3 Ways To Edit Your Exhibits

"In art economy is always beauty."  ~ Henry James

I've been jetting all around the United States these days for my museum consulting practice and after recently visiting two new museums, I was reminded of the power of "exhibition editing."

There's a tendency for folks that are new(er) to developing museum exhibits to want to jam as many concepts (or objects or exhibit components ...) into a space as possible.  It's almost as if they don't trust their ideas to carry the visitors along and instead feel that more of EVERYTHING would be better.

It's natural when imagining a new empty museum building or exhibition gallery to feel compelled to fill the spaces and walls with stuff (and museums have lots of stuff!) but your visitors will be better served if you take a step back and resist that urge.

Aside from the truism that "sometimes the easiest way to fix an exhibit is to change the label" what are some easy ways to edit your exhibits?  Here are a three things to keep in mind when editing:

• BEFORE OPENING: What's the Big Idea?  Which are the essential parts of your exhibition's story arc that can't be removed? Keep those and junk the rest.  (Click here to see a recent post on keeping to the Big Idea.)  This is especially important when your exhibition ideas are tied to large objects or component sets that can't be easily moved (or removed!) after opening.

• DURING INSTALLATION: Be on the watch for duplicate sets of materials or too many loose parts.  This is a common problem in Maker/Tinker type spaces --- does every work station need a complete set of markers, colored pencils, cutting devices, and glues, or could you cluster these things in materials stations to reduce the clutter and chaos?  Similarly many Children's Museums or Early Learner exhibition areas have Puppet Theater components --- but do you need multiple complete sets of puppet figures (like fantasy figures or animals) instead of rotating through one thematic set at a time? 

• AFTER OPENING: Evaluate (and edit) by observation.  Set aside time to watch your visitors move throughout your exhibition.  Are there "dead spots" where nobody ends up? What could you shift around physically, or conceptually, to change those traffic patterns?  Similarly, if certain exhibits seem constantly overcrowded are there ways to either duplicate the materials and concepts, or split them up to spread out the visitor interactions?

Of course, exhibition editing should be an ongoing and iterative process.  Remember the words attributed to an anonymous Exhibit Developer:  Create without fear; edit without mercy! 



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Creative Design Toolbox: The Public Domain Project

Pond5 has created an important resource for designers and developers, called The Public Domain Project.

As the name implies, the site provides photos, illustrations, video footage, effects, and 3D models that are all in the public domain (which means FREE to use!)  Instead of searching the archives of NASA, The Library of Congress, museums, and countless other online collections, The Public Domain Project brings it all together in one easily searchable site.

The Public Domain Project also has created searchable collections, sorted into topics such as military, space, classic sports, and fashion and style.

So if you work on projects that require media of different sorts, click on over to The Public Domain Project to learn more!

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P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

From Facebook To Fairbanks!

I'm on my way to Alaska (for the very first time!) to work with the fine folks at the newly opened Fairbanks Children's Museum.  I don't tell you that just to share my travel itinerary (but if you want to check in on my exploits, feel free to follow me on Twitter (@museum_exhibits) or on Facebook.)

The main reason I'm writing about this at all is that one Facebook post about the Northern Lights (below) got picked up by my museum network, and that one post led directly to my trip to Fairbanks.

So what does this have to do with you? Two things:  

1) Make sure what you are putting out on Social Media is interesting and/or useful to to other folks. 

2) Keep track of the folks in your network often, not just when you need and/or want something from them.


There's a reason it's called SOCIAL media after all.  It should be more like talking to a friend, not making a sales call with every Tweet or LinkedIn entry.  Really, do you want to be that person who turns every conversation into an annoying sales pitch?

Ideally people in your Social Network(s) should be providing you interesting information, advice, news, and yes even the occasional goofy video or article that they liked --- and you should do the same.

