Between 2023 and 2025, the Naval Documents of the American Revolution undertook a major rebranding initiative, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project’s editors sought to reimagine NDAR’s visual identity—bringing a fresh, cohesive look to a long-standing scholarly enterprise. At the center of this work was Ashley Donohoe, then an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, who guided the design process with creativity and vision. Before graduating, Ashley documented her approach, offering insight into the choices and inspirations that shaped NDAR’s new visual direction.

To create the visual elements of the Naval Documents of the American Revolution website, a mood board was constructed to guide the design process. When starting off, the inspiration of the board was to gather artful representations of the United States Navy during the time of the American Revolution, creating a supplementary multimedia experience to the many written accounts seen on the website.

Therefore, there are two guiding paintings of the United States Navy seen on the mood board. The first one, depicted above, is sourced from the US Naval Institute. Within this painting, there is a detailed portrayal of the Royal Navy Fleet at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, showcasing one of the integral instances of war at sea during the American Revolution.

The second painting is sourced from the Naval History and Heritage Command. Painted by Thomas Mitchell, the image artistically renders the battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis, considered one of the most famous single-ship duels from the American Revolution.

Not only do these paintings exhibit a historically accurate artistic depiction of the American Revolution, but it highlights the overarching importance of Naval History within this war. For the purposes of the Naval Documents of the American Revolution, framing design elements around the tonal elements of these paintings pays homage to the original archival work contributed by these painters.

Both paintings exhibit the cool, grayed tones of the sea and sky contrasted by golden-hued explosions and fires. The explosions and devastation are subsequently used as a highlighting element within the paintings, and this concept is utilized within our mood board. Therefore, the color concepts for the archival website use a primary navy color from the original binding of the physical copies of the Naval Documents of the American Revolution, followed by a secondary golden hue inspired by the battle of Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis, and using a final tertiary color of sea-green inspired by the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. 

The accompanying illustrations of the rope, anchor, and compass are all utilized as supplementary naval imagery. While not directly related to the American Revolution, the continued use of naval imagery continues to reinforce the underlying message of the Naval Documents of the American Revolution– that the navy is an integral aspect of shaping not only the battles of this time period, but concurrent cultural and social interactions facilitated by the American Revolution.