Special Collections

Sasha, the intern at exhibit design, invited me on a tour of special collections at the GRI. Claes Oldenburg’s False Food Selection was one of many objects we were able to see up close and personal. This piece was aquired from Jean Baker Brown, who developed a large collection of Fluxus art at her home in Massachusetts. Read more about her here.
A note: I don’t think the box was such a brilliant blue color as portrayed in this photo. The catalogers must have been playing with the photoshop color picker.

Color Correction

The plotter in the Getty Exhibition Design office is my new best friend. No, seriously. I have a new found respect for subtle yellows and reds that so easily creep into prussian blues. I have found that it is especially difficult to match dark blues and reds. After struggling with many print outs, Michael came along and said, “you know Laurel, there are prefab color swatches that can easily be printed on the plotter and then matched.” Hmm, after an hour of work I thought that would just be too simple a solution.

I was given the paint chips for the wall colors that needed to be matched and printed on the plotter to create a physical mock up of the model.

There is no yellowish blue gray color! Convert to CMYK and make  your own.

When first deciding the colors for a show, these huge 4 by 4 foot paint chips are selected. The designers have these large swatches in order better visual the gallery space with the specific color. It is amazing how these colors can transform a space.

Exhibit Design: ‘A Light Touch: Exploring Humor in Drawing’

Last week, here at the Getty Center, I had the opportunity to tour  “A Light Touch: Exploring Humor in Drawing” with the lead exhibit designer, Saeyeon. I was immediately drawn to this show for a number of reasons. Firstly, I adore the hand drawn logo of ‘A light Touch.’ Saeyeon traced letterforms using graphite. She made thin lines filling in each letter while modifying some of the letters.

You may also notice that Saeyeon traced the Getty logo for the banner. It is in the upper left corner.

Putting together an exhibit like this is a lot of work. Designers strive for a structure and graphic identity that enhances the work. Most good design is invisible, it works as a cohesive force in conveying the concept of the show. A Drawings show like this, can take upwards of a 6 months to a year of advanced planning. In conveying the humor and playful nature of this show it was necessary to let the work shine.

The initial phase of design includes meeting with the curator, who in this case was The Getty’s Associate Curator of Drawings, Julian Brooks. After receiving the show materials and writings on the subject, Saeyeon poured over the caricatures and witty drawings conveying the human condition of Europe during the late middle ages. During this stage the designer starts to imagine how the space will tell a story. Perhaps getting a feeling for the mood of the room by envision a color palate and graphic styles.

Along these stages, several drawings are produced similar to this one created in vector works.

Notice how each drawing and each label has a specific measurement. There are standards that the exhibit design department established in order to have a consistent look in all the shows. For instance, all paintings are hung 60 inches from the floor. This is the perfect height for most visitors.

The exciting part of putting together a show is the installation phase. I came across some photos of this phase. Saeyeon described some difficulties at this point because there was so much detail in the logo. The logo was screen printed on to the title wall but all the lines did not come through she had to go back with a one-hair brush to fill in the details.

While some of the graphics are created in-house to save money, others are sent out to professional vendors. Here is a gallery of the process. Most of the titles are screen printed while the large drawings of figures are vinyl.

I love how these images are life size. The visitors feel like they are a part of the activities in the drawings. Not to mention that when blown up, these drawings create a nice contrast against the bright yellow paint that pops off the walls.