The idea behind my major project at Ravensbourne is to create an experience that enhances a childs enjoyment of a museum throughout; this is to say, it doesn’t rely on a single space or object (such as activity rooms or interactive tables). The goal is to find a way to allow the child to interact with the museum as whole so that they can enjoy everything the museum has to offer as opposed to just what is ultimately targeted for children.

The direction I’m moving in is to provide the child with a camera which they can run around the museum with, taking photos of what ever captures their interest. Creating interaction through observation (I guess this is something photography essentially boils down to). Having taken their photos, the pictures are then uploaded to the museums website, where they will be tagged alongside information about the exhibition piece as well as photos others have taken. Photos can be commented on and favored by others providing a sense of community on the site.

In addition photos are uploaded to a ‘photo wall’ which displays photos children have taken along with their name and age. Having photos on display like this provides the gallery with a new and constantly changing exhibition piece, and also gives the children something to be proud of.

I have more plans for the camera as well as the photo wall, I’ll post more on that as it develops.

This morning brought about an irritating but ultimately productive set of events which gave me time to think about where this project is going, as well as where I ultimately want it to end up. What I have concluded is that I’ve been looking at it all in completely the wrong light.

In the course of my research I have come upon many companies that design and create museums, showrooms and exhibition spaces. One example would MET Studio who have developed some incredible environments that impact those who go to see the exhibition, as well as the surrounding space and those in it. Their design philosophy encompass closely working with their client and understanding their needs, then moving on to finding what is appropriate for the project in question (link).

The key thing that I took from this was understanding that everything needs to work together. So far in this project, I have been picking out issues I’ve identified within current museums as they stand at the minute. This has been my mistake. It’s no good understanding what is wrong with museums if you don’t take into account all the factors that contribute to these problems. The problem might be poor information representation, but the space itself could be a major hindrance when it comes to rectifying this issue. In order to come up with a solution, one would need to start from the ground up. Otherwise you would just end up with a poorly thought out, misplaced form of information representation that may work in the short term but would ultimately fail in the long term; and, in my mind, one of the key principles of design and goals of a designer, is to make timeless, long standing pieces of work.

For this project to work, I need to become a part of the museum or exhibitions development process from beginning to end. Everything needs to fit together in a perfect mould to create a seamless user experience from the moment the user steps into the environment, to the moment they leave. At first this sounds like a daunting task, however I see no reason why a space can’t be developed that has great navigation and user pathways, stunningly made exhibition displays but it’s key feature is incredible information representation. The main thing is that everything fits together perfectly. Interaction is all about the user experience, if there is no user experience then there is no interaction. In a space such as a museum, the user experience is merely being there. By wandering around, taking in the displays and discovering what there is to be learnt, the user interacts with the environment, they follow its pathways, are influenced by what it can tell you. Understanding the users needs from start to finish is essential, and a museum needs to direct and guide its users from start to finish.

It’s been an eventful and interesting week, not entirely for the best of reasons. But work has to be done and work has been done. We’ve had the presentation to find out who’s work should be submitted for the RSA Design Directions competition. Unfortunately my work was not deemed good enough for the competition, but since I would like the opportunity to take part, I have entered myself. These are the presentation boards I had for my stamp designs during that presentation.

 

We still have a couple of more weeks to work on the boards before the work is finally submitted and there are a few changes to those boards I wish to make. However in light of feedback from friends and tutors, I’ve decided to go in a different direction entirely. So here’s an example of the new stamp designs. This one features ‘Solar Energy’

As I said earlier, I’ve been working on some new designs for the RSA project we’re working on. The previous designs were rather rushed and looked clunky. Here are the beginnings of the new designs. They still need some work, but I think (and hopefully others will agree) they’re a major improvement over the previous ones.

The first project of the new (academic) year: Postage Stamps.

The project itself is actually a negotiated brief, where we can choose from several different briefs provided by the RSA, and so I chose ‘Postage Stamps’. The idea of the brief is to create six new stamps that create awareness about the environment, and things that are and/or can be done to help the planet and conserve our energy resources. The initial presentation for it was yesterday, and so I’d say we’re a little under half way to the finishing point.

I like the idea I’m going with, but I’m not happy with the stamps design. I think I rushed them. But since the presentation I’ve come up with a new concept to work with, and I’m now currently working on these new designs. I’ve spent the majority of today playing in illustrator working on creating my own vectors for the designs. I’m getting there, but as always, it’s never as easy as it looks.