How will you hope people feel emotionally?

I hope energised. The idea is that as soon as you walk in you’re just being transported somewhere else. You should forget the fact that you’re in the museum, your car is parked outside and you've got a lunch date with your mum afterwards. When you walk into the exhibition it should just be really immersive. It should feel accessible, there shouldn't be any distance between you and the content. It should feel familiar and warm, like it’s part of your history, your story, your scrapbook of memories that you've put together.

For you personally, what's the whole designing experience been like?

It’s been pretty fantastic and a whole lot of the discussions that we had, about the identities coming together, the colour palette, or the content for the show, or way of communicating something - each little initial discussion we had just got better and bigger and picked up its own momentum.

It's come alive. Seeing the brand at the end of the promo video where someone has taken the 2D identity and done something fun with it is absolutely how I imagined the brand would behave. So that’s pretty cool. It's not deviating. It’s solid.

Part II: Production

Peter Hayward - Graphic Designer, Production

As the exhibition begins to take shape, what is your role as a graphic designer?

My role was to take the concept design provided by Jess and basically make it work and fit for purpose in the exhibition environment.

Two-dimensional concepts are one thing but in order for them to work in a built environment they need to become 3D objects in their own right. They need to be given structural integrity, respond sensitively to the material around them and above all connect with the visitor, allowing them to digest their content as quickly as possible. My role was to work closely with the display team in order for the 2D and 3D to be successfully integrated.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that 50% of my time is spent working out what I call the 2D/3D interface. Graphics don’t just magically glue themselves to walls. Fixtures and fittings have to be considered too. How will this graphic be hung? Taping, screwing, bolting, split batons etc. These decisions affect the printing process and the substrate choice which in turn can affect how a wall is constructed and out of what material. Therefore, production drawings have to be produced for manufacturers and installers alike. People forget that graphics, once produced, have mass and volume, and therefore need structures to support them. It’s basically engineering.

Also, even though people like to pigeonhole me – to me, 2D, 3D, lighting, AV and digital are one. It’s just 'design'. They are all connected, interrelated and dependent on each other. And my role is to be involved in the management of all those relationships.

How do you work with other teams?

We are incredibly lucky in this Museum to have departments of such diversity, skill base and experience. There are not many work environments where so much diversity exists.

With this in mind, I see working with others as an opportunity to expand my knowledge base, and most importantly appreciate what others can do and offer. Only through the appreciation of someone's skills and knowledge can we personally give them value. With appreciation comes empathy, and with empathy comes understanding our interconnectedness. At this point, I can work out what they might need from me and what I might need from them. When I was a scout our motto was ‘be prepared’. Therefore, understanding someone's needs means you can anticipate them and also be prepared for them, even before they ask. This is basically forethought, an incredibly important and useful skill that all designers must learn.

What sort of testing process do you go through to get things right?

R&D is very important. I wish I could do more. However, the most important thing to test is the scale of 2D graphics in their built environment. Their scale, proportion and colour change dramatically when put on a wall or in a case, are subjected to real lighting conditions or clustered with other elements. Too often decisions are made at a desk or on screen. This can lead to false perceptions and therefore poor decisions.

What’s the hardest part about turning a digital design into a printed reality?

Digital designs are true and precise. Every line is crisp and sharp and can be measured to three decimal places. However, when printed and given a physical form, a design’s precision is already compromised. This is because a digital design has to go through an industrial process in order to gain physical form. So the hardest part of turning a design into a reality is understanding the effect a mechanical process will have on its form and finish. Nothing will come back perfect when you engage with an industrial process. You have to understand and accept this.

Can you talk about the level of detail you have to consider? How many images would you have to work with?

The number of images and text labels are neither here nor there to me. The details I considered could be the width of a router blade, the sequence of a label’s printing and finishing, or the number of suppliers a graphic has to go to in order for it to acquire its desired physical form. Let’s just say the real detail is in the logistics of its creation.