"Tour guides have been answering questions about it for years: There's a large gold crown in a case situated by the elevators in Notre Dame's Main Building (aka, the "Golden Dome"). A plaque inside the case offers some explanation, but there's much more to know. Turns out, this crown may not be the most famous piece of royal headwear the university has received.
Our story is about two crowns, one crime, and one unsolved mystery. The long-form web feature "The Great Crown Caper" tells the story of this university treasure through compelling narrative, comic book-style animated illustrations, current and archival photography, an accompanying podcast episode, and social media posts. This feature follows a storytelling strategy of "narrative ownership" in which we dive into familiar Notre Dame topics or lore and provide the owned, official accounting. Illustrations visualize the dramatic theft of the crowns in 1886 with components animating on scroll to engage the reader.
The story, design, social posts, and podcast episode made The Great Crown Caper our unit’s top-viewed story since it was published."
From the Judges
This story was a pleasure to experience both on desktop and mobile and is a great example of visual storytelling. The panelists appreciated the use of comic panels and the pacing of the story.
