About the research
My research will involve both a dissertation and major design work, and will take a three-pronged approach. Firstly, it will look at what literature is already out there relating to the design of exhibitions, specifically in regards to typography and the need for typefaces that can be adapted to multilingual exhibitions. Secondly, I hope to interview leaders in the field of exhibition design in order to gain an understanding of how typography is playing a role in creating narratives within exhibitions, and so creating meaning for visitors. Thirdly, the design of The Rescuers exhibition will be undertaken for both Bosnian and Cambodian showings.
About the exhibition
Photo: Riccardo Gangale
The Rescuers is a photographic exhibition the tells the stories of people who saved the lives of 'others' during times of genocide. Included are people from Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and across Holocaust Europe. The exhibition is curated by Leora Kahn of PROOF: Media for Social Justice. Leora is a Fellow of Genocide Studies at Yale University, and has many years experience as a photo editor.
The exhibition will travel to Bosnia, where it will be in English and Bosnian, and Cambodia, where it will be in Khmer only. This raises some interesting challenges for the type design, particularly in terms of understanding the limitations that some typefaces have when language conversions are attempted.
The designs will be quite independent on one another also in terms of materials and location. The Bosnian exhibition will be outdoor and free-standing, while in Cambodia it will be on wall-mounted panels.
For more information on the exhibition and PROOF, go to http://www.proofmsj.org/rescuers.html#
Below is a more detailed research proposal.
Abstract
This proposal outlines the research that will be undertaken in the field of graphic design, specifically typography for the exhibition space that is bilingually adaptable. Incorporated into this will be a look into contemporary exhibition design practices from the perspective of designers, typographers and commissioners of projects, and why it is necessary to create meaningful text that can be adaptable to various countries/languages. Incorporates the creation of a photographic exhibition, “The Rescuers”, which will be exhibited in three languages in two countries.
Introduction
The research undertaken will look specifically into the current practices of designers who use typography to create meaning for visitors of exhibitions. Furthermore, it will look into the ways in which designers resolve typographic issues when designing for exhibitions that will be shown in various countries in other languages, but still need to retain design conformity. This requires secondary study into the study of exhibiting ‘others’, the display of photography and type, and the design of typefaces for legibility and style.
The research will also include the design of two travelling exhibitions, both titled “The Rescuers”; one that will be designed in Bosnian and English and shown in Bosnia, the other in Khmer and shown in Cambodia. These designs will be informed, in part, by their English-language only counterparts, which were shown in the US in 2010-11, but will require a complete re-design due to large variations in content and printing specifications. In this way, the exhibitions will be new designs in themselves.
Research Aims
To date, research that focuses specifically on typography for exhibition design appears to be somewhat limited. Additionally, as exhibitions increasingly travel to more than one country, it is important to address the need for typographic design to be adaptable across several languages. Therefore, this research has two main aims: firstly, to look into the practices of contemporary designers, typographers and the commissioners of exhibition design projects, with a view of understanding the challenges they face and how they resolve such challenges. Secondly, the research aims to resolve the typographic issues above by designing two versions of a photographic exhibition in three languages (Bosnian/English and Khmer), to be shown in two countries (Bosnia and Cambodia, respectively). An initial English-language only version of the exhibition will be used as a springboard for the two exhibitions, as it usefully contains several errors that must be resolved, including the choice of typeface and legibility issues.
Literature Review
The literature review section of the research will concentrate on issues of visual culture, particularly in relation to the exhibition of ‘others’, museology practices, with particular reference to design practices for the inclusion of visitors, and typographic design for communicating meaning. To date, several key literatures include the list of references found at the end of this proposal.
Interviews
It is vital to this research that new information be sourced from designers and curators in the field, as there is very little research on typography-specific exhibition design. The interviews will seek information relating to the importance exhibition designers and curators place on type as a way of creating meaningful texts for visitors, and type designers on the importance of designing for multilingual application. A specific list of potential interviewees will be compiled, and an interview format created. This aims to provide both quantitive data, in terms of the most frequently used typefaces and issues faced by designers, and qualitative data, in terms of the resolution of issues and the perceived importance of typography in exhibition design.
Interviews will also be conducted with the curator of “The Rescuers” and random visitors to the exhibition (where possible) to ascertain whether or not design issues specific to “The Rescuers” have been resolved.
Tentative overview of dissertation structure
Introduction
Aims of the research
Literature Review
Contemporary practices of exhibition design commissioners
Contemporary Practices of Exhibition Designers
Typography for Multilingual design
“The Rescuers”
o Background Information
o Initial design issues (with images)
o The Bosnian design (with images)
o The Khmer design (with images)
o Conclusions
Conclusion
Exhibition Design
The design of both the Bosnian and Cambodian exhibitions are due to be completed by June, and as such, the initial design, as well as the literature review, will inform the design process. After the design is complete, interviews with visitors to and the curator of the exhibition will be interviewed, as well as other professionals in the exhibition design and typography fields.
It should be noted that there are some aspects of the design that are the responsibility of the exhibition curator, such as final say over production materials and the editing of content.
Timeline 2011
March-April
Reading and research for literature review
May-June
Exhibition design
June to July
Interviews and data collection
August-October
Writing and editing of dissertation
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