Designing and producing a historical exhibit that showcases the role of business in graphic design.
Project Includes:
Problem:
Developing a meaningful and engaging exhibit with a minimal budget and historic graphic design work.
Project Limitations:
• Eight month timeline
• 4 person team
• Minimal budget
My Role:
• Project manager
• Designer
Solution:
A business-based exhibit, highlighting specific companies and the role of graphic design in a company.
The West Michigan Graphic Design Archives was established to preserve the graphic design legacy of the region. Housed since 2017 at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center in Kalamazoo, the collection continues to grow through curation led by the founders Barbara Loveland and Linda Powell, who were previous Ferris State University design faculty. To promote the Archives, the work, and graphic design as a whole, they wanted to put on an exhibit in April in the Ferris State University Fine Art Gallery.
The team determined three main objectives:
Before we started the creative process, the team determined our audience of the exhibit:
After a few months of concepting and development, we arrived at Unexpected Choices: Achieving Business Goals Through Graphic Design. We worked with the expertise of a copywriter, printers at Brightformat, the gallery director, and other staff at Ferris State University who were willing to donate their time and materials to make the exhibit possible.
The exhibit highlights five companies in the West Michigan area. These businesses trusted graphic designers to make new or complex products and ideas clear and engaging, and the designers delivered fresh and innovative communications that informed and amused their audience.
Promotional Marketing Materials
To promote the exhibit, we utilized postcards, a promotional website, social media, and emails.
Exhibit Space
One of my teammates and I were the lead designers of the exhibit space. We curated pieces based not only on the context of each piece and what it brought to the business, but also the level of interest the work would bring to an exhibit and how it fit into the space. The exhibited pieces were a mix of original work and re-prints as to not damage the fragile work.
