EXHIBIT DESIGN

Posted: January 4th, 2023

EXHIBIT DESIGN

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Exhibit Design

Background

Exhibition design, also called exhibit design, is the act of creating or developing an exhibit from a concept to a physical nature, often depicted in three-dimension. Exhibition designers tend to employ a broad range of techniques and technologies to form experiences that will relate with a wide category of audiences – allowing the targeted groups to reach the stories, objects, and messages of the exhibit. Nowadays, many types of exhibitions are available, ranging from trade shows to gallery exhibitions, with all these approaches aiming at relaying a message by taking into account their audiences in persuasive and important interactions.[1] Public historians recognize the field as a collaborative process that integrates many aspects, while involving and engaging a user and impacting on their familiarity with the subject. Throughout the process of designing and planning, the designers work in collaboration with other qualified personnel, as well as other stakeholders who really matter to them such as members of the community. The study pays considerable attention on the importance of embracing advanced technology while designing an exhibition, and informs on the need for current scholars to inform about the challenges design exhibitors face, and how they might overcome the constraints. The findings are significant in shaping the current nature exhibit designers who get to understand the importance of why applying advanced technology may transform how they perform their duties, as well as improve communication with the audience.

Gap Analysis

Before dwelling further into the topic, it is crucial to gain a more clear understanding of what an exhibit entails. Bitgood asserts that confusion sometimes occur when the term ‘exhibit’ is utilized. It is sometimes utilized to refer to single display, sometime applied to a series of displays focusing on the same specific issue, for instance, how a plane flies, and sometimes utilized to refer to a broad collection of displays with a common theme. Bitgood further separates between an exhibit unit (a single display) and an exhibit group (two or more displays focusing on the same issue), and an exhibition area that refers to a gathering of displays with the same general theme, to distinguish among the three likely uses of exhibit.[2] The author refers to an exhibit unit as a combination of two forms; the relationship or configuration among the elements and exhibit components. Bitgood while making clear the components of an exhibit argues that an exhibit comprises of one or more of the following aspects; the first is the exhibit objects, the second is communication media, and the third is information to be communicated, entailing the use of language.[3] Bitgood, however, remind readers that an exhibit unit may not only include the three components because a text panel only would be termed as an exhibit, even though not essentially a predominantly effective one. Some exhibitions may also only include text information and media as it happens with an interactive computer system.

The exhibit objects might be anything that would capture the audiences’ attention. This could be a painting, a piece of furniture, a sculpture, or a piece of an American, or a Japanese, or Chinese artifact in an art museum or gallery. The objects could also be mounted or live animals in a zoo or natural museum. Whereas some scholars might argue that scientific exhibit appliances that try to describe a principle of science are often not perceived as exhibit objects, Bitgood argues that they are.[4] For instance, an electric circuit that the exhibitor is expected to link to a battery is perceived to be an exhibit item because the presentation has a tangible or visible component that does not give text information. Usually, art museum exhibits put much focus on objects such as sculpture and painting with text and media information usually serving a secondary purpose, although the audiences typically prefer more content if presented in an appealing form.[5] Other exhibitions such as the interactive computer may have a communication media apparatus as well as information, but could lack proper exhibit items.

Regarding communication media, almost every exhibition has some form of vehicle or device for presenting the text information. Actually, texts that do not offer text information are often misperceived by the audience. Text information may be issued using many forms of communication media or devices. The medium in this scenario could be as complex as a label tag or as intricate as an interactive computer system. Other than label panels that are often used, diagram panels, videos, computers, audio tapes, graphic maps, slide or flip panels, slides, video discs, museum guides, and hand-held exhibit guides also act as forms of communication media.[6]

Concerning the text information, which is the third component of an exhibition, it emerges that evaluation of the text information aspect on an exhibit is more intricate than that of communication media and objects. Because the educational messages of an exhibit are showed in either auditory or written format, the utilization of language is a vital aspect of the effects the exhibit yields.[7] The text information aspect primarily focuses on language, both in terms of meaning and how it is presented. The text information that could refer to both verbal and written information could be viewed in two perspectives; text configuration and text material.[8] The latter includes both meaning and physical structure. It is good to remember that while the physical features of text are essential for attracting the visitors’ attention, the structure and meaning of text are crucial for transmitting the exhibit’s message. Other than the meaning and structure of a particular text material and its physical characteristics, one must take into account how the text content is configured.[9] Some of the common configurable relationships that may be essential include the spatial connection between the visitor and the text, the distance between a given group of text and another, the relative placement of panels of text on a vertical spectrum, and the size of panels of texts, which could evoke the notion of whether larger sizes imply more essential.   

