Alex Kan Memorial

Alex F. Kan approached Total Design with the wish to preserve the life story of Alex Kan, his older half-brother. Alex Kan was born in 1930 in Amsterdam to jewish parents, and had to hide during WWII from the Nazis. His life is well documented thanks to many records kept save by friends and relatives throughout the war and following decades. Using this material and intertwining it with the historical context of WWII and the Holocaust, it was possible to tell Alex’s life as a relatable and personal story of a young boy growing up amidst increasing persecution and violence.

During my time at Total Design, I was offered to lead this project and worked on it from November 2020 until its release in May 2022.

I was responsible for designing the identity + UI/UX, researching the historical material, writing the story, and creating the animations. The development was done by Youssef Kassem and Rosyl Budike. Support and advice was given by Mark van der Net, Paul Wolfs, Edwin van der Praet and Arjen Firet.

The live website can be viewed here.

Colouring the past

Looking back at WWII, the images in our collective memory tend to be black and white. Because of that, using pictures from this time can easily create a dated and removed feeling, creating the illusion that this history has nothing to do with todays world. Wishing to counter this, I chose strong and meaningful colours to make the project feel relevant.

White–blue stand for peace and jewish identity, black stands for fascism and WWII, and yellow stands for the discrimination and persecution of the jewish people. Using blend-modes, the blue color inverts to yellow when placed on top of black, a hint at the connection between fascism and antisemitism.

Bringing the story to life

Scroll-based animations illustrate and support the story. From his first trip by car to his mothers arrest and deportation, they mark important points in Alex’s life. Next to that, a number of gentle micro interactions make the story feel alive. Lastly, a soundtrack with classic music by jewish composers combined with occasional sound-effects create the historic atmosphere.

The animations were created in After Effects, exported as JSON via bodymovin and integrated into the site using GSAP3.

From dusty documents to narrative

Together with Alex F. Kan, I spent many hours going through the surviving letters, diary entries and pictures, selecting what we thought was most relevant and interesting. From the resulting material we slowly formed a narrative.

To situate the narrative in the context of rising fascism in Europe, the historical developments are told alongside Alex’s personal life. As he grows older, the NSDAP succeeds in election after election, culminating in WWII and the German invasion of the Netherlands. For the time during the war, Ashes in the Wind: The Destruction of Dutch Jewryby Jaques Presser was used for reference.

Four categories — narration, quotes, historical context and images — allow the reader to differentiate between the types of content, thereby keeping the story approachable despite its length and complexity.

Spaces for expression and preservation

Next to the story itself, the website features a blog, an archive for documents, and an overview of all people involved in the story. These sections are curated by the client, Alex F. Kan. The blog allows the client to share his thoughts on his half-brothers’ story, while the archive and people pages function as historical database.