What's the ONE Exhibit Tool You Can't Work Without?
There's that old party game where somebody asks, "If you were stranded on a desert island and could bring only one book (or album, or snack), what would it be?" I've always thought exhibit developers deserve our own version.
So here's mine: if you could reach for just ONE tool or resource to develop an exhibit — physical, digital, or somewhere in between — what would it be?
I'm asking because one of my favorite ExhibiTricks side projects was a batch of short videos where museum folks from all over the world shared "Just One Thing" about exhibits. The answers were always more surprising (and more useful) than any tidy "best practices" list. So let's do a written version. Leave a comment below, or drop me a line, and tell me the single most indispensable exhibit development tool or resource in your kit.
To prime the pump, here are two tools that have earned permanent spots in my own list, that are pulled straight from the ExhibiTricks back catalog:
• Foam core and a decent cutting setup. Foam core is the bread and butter of exhibit development, but it's only as good as the blade you cut it with. A 48-inch metal straight edge and a sharp rotary cutter will save your sanity (and your fingertips). More in "The Hands-On Toolbox" post.
• 507movements.com. A "back to the future" gem: an animated, web-based version of Henry T. Brown's classic 1868 reference "507 Mechanical Movements." If you're building anything that moves (like gears, cranks, and linkages), it's an endlessly inspiring (and free) way to see how mechanisms actually work.
Those are three of mine. Now I want to hear yours. What's the one exhibit tool or resource you'd grab before anything else? Share it in the Comments Section below! I'll round up the best responses in a future post.
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!
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