Throughout the Digital Art Trip to Washington D.C. It was very interesting to be able to see the design that goes into so many different parts of a museum to help make it function and make the experience pleasing for the people inside.
The Map
The first piece of design that is very obvious and important to almost every person going to a museum is the map. For the map of the National Gallery of Art, a map proved to be quite difficult because of the sheer size of the place. The amount of places that you can go and the amount of art pieces you can see makes it very difficult to navigate whether you have a map or not. It would be extremely hard to simplify this map in a way that would make it easily understandable, but things like color coding and a simple separation of floors throughout the museum make it as simple as possible. When trying to find specific areas on the map, it proved to be helpful when you could already figure out exactly where you were. Because of the size of the museum, knowing where you were was much harder, at least for me, than figuring out where to go.
The Signage
The signage throughout the museum is used to help keep people organized and prepare them for what they are about to visit in that area. Much of the design is very similar and consistent throughout the museum. The same bold font is shown in any broader, less specific area that is more instructional to the layouts or features of the museum. The same bold font is used on the map. When the font and design is more specific, such as the Clouds, Ice, and Bounty, it enters you into a more specific part of the museum. Font and layout of signage overall subtly shows us what is to come. Artwork is used in a lot of signage, uncropped in the examples that are below. This also helps give a more specific preview of what is coming.
Gift Shop
I took three different pictures of different books in the giftshop that display artwork on the cover. All of the books have similar feelings. The art completely covers the surface, and the wording is bold and noticeable, but not overpowering. The actual art still shines. All of these designs are examples of power in simplicity and not overworking a design to make it tacky or ugly.
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