Opposites Attract ... Visitors

Opposites attract in exhibit design.  All sorts of juxtapositions, like big/small and old/new create interest for museum visitors.

I was reminded of this in every unusual way during a trip to the city of Plovdiv, in Bulgaria.

My friends wanted to take me inside a local H&M clothing store to show me a "secret."

Inside was a glass-enclosed remnant of a Roman-era stadium (including some stone seats!) where spectators had watched the chariots race by thousands of years ago!

Other examples of "opposites" can be found in the Hall of North American Forests at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The giant Sequoia cross-section pictured at the top of this post, or the amazing "Life on the Forest Floor" diorama, with its cross-section of forest soil (enlarged to 24 times its actual size) are examples of a big/small contrast.

When you start looking for these design "opposites" they start to show up everywhere.  How can you add an "attractive opposite" to your next project?

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Please, WAIT.

If I only could say one thing to someone finishing an installation and about to open a new exhibition or an entire museum building, it would be: 

"Please, resist the urge to make changes and WAIT."

In the emotion-charged weeks leading up to opening day, it is amazing how often well-meaning board members, staff members, or funders will offer all sorts of suggestions for last-minute changes to carefully planned exhibits, graphics, and environments that have often gone through months (or years!) of planning, design, and testing. Most of the time this hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing happens before a new museum or exhibition has even been formally opened for business.

It's human nature, I suppose, to view everything through the hyped-up lens of "perfection," but take a minute, take a breath, and just get ready to observe what actual visitors will do when your project actually opens.

There are two specific instances before opening when you should NOT wait to make changes:

1) When there are clear Safety Factors at play -- exposed electrical elements or sharp corners at little kids' face height, for instance.  If there is an aspect of a new installation or building that raises safety concerns, those things need to be addressed right away.

2) When Functionality is in question. When an exhibit or building element is clearly not working properly -- an exterior door doesn't close, a video monitor doesn't properly display content -- those are also the types of things that clearly can't wait.

But there are many other things that fall outside of Safety and Functionality concerns -- in those "gray area" cases, please do yourself (and your project!) a favor and WAIT until after you see how things really play out once you are open for business.

As a former executive director once told me, "Once the museum's open, it's open forever!"  

You will need time after opening to continue to thoughtfully consider how to change, improve, and evolve what has been set into motion. But that process should be informed by careful observation and consideration, not knee-jerk reactions fueled by pre-opening jitters. 

Please, WAIT.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

A Better Box?

You always hear museum folks say, "Think outside the box!"

But what if we just need better boxes?  This came to mind recently as I encountered the "better box" that my mother-in-law's new blue iMac computer came in.

Once you opened the exterior brown cardboard shipping box, the white box inside containing the actual computer started us down a delightful little design path.  

First off, as you spun the box around, each section was printed with a photographic view of the iMac inside -- as if you were seeing "through" the box to view the front, back, and sides (see images at the top of this post and below.)  the box practically begged you to open it!

When you flipped open the iMac's box, the very first thing you were greeted with was the word "hello" printed on the removable paper screen cover.  A friendly welcome to the set-up process and a clever throwback to the opening screen message on the very first Macintosh computer.  

Those two arrows on either side orient you and show you what to do next -- to reveal the computer inside like opening the curtains on either side of a stage.

Once you lift the computer out of its cardboard cradle, you see some clear graphic indicators of where your peripherals, like the mouse and keyboard and cables, are located.

But did Apple just throw all the loose peripherals into a cardboard void?  Of course not!  Each component is carefully placed into sections arranged like a Bento box.

Initial delight followed by an orientating welcome capped off by clear, clean graphics showing thoughtful directions and details?  

I think that's just the sort of  "better box" that can frame all sorts of visitor interactions inside museums -- from the lobby entrance sequence to the labels and graphics inside a highly-interactive exhibition space.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Back to Bulgaria!

I'm delighted that I will be heading back to Bulgaria to kick off the new MUSA Academy program sponsored by the America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF).

The MUSA Academy will equip Bulgarian professionals from museums and other cultural organizations with the tools to create compelling exhibits and tell powerful stories that will keep visitors returning for more.

I am doubly excited to share the MUSA Academy teaching stage with colleagues Jamie Lawyer and Christina Ferwerda!

Check out this recent article from the ABF website that shares more information about my work and the new MUSA Academy.  Also, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as I post live updates from Bulgaria in March!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Where are your Museum's "Fans" on Super Bowl Sunday?

Super Bowl Sunday will be a great day to visit your local museum --- because it will be even quieter than usual. 

Why are so many people, even folks who don't normally follow football, more rabidly enthusiastic about watching the "Big Game" or attending a local Super Bowl event than visiting your museum?

  

I'd say one possible answer lies in finding the difference between a "fan" and a "casual visitor."   Fans wear logo gear all year long and have no compunction in excitedly telling total strangers how great their team is.

So how can museums create more "fans" and expand their demographic reach as well?  

Places like the City Museum in St. Louis have set out to become a gathering spot for their local communities and have become open to all sorts of fun ideas that are edgy enough to attract a wide and enthusiastic audience of repeat visitors who definitely become City Museum fans.

