the nature of them, as well as their format, which varies in size and proportions. We chose to present works as a wall of images. The Gallery allows users to look at Mucha's work from different angles, from simple, categorised browsing, to themes and stories as well as search. Activity sheets to engage with the Mucha style more closely are available to download. The approach to collection display for the Mucha Foundation follows a ‘browse’ logic, rather than offering immediately a very sophisticated search facility, which caters for advanced users.

Mucha was very much a man of his time: his work is best understood when looking at the historical context as well as what was happening in his life. Browse the timeline, a sophisticated way to explore things as they happen, fully compatible with tablet and mobile platforms. The website has become an invaluable tool for Mucha enthusiasts, scholars and members of the general public, by providing authoritative content on the life and work of the artist. It has also put the Mucha Foundation firmly on the map as a centre for excellence on the history of Alphonse Mucha and Art Nouveau.