Making the Museum is a newsletter and podcast about exhibitions for museum leaders and teams.
NEW! The MtM Glossary of Museum Exhibitions (BETA)
Written and hosted by Jonathan Alger | MtM is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture
The Security Guard and the Restroom Sign
A visitor walks up to a security guard in an exhibition and asks: “Where’s the restroom?” The guard points. Directly above the guard is a huge sign that says: RESTROOMS → This is hilarious (except maybe to the security guard). Yet …
Podcast: The 9/11 Museum, 25 Years After 9/11, with Mark Wagner
A very special episode of Making the Museum, for the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. Mark Wagner (Design Principal, Stantec) discusses “The 9/11 Museum, 25 Years After 9/11” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners). …
Even Permanent Exhibits Are Temporary
Museums call long-term exhibitions “permanent.” But even permanent exhibits are temporary. The term “permanent” really distinguishes a long-term exhibition from a short-term one. It might stick around for 5, 10, or 20+ years. But eventually …
Objects as Scene
Most commonly in museums, objects get chosen to go on display because they are categorically similar to each other. But that’s not the only option. Here’s one last less-common idea: what about choosing them to create an environment? …
Juxtaposing Objects
Most museum display cases invite visitors to compare similar things. Occasionally, though, you’ll encounter two objects in a case that don’t appear to be similar at all, but it’s no accident they are together. …
Object Selection vs. Object Arrangement
When most people imagine creating a museum object case layout, they might think of somebody arranging artifacts until the composition looks good visually. But visual arrangement isn't where experience design really starts. …
Visible Exit Problem
Visitors do not only look at what we give them to look at. If only. Case in point: the visible exit problem. All of us humans automatically, subconsciously, and constantly scan for obvious ways out from the spaces we are in. …
Betrayal by Adhesive
[Ominous music] You walk into the gallery one morning and discover that something firmly attached yesterday is now hanging by one corner. Or broken on the floor. Adhesives are wonderful. But they are dependent on many invisible things …
Do Object Rotations Cause Repeat Visits?
Why do our visitors come back? Often, because we have “something new.” But not every kind of “new” works this way. A whole new temporary exhibition can be an event. A single rotated object might be “new,” but not in the same way. …
Why Venn Diagrams Actually Work
Everybody loves a good Venn diagram. You kinda can’t go wrong throwing one on a slide. (You know, those easily drawn, disarmingly simple overlapping circle diagrams that show the relationship between ideas, priorities, or categories.) …
What’s IPOP?
Maybe you’ve heard someone in a museum exhibition meeting say something like, "Let's run this through IPOP." (Especially if that someone came from a Smithsonian museum or affiliate.) And maybe you wondered: what’s IPOP? …
Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual (the New Book), with Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian & Chris Wood
How do you build a museum? Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian, and Chris Wood from SmithGroup discuss “Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual” (the New Book), with MtM host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners). …
Ten Weird Words to Prove You Know Your Stuff
Ready for a fun, quick test? Every field has words that sound strange from the outside. Some are technical. Some sound completely made up. But they are real words we all use to plan, design, build, install, and maintain exhibitions. …
What is Scope Creep?
Scope creep is the gradual, unacknowledged expansion of work beyond what was originally agreed upon, without corresponding official changes to the budget, schedule, or expectations. Scope creep is not just “the project getting bigger.” …
Two Types of Tight Timeline
A tight timeline is one of the most common causes of project stress. Deadlines are approaching. Teams are overlapping. People are working late. Everything is compressed and urgent. But “tight timeline” can mean different things. …
Wikipedia Theme Park: The Information / Engagement Spectrum
Exhibitions have a constant tension. Are we giving information? Or creating engagement? Of course, the answer is, “Both! Duh.” But let’s dive into that, because “both” isn’t a thorough answer either. Imagine an Information/Engagement Spectrum. …
The Mistake of the Double-Loaded Gallery
“Double-loaded gallery” is a term we use in the studio. It’s when exhibits or displays are placed equally on both sides of a long gallery or hallway. (We stole it from architecture, where “double-loaded corridor” means doors constantly on both sides.) …
The Myth of “Best Practices”
In exhibition projects, we hear “best practices” all the time. The phrase sounds reassuring. Proven. Settled. As if someone out there has already figured out the very best way. Trouble is, it’s not true. The underlying concept is useful, though. …
Low-Tech Interactives in Reading-Focused Exhibitions
Some exhibitions focus mainly on reading. That’s okay. Most visitors don’t come to read. But sometimes words work. And in those cases, low-tech interactive elements can help make the experience more engaging. …