Exhibition Design

Think of a public space you enjoy. It could be a park, museum, cultural space, restaurant, or library, or it could be related to transportation, etc. Close your eyes and imagine that place. Imagine what it feels like. Is it crowded? What are the sounds and smells? What is the quality of light? Write for 60-90 seconds and describe what the place looks and feels like. Be specific. Now sketch what the place looks (and feels like). Spend 3-5 minutes sketching a perspective or series of perspectives.

Do the same exercise in a private space. Imagine it. Write about it. Sketch it. Consider – rooms, corners, nooks, closets, pantries, pieces of furniture, places where you feel quiet and private outdoors, etc. Exhibits can be inside, outside, and even in transition spaces. Defining the space, and its context is key to designing an exhibit.

Understanding Scale is critical to the practice of exhibition design. Scale drawings, a reduced (or enlarged) drawing that maintains the proportions of the space or object it represents, make it easy to represent big things (like buildings) on paper. For more information on scale, check out NEXT.cc’s Scale Journey. Exhibit designers work with or as curators collecting the items that will be displayed. each item must be carefully documented and measured.

In the Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard writes that everyday objects and spaces evoke strong emotions and connect us to deeper parts of ourselves. These design elements can evoke a sense of childlike wonder, rooting people in a deeper understanding of themselves and others. Objects carry meaning for both individuals and our collective society. Objects can be relics from the past, from the present, and even represent ideas of the future. Spaces and be inside or outside, large and airy, or small and compact. Find a few objects that mean something to you in your own house. Photgraph, measure and record, and write about why these objects are important.

Brainstorm three different topics you could explore through objects. Your concept could be driven by an object or collection. Do you have an intriguing object or collection of objects you’d like to build a narrative around? Is your narrative time-based (a chronology), thematic, a typology, or based on a broader concept? Or is your concept driven by ideas? What concepts would you like to explore/unpack through objects?

Consider these design principles as you lay out your objects: Spacing between objects, Positive space/Negative space, Odd numbers, rule of three, Color value, Density, Balance, Texture, Rhythm, Emphasis, and Harmony. What kind of background will you use? You could use plain white paper or set the objects on a material from home (counter, wood floor, bathroom sink, etc). Take quick photographs of 3-5 different layouts of the objects. Study the photographs of the different layouts.

Evaluate your photographs and pick one. If possible, photograph your installation with natural, diffuse light. For more info on photography, see NEXT.cc’s Photography Journey

Upload your photographs to the Gallery!

Exhibition Labels are an interpretive tool; they use text and layout to give the visitor more information about the object(s). Write a draft of the information you’d include in your label. Prepare a text file including the following items: name of the object, artist name, year, materials. dimensions, quantity, other important technical info, history (if applicable), name/title, and description. Include information you deem relevant in telling your story. Any ideas for a title? Include that, too. Now, look at all that information and decide what is essential to communicate to your viewer. Choosing the font and font size for the title, the year, the author or artist, the materials used, and some history are all part of curating labels. Using one of your chosen objects create a label for it.

The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago is doing an exhibition on the individual yet shared experience of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic through a series of object installations from domestic spaces. Design an object installation that represents an aspect of your life in quarantine.

This exercise requests a designed Google slide containing a photograph of your installation (one overall straight on view, in elevation) and a written exhibit label describing your installation. This exercise provides practice working with objects and the written word and allows the designer to curate their content to develop a curatorial voice and point of view. Once the exhibit is available to the public, experience looking through the collections of experiences when people were isolated in their own homes.

• Exhibition designers work closely with
  • graphic designers
  • architects
  • curators
  • installers
  • Media It personnel
  • All of the above
• Objects are neutral and do not carry meanings.
  • true
  • false
• Scaled drawings represent a reduced or enlarged size drawing that maintains the proportions that it depicts.
  • true
  • false
• Certain informational elements (artist name, year made, dimensions) must be on each and every object label.
  • True. Every exhibition must report the same information.
  • False. Each institution gets to decide what information is presented on their object labels. What the institution chooses to include or omit becomes part of that institution's curatorial voice.
• Exhibition can be installed inside and outside.
  • True
  • False