museum interpretation: exhibits and their captions laurel casjens utah office of museum services...

Museum Interpretation: Exhibits and their Captions

Laurel Casjens

Utah Office of Museum Services

lcasjens@utah.gov

What makes a good interpretive exhibit?

The Big Idea: The major theme or story

Well written information

Visually appealing

Interesting objects

Well laid out/organized

Encourages exploration

Visitor is comfortable

Planning an ExhibitForm an Exhibit Team

Identify the Big Idea (the story)

Organize the layout

Choose objects that tell your storyDisplay in a safe and attractive manner

Write captions or labels telling your story

Evaluate throughout Who are your visitors?

Do they understand and are they interested?

The Big IdeaOne Sentence that tells what the Exhibit is about (identifies the story)

Identify subthemes

Reflects what you want visitors to learn and retain

Creates a cohesive whole to which everything in the exhibition relates

Visually Appealing

Clean

Not crowded

Colors are not overwhelming

Light enough to see; some objects can be spotlighted

Props (but need to be subdued)

Interesting ObjectsWell Laid out and Organized

Tell their story

Don’t crowd them

Arrange by some criterion that helps you tell their story

People want to understand what they are seeing

Encourages Exploration

Exhibit has learning objective, impacts visitors

Room for visitors to look at items together

Additional information available

Hands on, multimedia, etc.

Visitor is comfortable

Signage tells where things areRestrooms, Layout if not obvious

Labels are easy to readThere is room to gather together to look at exhibitsEnough light to seeTemperature is comfortablePlaces to sit

Captions

Captions tell the story (The Big Idea and all the sub themes and details that make the story interesting)

Must be easy to read

Need to make sense regardless of the order in which they are read

Types of Captions

Main Exhibition Title

Introductory Label

Case Titles

Group Labels

Caption Labels

Object Details

Exhibition Title

3-8 words

May have subtitle

Should reflect the Big Idea—give people some idea of what the exhibit is about

Evaluate: make sure potential visitors can figure out what you mean

Case Title

3-8 words

May have subtitle

What is the story/purpose of this case

Introductory Label

20-300 Words

Introduce the Big Idea and add an overview

Orient visitors to space (if needed)

Group Labels

20 to 150 Words

Subtheme: story told by the exhibit case or by a group of objects

Start label with information about objects.

Then relate these objects to the Big Idea

Caption Labels

20-150 words

Interpret individual objects/illustrations

Start by talking about the objects

Then relate to Big Idea

Object Details

10-20 words

What Object is, material, use, donor, date of donation, etc.

Should all be consistent in form and order

Placed next to object (numbered lists much harder to read)

WritingUse simple, clear language

Active sentences are more compelling

Vary length of sentences and paragraphs

Make chunks of text

Content

Start with object and move to Big Idea

Restrict text to important ideas

Make sure facts are correct

Placing Captions

Captions shouldn’t harm objects

No pins through textiles

No high-acid paper directly on objects

No scotch tape, tacks, staples etc. attached to object

Fonts

Choose one that is easy to Read

Can be serif (Times Roman – T g y l)

or sans-serif (Arial –T g y l)Use Bold only in TitlesUse only small amounts of ItalicUse limited number of fonts

Use a Simple Font

Color Color Color Color

Use large contrast between letters and paper

Don’t use opposite colors

Don’t use a busy background

Can use different colors for different types of captions

Voice

Group labels vs. object descriptions

White on Yellow is bad

Blue on red is bad

Black on Blue is Bad

Back Ground too Busy

This is Way Too

Large

Edit and Evaluate

Edit and Edit again; cut out ALL unneeded text

Evaluate; have people who are not part of the museum read the text to see if they understand it and find it interesting

Placing Captions

Captions shouldn’t harm objects

No pins through textiles

No high-acid paper directly on objects

No scotch tape, tacks, staples etc. attached to object

Preparing CaptionsHands on

Equipment and Supplies

Computer and Printer

Paper–pastel or earth tone, not flimsy

Mounting board

Spray Mount (permanent—not repositional)

Heavy ruler

Mat Cutter (mounted or hand held)

OR

Exacto Knife

Print Caption

Shape like a block, not a line

Print several on one sheet--Leave 2 inches between them

Put a box around them if you want—about 1/3 inch for small, more for large labels

Minimum size about 3” x 1.5”

Mounting Board

Use 4 ply acid free mount board (cut with mat cutter)

or

Foam Core (cut with exacto knife)

Mounting board should be larger than paper with captions

Mount paper to boardSpray Mount (well ventilated space)

Shake up spray mountPlace label paper on newspaper (face down)Coat paper evenly with spray

Hit edgesDon’t Glop

Place paper on board—Two people—one lays it from one side and other flattens (rubs) with cotton gloves or roller

Or use dry mount press and dry mount tissue

Leave extra space around paper (especially foam core)

Put under weight for a few hours

Trimming

Leave more space for larger labels

If you printed a box, you will cut inside the box

Bevel Cut (mat cutter)

Use mat cutter so angle leads to outside

Use 4 ply mat board

This is opposite normal mat cutting)

Vertical Cut: Exacto knife

Exacto knife along a heavy ruler

or

Mounted straight cutter

Foam Core cuts easily; mat board is also ok