Week 2

Museum research:

There is a company named Museum Exhibition Designers that currently exists that transform design and ideas into museum exhibits, however I want to take it one step further and ensure as a design studio we would generate exhibits with sustainability in mind.

I have picked the Design Museum as I know they are actively hosting exhibitions involving sustainability – Adidas x Parley collab in the museum is how I discovered Parley in the first place (a brand I follow closely). I have also looked at interesting articles which have shown that museums are a great place to work to further a design career. One example is:

“Designers start their work on computers and finish in the galleries, which means the museum itself is often an extension of the team’s studio. The spatial aspect of exhibition design—how colors, type, and size work at scale—often means a designer will have to totally retool their design once it’s on a wall. “We’ve all gotten really good with tape measures,” Bochem-Shur says. It’s physical work, too—a departure for most of the staff, which has spent their careers working on screen.” – eyeondesign

This is something I would absolutely love to experience; whether I will or not is a different story but for now this is what my brief is going to be! Aside from loving museums, I’ve always been fascinated with how large scale work is displayed and how the format changes completely in an exhibit – for example large scale wall decals are often mapped out digitally. It’s different to printing out paper artefacts.

I’ve also been drawn to the mention of Tim Burton (potentially my favourite director/producer/artist/writer/animator) and how they would have to incorporate customised typefaces for an exhibit:

“Designing for the exhibitions begins with research. First the curators share their thesis, then it’s up to the designers to translate that vision clearly and effectively. Sometimes that means keeping the design understated and letting the graphics act as a quiet backdrop for the art. Other times that means creating a bespoke typeface (like the one inspired by the handwriting of filmmaker Tim Burton, for his MoMA retrospective) and figuring out how to creatively present information on the walls. “Ideally it’s a collaboration,” Saatdjian says of working with curators.”

Dezeen have a great section of exhibition design, also.

NHM ‘Colour and Vision’ exhibition shows how text, graphics and objects are displayed effectively in a museum exhibition. Lighting is also a huge factor; if an exhibition runs for a longer period then bright light could fade artefacts. This has to be considered when designing. Text must be large scale and readable from afar. I notice they use a lot of plastic – is there a way I could combat this and provide an alternative?
This link from the Museum’s Victoria in Australia is a great guide to how to present exhibition design.
Museum planner is a fantastic insight to how designers curate exhibitions within a museum, this wouldn’t necessarily be the job of a design studio. Design studios would just design the collateral for the exhibit, and the museum itself would arrange the layout.

The Design Museum / Sustainability

I want to look at the design museum as a client because they have actively promoted and hosted sustainability through their exhibitions. I have visited the museum twice and both times I remember seeing exhibits/displays that raised questions around the topic of environmentally friendly design. The one I remember seeing is ‘Fear and Love – Reactions to a Complex World‘ where I saw Christien Meindertsma’s Fibre Market.

Exploring how machinery can recycle old material to create something new.

Bio-Logics

A project targeting industrial production of the fashion industry – minimising the use of water in textile dyes by growing bacteria directly onto the textiles instead. This process uses 500 times less water than usual.

The Other Way: Designing A Sustainable Tomorrow

Exploring how science and technology can build a better, sustainable and resilient world in future through design and architecture.

Future Fossil: Workshop

An exhibition exploring the way how we live now shapes our future – through creating imaginary futuristic rocks of London where pollution is present. The aim is to imagine new relationships with nature for a sustainable future.

It’s clear from some of these example sustainable exhibitions above that the design museum are seriously considering sustainability in their exhibits. I want to present my studio/business as a sustainable studio that actively strive for ethical and environmentally practice throughout the design process.

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