Other than the exhibit components (text information, media, and objects) that constitute the initial component of an exhibit unit, an exhibition design must take into account the second primary factor, which is how the exhibit elements are configured (arranged or organized in relation to each other. In an appropriate exhibition, the media and object must be placed by exhibit designers in such a way that enhances rather than interferes with the delivery of the informative messages.[10] Aesthetic factors, of course, must also serve a purpose in the configuration of the components. Nonetheless, what always pleases or displeases the designer is not often what pleases or displeases the audience and vice versa. For instance, as many have come to learn during formative evaluation programs and projects, designers are more often not happy with the uncompleted look of artificial mock-up labels, while the audience does not seem to share the opinion.

For discussion purposes the relationships among the components of exhibit units will be put into two categories, spatial relationships and other forms of relationships. Spatial relationship refers to the space between the visitor and the exhibit. Visitor space in this case refers to the area in which the visitor is permitted to move, while exhibit space refers to the area that bounds the components of the exhibit. In many if not all exhibitions, the visitor has constrained access to the exhibit space by being denied access into the exhibit or touching the object.[11] The visitors are restricted to a particular path, although in some exhibits visitors and exhibit’s space may overlap. For instance, in immersion or walk-through exhibits, the visitors walk into the exhibit environment and are engulfed by exhibition components. In interactive and hands-on exhibits, the audience may be permitted to touch the objects and the communication devices, and it studied that exhibits that permit access to the exhibit space, either by walking into the space or touching them, seem to create more extended attention. Nevertheless, other forms of relationships among exhibit features other than space must be taken into account. The perceived size of one object with regard to other objects and media is essential in getting audience attention. Often, exhibit designers when exhibiting a small item reduce the size of the whole exhibit so that the main object is not lost in the surrounding. The relative size of an item may also communicate what the designer thinks is essential. So too with an audience, a relatively wide object may be viewed as being more essential than smaller items. Other forms of relationships among media and objects are likely to impact the audience. Bitgood argues that an object can get emphasis by putting it with smaller items, by putting it in front or top of distinctive item, by placing it in front of a unique shape, or texture, and by distinctively lighting of the item.

Exhibitors today seem to know the importance of being keen on the relationships among the components of exhibit units, and various organizations embrace mechanisms that they feel are appropriate for their visitors. Lu writes that museums usually embrace story telling in their interpretive structure by using audiovisual aids to reveal the meanings embedded in artifacts.[12] It emerges, however, that other than audiovisual techniques, the architecture of the museum can be viewed as a medium of spatial storytelling, particularly of historical time, which is expressed cognitively and spatially for the people visiting museums. An excellent instance of a spatial form of telling a story is the YVHHM in Jerusalem that productively creates an architectural view and thereby displays, exposes the nature of things during the Holocaust. Lu who utilizes the case study of YVHHM as the research method concludes that the architectural landscape of YVHHM provides an excellent example of how the Jewish people utilize the notion of relationship with space.[13]

Clear gaps exist in the literature regarding exhibit design, which requires concerned groups to take appropriate measures towards addressing the issues. One of the evident features is whereas most of the scholars in this area focus on the structural aspect of an exhibition, including mode of presentation, very few seem to shed adequate light onto how technology is transforming how exhibit designers perform or could carry out their duties.[14] Developing more works on how using more powerful computers and effective software, and how the emergence of new and improved interfaces offer the chance to attract more audiences as well as capture their attention could present new ideas as well as solve the new problems associated with telling past stories by exhibition designers. Other than gaining a new way of presenting the message to the audience, the team working with the exhibit designer shall gain proper insight of handling information, as well as relieve the information overload that sometimes cause information overload. Rieland argues that technology is transforming art in unique but new forms, and that technology offers artists with new forms to express themselves for a very long time now. Even as few scholars enlighten on how exhibit design could be improved by using advanced technology, it now common knowledge that over the past few decades, tech and art have increasingly become intertwined than ever before, whether it is through offering new forms to mix different forms of media, permitting more human interactions, or just making the act of creating it much easier.