I've met Brenda Riley, the Executive Director of the Fairbanks Children's Museum, at several museum conferences, and I've always thought,  "this is a fun and smart person who is working on an awesome project.  I need to keep track of her and her museum, so I should friend her on Facebook, and tell her about my blog, so that when the opportunity to work together comes up, we'll be on each other's radar screens."

And really at this point, that's my business plan: work with fun and smart people who are making awesome things.  Social media (for me at least) is a way to stay in touch with all those future creative partners.

Maybe Social Media won't bring you to Alaska, but who knows where it could lead you?



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.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Inspiration Is For The Birds!

"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work."  ~ Chuck Close

I love that quote from artist Chuck Close, and firmly believe that the way to get better at anything is to just do it -- a lot!

Despite that, I often come across things that fill me, if not with inspiration exactly, then certainly with great admiration, and spur me on to make my work better.

Often these things draw from nature, and that's certainly the case for the two bird-related examples below:

The first is an app called Merlin, produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that allows you to identify birds through a few simple steps.

Merlin encompasses everything you could want in an app --- clean design, intuitive interfaces, and the capacity to dig deeper into information that interests you.  Merlin could easily serve as a model to designers and content developers everywhere for making scientific content more accessible.

Just answer five simple questions about a bird you are trying to identify, and Merlin will come up with a list of possible matches. The app customizes your list to the species you are most likely to have seen at your location and time of year.

Highly recommended!

The second noteworthy recent find is the website creating a digital version of John J. Audubon's Birds of America.  The Audubon website draws  from an 1840 “First Octavo Edition” of Audubon's complete seven volume text, and also presents the images and original text descriptions. Bird species can be found listed alphabetically, or categorized by family.  Audubon's drawings of some species' anatomical features are also included in a separate Figures section.  
 
There are also very high-resolution scans of the original plates. (Some of them are over 14MB in size!) These beautiful images are of such high quality that you can zoom in and see the amazing detail in Audubon's watercolors.

The website serves as another great example for ways of presenting powerful original materials through the thoughtful (and accessible!) use of digital tools.

 

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.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Like what you read on ExhibiTricks? Click on over to the main POW! website to find out more about working with Paul Orselli.

The Missing Ingredient In Exhibition Narratives?

I've been helping to develop some really great exhibitions recently, and one common thread between these eclectic projects is that they all feature prominent "Big Ideas" inside strong narrative arcs.

I've written before about the importance of finding these Big Ideas inside exhibitions, but one thing struck me recently about these exhibition narratives: it's not just about telling a compelling story, but instead framing the story in a way that will compel visitors to tell it to other people.

Museums often have a way of talking at folks instead of allowing visitors the space (and respect) to find the parts of the exhibition narrative that are so exciting and meaningful that they can't help but tell their friends and family about them!

And that's the heart of "word of mouth" advertising isn't it?

It might seem like a self-evident thing, but setting up exhibition stories so that visitors can (and will!) tell them to others has helped to shift my thinking about how to craft narrative exhibition experiences that are more fulfilling.


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.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

FREE Exhibit Design Resources

Who doesn't like free stuff?  Here are some links to some great exhibit design resources that come from the POW! website:

The Great Big Exhibit Resource List
A constantly updated compendium of resources for museum design and exhibit fabrication (including websites and contact information.



Downloadable Exhibit Articles: 
"Producing Great Exhibits on a (Not So Great) Budget"
My article from the January/February 2014 issue of ASTC's Dimensions magazine. Some simple, inexpensive ways to add to your exhibits program.


"Green Design Nuts and Bolts"
An article jam-packed with resources and techniques to help you expand your green exhibit design toolkit.

"Million Dollar Pencils and Duct Tape: Some Thoughts on Prototyping"
Concrete examples and tips about how to move through each phase of the exhibit prototyping process.

"Good Things Come In Small Packages" (Small Museums Article)
Lessons learned from over thirty years of working with a variety of different types and sizes of museums.


Have some free exhibit resources of your own to recommend?  Let us know more 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.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)