Port Arthur Historic Site: Deck of Cards & supporting illustrations
CHARACTER-LED VISITOR EXPERIENCE
History can feel distant. Stone buildings. Dates on plaques. Names carved into records. But once, it was simply people.
For Port Arthur Historic Site, I created a series of 52 illustrated characters inspired by real individuals connected to the site's past. Each visitor would be given a card at the beginning of their journey: a single person to follow. As they moved through the grounds, subtle cues on signage revealed fragments of that character's life. A role. A decision. A consequence. A moment.
Instead of absorbing history as a timeline, visitors experienced it through one human lens.
Client
Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA)
Project
Character-led deck of cards & interpretive signage
Role
Art direction & illustration
Category
Illustration system · Environmental storytelling · Visitor experience
Creative direction
Each character was grounded in real historical research: convict records, period articles and historian material. Where possible, I drew from specific details such as physical descriptions and recorded tattoos to ensure authenticity.
The visual style was created specifically for this project. It needed to feel historically anchored without becoming stiff or overly classical: expressive, human and accessible to a broad audience.
Bringing these real individuals back to life through drawing was one of my favourite projects to date.