The other evident gap is very few scholars highlight the complications that designers experience while going about their work, especially when it has to do with informing the audience about past events and incidences through a particular object. The literature ought to inform about some of the factors in the macro and micro environment that influence the functioning of exhibit designers, and come up with literature that informs how to deal with the issue.[15] The other issue that requires more attention from scholars is the lack of adequate knowledge on how to handle some of the critical processes of exhibit design, which derails how the professions handle the different components of exhibition. Pop and Borza try to highlight some of the technology-related issues that make it difficult to employ advanced operations while designing an exhibition although the area requires more evaluation.

Ethical Ramifications

The study offers valuable insight that shape integrity, transparency, and accountability in the historical profession. The study informs about the importance of presenting an exhibition in a way that is easy for the audience to understand the true meanings of the objects displayed. Furthermore, it enlightens about the need for integrity in the historical profession by encouraging leaders in institutions that display art assist whenever possible to attain the desired goals and objectives.[16] Numerous studies inform about the possibilities of attaining the desired objectives when leaders work closely with the junior employees to deal with the problematic issues.[17] It happens that leadership is a crucial element of management, which assists to maximize efficiency and to attain the organizational goals and objectives. It is now clear that without the guidance of proper leadership, many areas of the business are likely to be dormant. Strong leadership, on the other hand, can assist a company to improve productivity and attain the organizational goals. More importantly, the study informs about accountability in the way it challenges professionals in the field to be clear on the factors that could prevent the designers from organizing a show that is likely to impact on the audience in a positive manner.

Implications

The literature on exhibit design depicts some considerable evolution over time. The early scholars in this field seem to have paid much attention on the structure of the exhibit and what entails the designing process. The information the early scholars in this area provided was and is still important, especially to museums or other organizations that are yet to capture better insight on how to design an exhibition while taking the key components into account.[18] Also, it was rare to come across writings that address the complications exhibit designers experience in their work, particularly when it has to inform the public about historical artifacts or any other for that matter. The changes that have taken place over the years, nevertheless, creates a scenario where it is now possible to come across works that inform about how to improve operations in a gallery or museum using technology aided systems.[19] Furthermore, scholars nowadays accept technology-related presentations to qualify as objects provided they can promote interaction. Karaata’s article, for example, offers numerous insights into the usage of artificial intelligence in developing various designs in the today’s competitive environment. Karaata writes that even as technology grows and more people and organizations are turning to computers, advanced applications inevitably enter the field of exhibit design.[20] Pop and Borza, on the other hand, inform about the hurdles exhibit designers experience in the modern world, with regard to use of technology to achieve competitive advantage.[21] They address poor managerial plans and inadequate skills and knowledge to be some of the leading issues that affect the performance of exhibit designers and calls for the adoption of more effective resolutions.

Several opportunities exist for future research considering the gaps the study addresses. Other than understanding the processes associated with planning and designing an exhibition, the future is likely to witness a scenario where more practitioners see the need to understand how to employ sophisticated technology and to address the issues that exhibit designers experience while going about their operations. Currently, so many learning institutions offer valuable insight on technology use in a broad area of study, as well as touch on so many issues that affect exhibit designers in their job.[22][23] Hopefully, such institutions of higher learning are likely to become more influential in the coming years because of the useful knowledge they shall relay, as well as because of the more effective approaches they will use to train people.[24] The increased desire to know, as well as the development of more training facilities offers good opportunities for future research on matters affecting technology use in exhibit design and the hardships practitioners face in their day-to-day operations.

