Promotional Design (for Museum Exhibitions)

In my research I was struggling to find articles specifically on promotional design for museum exhibitions, so I decided to try researching just exhibition design. With this, I got a lot of information on how to arrange exhibitions and tips on how to make an exhibition successful. From that, I figured that a lot of the ways to make an exhibition successful would correlate to the promotional aspects of that exhibition. Keeping that in mind, one of the key concepts of exhibition and promotional design is that it is content driven. You are supposed to tell a story with your promotional pieces so that individuals will actually want to experience that story at the museum. Another tip is to create a linear flow, you want your graphics to connect just like the exhibition itself does. Using key elements throughout the signage and brochures is an easy to create this flow and also aids with the storytelling aspect. Another key aspect of exhibition design that can be brought to the promotional side is the idea of keeping a central audience in mind. The promotional pieces for an exhibit for kids would be completely different designs than for an exhibition on a serial killer or something along those lines.

After searching for content on exhibitions in particular, I broaden my research to promotional design for museums in general. Again, the concepts from here can connect to promotional design for an exhibit. The key components, to me, were creating a fluid and complete design system. In the article by It’s Nice Thatabout London’s design museum, one of the designers, Morag Myerscough, of the museum and its identity said: “It is important to get ideas across, start dialogues and understand the world around us.” I personally feel that promotional design is one of the ways to do that. By showing people a glimpse into the little world that is a museum, people can get excited to go visit and eventually learn about whatever the exhibit was about.

The fact that a lot of steps and iteration is involved in designing the physical exhibition, I imagine the same amount of effort goes into designing the promotional pieces because it must get across the same message as the exhibit while inviting people to attend. So, I decided to research a little bit on design systems and the steps involved to creating one, especially since it would be so pertinent to promotional design of the exhibition. For a complete design system, it is a lot of the stuff we have to put on our mood boards or proposals for a project. Obviously, that is a very early version of the design system, but it is a start. I have to think about things like typography, color, patterns that can utilized, a visual language (including images, logos, illustrations, etc), and how I can connect all of these individual elements together.

My favorite part of the research process is getting to connect with visual examples. Below are some of promotional pieces that I appreciated and some that may be able to connect to my project. Some of these pieces are actually for exhibits and others are just promotional designs for sales and things.

Left: I think how this piece folds makes it interesting and fun to interact with. Middle: I like how this piece causes you to open it up to get more information. Right: I enjoy the subtle uses of color and how this piece folds.

Left: This brochure is different with having the type cut out and not just being part of the page. It brings it more life. Middle: This museum poster is fun because each letter gives you a sneak peak to what is shown at the museum. Right: This piece is minimal in both color and design, but the sneak peak of the folded paper makes me want to look closer.

Left: This piece was inspiration on how to connect different posters with colors, patterns, and typography. Right: I enjoy the pop of color and the use of shapes instead of just place the pictures.

Left: I like the use of color in this piece and the overall simple and straightforward quality it has. Right: This piece is black and white but its interesting aspect comes from the patterns on the piece and how the designer decided to make it fold.

I think this is my favorite piece (out of the inspirations) because of the clever use of gray to make the poster look like it is loading. This is a fun concept that can be played with on all the design elements.

Left: I like how this brochure folds, it reminds me of sticky notes. I also enjoyed the combination of simple type with the bright patterns. Right: This promotional piece is fun because of the use of photography/design. The designer really paid attention to how these bags would be used and used that to their advantage.

This is an overall summary of promotional design in the world of museum exhibitions:

Promotional Design Objectives

· Raise interest in and honor the subject

· Get patrons to the museum

· Inform and educate patrons

· Enhance the reputation of the museum

· Encourage membership

Examples of Promotional Design

· Website

· Invitation

· Banner(s)

· Poster(s)

· Brochure

· Catalog

· Entrance wall sign

· Exhibition signage

· Shop items

Sources:

http://www.teamdesignshop.com/blog/2014-01-23-10-tips-museum-exhibit-design-success

https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/02/museum-design-principles-content/

https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/how-to-design-a-museum-londons-new-design-museum-181116

Design Systems Handbook

Pictures from pinterest:

https://pin.it/j3ko6mctcgnsrt