winning.work

Agency:

Client:

Description: A brief description of the work and creative idea:

Friends of Minidoka sought to create an immersive virtual platform worthy of powerful stories of Japanese Americans who resisted injustice around WWII. They needed a solution balancing innovation with reverence, ensuring every detail upheld the weight of these histories. We designed a web application featuring multimedia content, oral histories, and an interactive map of historical monuments. Thoughtful animations bring artifacts and stories to life, while virtual monuments foster a sense of place — a big deal when many of these physical spaces no longer exist. The result is a deeply respectful, visually stunning digital experience that ensures these untold stories of resilience endure for generations.

The Brief: What was the brief? What were the challenges and objectives?:

Monuments preserve history, but many stories remain untold — including those of Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII. With support from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project, Friends of Minidoka engaged us to “transform the nation’s commemorative landscape to ensure our collective histories are more completely and accurately represented.” Our task was to share stories of resistance while building a platform capable of evolving and preserving these histories for generations to come.

Solution + Results: How did you solve the brief? What were some of the results?:

With deep reverence for these stories, we created Beyond the Barbed Wire, an immersive platform designed to engage and educate. Through multimedia storytelling, an interactive monument map, and evocative animations, we brought oral histories and artifacts to life — restoring a sense of place for stories long overlooked. A thoughtful brand and visual system unified these narratives, honoring the past while building a foundation for future stories yet to be told.

The project fostered 10 key partnerships, including organizations like the Mellon Foundation and the National Park Service, and gathered content from 70 institutions such as the Smithsonian and US National Archives. More than 40 stories were illuminated, featuring notable figures like Frank Abe and Gordon Hirabayashi. Beyond the Barbed Wire has received initial praise for its thoughtful design and impact, serving as both an educational tool and a platform for future generations to engage with and continue these vital stories.

Context (optional): Are there any specific cultural/regional/local references for judges to understand?:

The lives of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were irrevocably altered during World War II. As fear and suspicion surged across the nation in the wake of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, people of Japanese descent were seen as enemies, even though two-thirds were American citizens. Citing national security concerns, the Roosevelt administration issued Executive Order 9066, mandating the forced removal of Japanese Americans from their homes and businesses. They were sent to concentration camps in remote locations across the U.S. This egregious violation of constitutional rights serves as a poignant reminder to us all about the fragility of democracy.

AI Usage (optional): Did you use AI in any part of this work? If so, what was it?:

AI was used as voice for audio descriptions of images only (Not including the main voiceover track).

Where This Was Entered (optional): Which other shows did you enter this work and in which category/categories? It helps with context, and listing only:

The Webby Awards