Furthering the mission of public history requires the adoption of effective measures. A suitable way to achieve the desired objectives based on the identified gaps would be to adopt improved technological operations. Today, technology is changing almost every sector and the work of informing members of the public about historical events and artifacts through well formed exhibit designs would not fail due to improper application of technology.[25] The gap challenges operators to consider embracing some of the advanced forms such as artificial intelligence (AI) that is already changing the way organization and non-state agencies go about their activities.[26] Using AI could improve communication media, and telling the story behind an artifact may take a new twist. Using AI in communication media, for instance, may allow the visitors to acquire much insight about a topic because the machine has the ability to think, and would respond effectively to the queries it encounters. Exhibit designers may use the handwriting recognition software that has the capacity to read the information written by either a stylus or a pen on screen or paper.[27] Alternatively, the exhibit designers could use intelligent robots that can do a lot of functions within a short time. Utilizing the latest technology such as AI could make it easy for professionals in the field of public history as well as exhibit designers to reduce errors, and handle a lot of tasks without fatigue. The machines have the capacity to carry out more laborious tasks with greater efficiency, which makes it necessary for operators to embrace it. Even though adopting such technology could be quite costly and may lead to the displacement of human labor, the nature of exhibition is likely to change for the better.   

Conclusion

The study elaborates the major gaps on the literature detailing exhibit designing, and puts stress on the essence of enlightening on the benefits of advanced technology, as well as on the hardships associated with being an exhibit designer. So many scholars pay a lot of attention to the processes associated with setting up successful exhibitions while focusing a lot on the components of an exhibition. It is critical to expose exhibit designers to a wide range of information regarding how to improve their work, and this may include notifying them how to use advanced forms such as AI to improve the experience of passing the message to the audience regarding the object, and to improve the way of preserving the data that continues to grow on daily basis. The findings of the study have important ethical concerns as well as challenges professionals to find ways of using advanced technology, as well as to deal with the issues that could prevent the attainment of the desired goals and objectives. It is encouraging that many scholars nowadays understand the importance of using technology in exhibit design and are increasingly coming up with literature that inform about the merits associated with using the improved forms. Otherwise, failing to address the issues could result in a scenario where exhibit designers are unable to meet the demands of the modern-day visitors who want to see improved aspects of operations. Professionals need to borrow some of the vital lessons they can acquire from the study and apply them in their activities in a way that is likely to yield the anticipated results.

Bibliography

Al Khajeh, Ebrahim. “Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Performance.” Journal of Human Resources Management Research, doi: 10.5171/2018.687849

Bitgood, Stephen. “The Anatomy of an Exhibit.” Visitor Behavior 7, no. 4 (1992): 4–15.

Bridal, Tessa. Effective Exhibit Interpretation and Design. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013.

Falco, Federica et al. “Museum Experience Design: A Modern Storytelling Methodology.” The Design Model 20, no. 1 (2017): 34-41.

Guler, Kutay. “An Exhibition Design Checklist for Visitor Circulation.” Museum Management and Curatorship 30, no. 1 (2015): 12-19.

Hermanson, Margaret. “Catalyzing Change Through Museum Exhibits.” YouTube, Uploaded by TEDx Talks, 21 Apr 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZdqSi1R80.

Karaata, Ezgi. “Usage of Artificial Intelligence in Today’s Graphic Design.” Online Journal of Art and Design 6, no. 4 (2018): 183-198.

Kiriyama, Takashi and Sato Masahiko. “Design of Museum Exhibits and Analysis of Visitor-Exhibit Interactions.” Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments 5, no. 2 (2013): 147-159.

Lake-Hammond, Alice and Waite Noel. “Exhibition Design: Bridging the Knowledge Gap.” The Design Journal 13, no. 1 (2010): 77-98.

Lu, Fangking. “Museum Architecture as Spatial Storytelling of Historical Time: Manifesting a Primary Example of Jewish Space in Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum.” Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2017.08.002.

Marty, Paul F. “On-Line Exhibit Design: The Sociotechnological Impact of Building a Museum over the World Wide Web.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51, no. 1 (2000): 24–32.

Pop, Izabela and Borza Anca. “Technological Innovations in Museums as a Source of Competitive Advantage.” The 2^nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016 Romania, October 2016, 398-405.

Giri, Chandadevi et al. “A Detailed Review of Artificial Intelligence Applied in fashion and Apparel Industry.” IEEE Access 20, no. 3 (2017): 1-10.

Parry, Robert. Museums in a Digital Age. Routledge, 2013.

Porter, Cynthia. “The Mastery of Museum Exhibit Design.” Exhibit City News, May 21, 2019. exhibitcitynews.com/the-mastery-of-museum-exhibit-design/.

