(Project 10 / 10)
Exhibition — Art Direction, Editorial
Glasgow — 2023
Open Room
An exhibition of contemporary design, written for the visitor.
(Overview)
Open Room is a ten-week exhibition of contemporary furniture, objects and graphic design by makers working in Scotland, held in a former tram depot in Glasgow. We designed the exhibition graphics, the catalogue and the campaign, working with the curators from the first room plan.
Design exhibitions often assume visitors already know the field. The curators wanted a show that someone who came in to shelter from the rain could follow, so every decision started with the label rather than the poster.
The identity is built from three solid shapes in the depot’s original paint colours. They mark the three sections of the show, each with its own colour, on the walls, in the catalogue and on the tickets.
Write labels for the visitor, not the lender.
(Catalogue)
A catalogue that works as a guide on the day.
The 96-page catalogue follows the route through the depot, room by room, and fits in a coat pocket. Each work has one photograph, one paragraph from the maker and the label number used on the wall, so the book and the room can be read together.
(Labels & wayfinding)
Labels are set large enough to read without stepping over the barrier line, and each one answers the same three questions in the same order: who made it, what it’s made of, and why it’s here. Large-print and audio versions use the same numbering.
The route is marked on the floor in the colour of each section, so visitors know where they are without reading a map.
Outcome: [X] visitors over ten weeks, with the catalogue reprinted in week [Y].
The comments book was full of people saying they didn’t think design was for them, until now.
Credits
- Client
- Open Room, Glasgow
- Exhibition graphics
- Morrow Studio
- Catalogue & campaign
- Morrow Studio
- Curation
- [Curator names]
- Exhibition build
- [Fabricator name]
- Photography
- [Photographer name]
(Overview)
A ten-week exhibition of contemporary furniture, objects and graphic design, held in a former tram depot in Glasgow. We designed the graphics, catalogue and campaign.
The curators wanted a show that someone sheltering from the rain could follow, so every decision started with the label rather than the poster.
Write labels for the visitor, not the lender.
(Catalogue)
A catalogue that works as a guide on the day.
96 pages, pocket-sized, following the route room by room. Each work has one photograph, one paragraph from the maker and the label number used on the wall.
(Labels & wayfinding)
Every label answers the same three questions in the same order: who made it, what it’s made of, why it’s here. The route is marked on the floor in each section’s colour.
Outcome: [X] visitors over ten weeks; the catalogue was reprinted in week [Y].
The comments book was full of people saying they didn’t think design was for them, until now.
Credits
- Client
- Open Room
- Graphics & catalogue
- Morrow Studio
- Curation
- [Curators]
- Photography
- [Photographer]