Of course, all this talk of creating "museum fans" is pointless if your museum isn't really fan-worthy.  Is your admissions procedure torture?  Do you create core exhibits and attractions that are worth revisiting, or do you depend on the hucksterism of events that are only vaguely related to your museum's mission and purpose?  What are the obstacles that prevent your visitors from becoming fans?

Let's see if we can create more museum fans. 

  

GO MUSEUMS!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Why Can't Science Centers and Children's Museums Have More Contemplative Spaces?

And why can't Art Museums (the traditionally "hands-off" museums) have more physically interactive experiences and artworks inside?

A number of years ago, I worked on an exhibition entitled "The Animated Artwork of Laura Vaccaro Seeger" at the Nassau County Museum of Art (NCMA) on Long Island. 

The exhibition included interactive exhibits and installations that naturally dovetailed with themes like light and color, metamorphosis, and negative space that show up in the award-winning children's books that Laura Vaccaro Seeger writes and illustrates. That would have definitely NOT been a big deal if I designed that sort of exhibition at a "hands-on" museum, but this was the first time that NCMA had put on a show with so many deliberately interactive exhibit pieces. Initially, the museum staff was even a little freaked out by having loose books in the gallery (in a show by an author!) so we compromised by mounting the books on "reading shelves" attached to the walls.

Exhibitions like "Take Your Time" by Olafur Eliasson incorporated stunning pieces that, with a little tweaking, could make equally amazing science museum exhibits. But since Eliasson's pieces are "Art," they are mostly not meant to be directly touched or interacted with physically, at least inside of an Art Museum.

At issue seems to be the context that people (with or without young children in tow) approach different types of museums. The atmosphere in most art museums is on the level of a library --- hushed tones, silent contemplation, and guards occasionally telling people to settle down. One of the complaints from guards (but not visitors!) in the Laura Vaccaro Seeger show was that some of the interactive pieces made noise or caused the visitors to make noise!

Of course, most Science Centers and Children's Museums often seem like a cross between a fun house and a race track --- frenetic busy activity and experiences that seem to invite chaos more than contemplation. So is it possible to introduce contemplative experiences into such active spaces?

I remember speaking with Bernie Zubrowski about a piece that he developed and displayed at the Exploratorium, entitled "The Ghost of Amelia Earhart." The piece incorporated a silky piece of fabric (Amelia's scarf?) immersed in a tank of water being gently swirled by currents. There are interesting moire patterns caused when the fabric overlaps, as well as mysterious shadows formed by the lighting inside the tank.

When I saw Bernie's piece at the Exploratorium, I loved it. Unfortunately, I was one of the very few visitors to take the time to pay attention to its subtle pleasures. Despite being a treasure trove of art, science, and perception exhibits, the Exploratorium wasn't really conducive to a piece like Bernie's, which required quiet concentration from the viewer. However, "The Ghost of Amelia Earhart" would likely have been very well received in an art museum or gallery show.

Can we get Art Museums to "loosen up" on their approach to exhibits and visitor interactions -- or should we?

What about getting "Interactive Museums" to provide more contemplative spaces and opportunities?

Or are all types of museums trapped by the "institutional images" that they have worked so hard to foster and promote?

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the "Comments Section" below!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Design Inspiration: Scan of the Month

"Scan of the Month" is a cool website that shows CT scans of everyday objects (like the asthma inhaler at the top of this post) with fascinating results.

The website started off as some scans of LEGO Minifigures created by a group of creative technologists at the engineering company Lumafield.  

To quote the website:  "Engineering marvels surround us every day. As deeply curious engineers, we thought we understood how beautiful the details around us can be. Then CT scanning revealed a world we had never seen."

So click on over to the Scan of the Month website to reveal a new bit of the world.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Expecting the Unexpected?

Do you know what's worse than getting COVID?  

Getting COVID far away from home during an important museum installation!

So I'm writing this blog post from isolation in a hotel room in Minot, North Dakota.  It's a drag because right across the street, my fellow museum workers are installing new exhibits which I should be helping with.

Nevertheless, through the wonders of modern communication, we are continuing to work together to move things forward.  

I suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere about flexibility and making the best of how things actually are, not how you wish they were.  

(Check out these ExhibiTricks posts in a similar vein, What's your Plan B? and What's On Your Three Lists?)

I hope if you are encountering some unexpected obstacles of your own, you are finding ways around (or above or below or through) them.

ONWARD!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"

Design Inspiration: If these walls could talk ...

Sometimes a visual or graphic punch can set the mood or transmit a content message in a room or gallery.

An often underutilized exhibition approach involves using wall graphics. With the advent of high-quality digital printing at a large scale, custom wallpaper or dimensional graphics can be a real boon to designers.

One company that provides wallpaper printed to size, either with your own custom images or stock images, is Wallsauce. (One of their wallpapers is in the top image of this post.)

Also, your local printer is likely able to create large-scale dimensional graphics from your files -- see the full-wall installation image from a recent project below.

So take a look around at the walls in your next project and let them "talk"!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

If you enjoy the blog, you can help keep it free to read and free from ads by supporting ExhibiTricks through our PayPal "Tip Jar"