Rehling, Jack. “Letter Spirit: A Model of Visual Creativity.” Sixth International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, (2004), 249-254.

Rieland, Randy. 7 Ways Technology is Changing how Art is Made. Smithonianmag, August 27, 2014. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/7-ways-technology-is-changing-how-art-is-made-180952472/.

Savage, Adam. “Adam Savage Meets a Smithsonian Exhibit Designer.” YouTube, Uploaded by Adam Savage’s Tested, 23 Sep 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG1dNQ7RbEg.

Serrell, Beverly. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

Skydsgaard, Morten et al. “Designing Museum Exhibits That Facilitate Visitor Reflection and Discussion.” Museum Management and Curatorship 31, no. 1 (2016): 48-68.

Torpey, Maria. “Museum Work: Put Your Skills on Exhibit.” Occupational Outlook Quarterly 54, no. 2 (2010): 2-12.

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[1] Falco, Federica et al. “Museum Experience Design: A Modern Storytelling Methodology.” The Design Model 20, no. 1 (2017), 37.

[2] Stephen Bitgood. “The Anatomy of an Exhibit.” Visitor Behavior 7, no. 4 (1992), 5.

[3] Ibid, 5.

[4] Ibid, 5.

[5] Tessa Bridal. Effective Exhibit Interpretation and Design (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), 22.

[6] Bitgood, 6.

[7] Jack Rehling. “Letter Spirit: A Model of Visual Creativity.” Sixth International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, (2004), 251.

[8] Ibid, 7.

[9] Hermanson, Margaret. “Catalyzing Change Through Museum Exhibits.” YouTube, Uploaded by TEDx Talks, 21 Apr 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZdqSi1R80.

[10] Maria Topey. “Museum Work: Put Your Skills on Exhibit.” Occupational Outlook Quarterly 54, no. 2 (2010), 6.

[11] Stephen Bitgood. “The Anatomy of an Exhibit.” Visitor Behavior 7, no. 4 (1992), 8.

[12] Fangking Lu. “Museum Architecture as Spatial Storytelling of Historical Time: Manifesting a Primary Example of Jewish Space in Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum.” Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2017.08.002.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Paul Marty. “On-Line Exhibit Design: The Sociotechnological Impact of Building a Museum over the World Wide Web.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 51, no. 1 (2000), 27.

[15] Kutay Guler. “An Exhibition Design Checklist for Visitor Circulation.” Museum Management and Curatorship 30, no. 1 (2015), 17.

[16] Skydsgaard, Morten et al. “Designing Museum Exhibits That Facilitate Visitor Reflection and Discussion.” Museum Management and Curatorship 31, no. 1 (2016), 51.

[17] Ebrahim Al Khajeh. “Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Performance.” Journal of Human Resources Management Research, doi: 10.5171/2018.687849

[18] Alice Lake-Hammond and Noel Waite. “Exhibition Design: Bridging the Knowledge Gap.” The Design Journal 13, no. 1 (2010), 85.

[19] Kiriyama, Takashi and Sato Masahiko. “Design of Museum Exhibits and Analysis of Visitor-Exhibit Interactions.” Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments 5, no. 2 (2013), 151.

[20] Karaata, Ezgi. “Usage of Artificial Intelligence in Today’s Graphic Design.” Online Journal of Art and Design 6, no. 4 (2018), 188.

[21] Izabela Pop and Anca Borza. “Technological Innovations in Museums as a Source of Competitive Advantage.” The 2^nd International Scientific Conference SAMRO 2016 Romania, October 2016, 402.

[22] Adam Savage. “Adam Savage Meets a Smithsonian Exhibit Designer.” YouTube, Uploaded by Adam Savage’s Tested, 23 Sep 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG1dNQ7RbEg

[23] Beverly Serrell. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) 42.

[24] Cynthia Porter. “The Mastery of Museum Exhibit Design.” Exhibit City News, May 21, 2019. exhibitcitynews.com/the-mastery-of-museum-exhibit-design/.

[25] Parry, Robert. Museums in a Digital Age. Routledge, 2013.

[26] Chandadevi Giri et al. “A Detailed Review of Artificial Intelligence Applied in fashion and Apparel Industry.” IEEE Access 20, no. 3 (2017), 5.