People often think of designers as belonging in their own separate silos. You know, web designer, print designer, graphic designer, even interior designer or architect. Truth is, we’re pretty good at self-identifying along those lines, and for lots of good reasons. I personally feel that knowing your own limitations is essential to success – I try hard to be realistic about mine. I don’t do anything professionally that I’m not really good at – I’d rather hire a team member to cover those tasks, and I think my clients would rather that I did that too. My own particular niche is pretty specialized – I often describe it as the intersection of environmental graphics and industrial design. My degree is in Industrial Design, but due to the serendipity that life serves up, I ended up doing work that built on my previous experience as a cabinetmaker. My son was born during my grad year of ID, so holding out for a “pure” Industrial Design job was not an option, but doing exhibit, furnishings and signage definitely was. This area of design was perfect for me – it built on my previous experience and my personal strengths in design. And so my silo was constructed.
As much as I know what I’m good at and what I’m not – the limits of my silo, so to speak, I always have an interest in what other design specialties do, and how and why they do it. I frequently work with Landscape Architects on outdoor interpretation and signage projects (in fact, I seem to have become the go-to guy for quite a few firms) and respect their skill at turning spaces into places. They employ a number of principles and techniques that I’ve found transfer quite neatly to the indoor spaces of museums. One of their best tricks is to set up interesting, and ideally, surprising views within the landscape. Walk around any successfully designed outdoor space and you will encounter those wonderful view surprises that reveal themselves to you. I’ve come to believe that museum exhibits need those kinds of experiences too. Even if I’m working with a linear story, I’ve found that those moments can be provided by creating views from one zone or section to another. My Landscape Architect friends sometimes like to frame those views so that your attention is drawn to a single striking feature. We can do the same indoors by making the most of a special artifact or dramatic lighting effect, sometimes revealing it only fleetingly, creating an appetite for more. Other times, they will contrast a near view by suddenly revealing a broad vista or forced perspective as you move through the space. We can do this indoors as well, by varying the rhythm of smaller spaces with wider, more expansive ones. I believe that these moments of delightful revelation as we move from one view to another give our eyes a rest by providing a brief distant focus, and provide a teaser of more good things to come.
Designing in these special moments can make museum experiences richer and more memorable for visitors, just as they do for great landscape settings. And just like with great landscapes, that can lead us to want visit again and again.
What other things can we learn from peeking over the edge of our own individual silos? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this.
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