Creating Exhibitions

“This is a must-read for the nervous novice as well as the world-weary veteran. The book guides you through every aspect of exhibit making, from concept to completion. The say the devil is in the details, but so is the divine. This carefully crafted tome helps you to avoid the pitfalls in the process, so you can have fun creating something inspirational. It perfectly supports the dictum—if you don’t have fun making an exhibit, the visitor won’t have fun using it.”  
—Jeff Hoke, Senior Exhibit Designer at Monterey Bay Aquarium and Author of The Museum of Lost Wonder

Structured around the key phases of the exhibition design process, this guide offers complete coverage of the tools and processes required to develop successful exhibitions. Intended to appeal to the broad range of stakeholders in any exhibition design process, the book offers this critical information in the context of a collaborative process intended to drive innovation for exhibition design. It is indispensable reading for students and professionals in exhibit design, graphic design, environmental design, industrial design, interior design, and architecture.

Polly McKenna-Cress is Department Chair and Program Director of Museum Exhibition Planning & Design at the University of the Arts, as well as Principal of Alusiv, Inc., a design firm in Philadelphia. She is a consultant, author, and educator who leads institutions, departments, and teams in master planning, development, design, and project management of exhibitions. Over her 25+ year career in both museums and design firms, she has led the creation of more than 60 exhibitions of varying sizes, budgets, and complexities.

Janet A. Kamien was an executive consultant, author, and strategic planner. In her 40+ years in the museum field she worked on staff at four major museums and also worked as an independent consultant. She worked, consulted, and advised on more than 100 different interpretive projects and strategic master plans.

"A rich and detailed description of the team approach to creating museum exhibitions. Janet Kamien and Polly McKenna-Cress were pioneers in developing this successful approach, and their experience, wisdom, and humor shine through on every page. A must-read for anyone involved in museum exhibitions." --Kathleen McLean, Principal, Independent Exhibitions "This book is like having a personal mentor by your side during every step of the exhibition process. The authors have written a book that is concise, insightful, practical, and friendly--just what you need during a complex and often tense process." --Elaine Heumann Gurian, Senior Consultant, The Museum Group Exhibition design involves numerous disciplines, variable physical and intellectual content, and the goal of enabling visitors to understand and enjoy complex topics more completely. It is a necessarily collaborative and multilayered process. Creating Exhibitions is the first guide of its kind: a one-stop resource that integrates the design process with content development to deliver a comprehensive program for conceiving, designing, and installing exhibitions. Structured around the key phases of the exhibition creation process, this team-oriented guide covers the entire project duration and offers problem-solving techniques supported by useful examples of how each solution was strategically applied. It offers this critical information in the context of a collaborative design process, speaks to a broad range of stakeholders in any exhibition project, and encourages innovation in every aspect of planning, development, and design. Both comprehensive and closely detailed, this one-stop manual: Delivers in-depth coverage of current thinking and research in exhibition design along with case studies that illustrate how the process was applied Includes exercises and experiments that provide hands-on experience with different concepts and approaches Features contributions from leading exhibition and museum professionals from all levels, offering multiple points of view for achieving collaboration and innovation Creating Exhibitions is an indispensable resource for professionals and students in architecture, graphic design, environmental graphic design, industrial design, digital media, lighting and theater, interior design, and landscape architecture. It is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to become not just a practitioner, but also an innovator in this fascinating and rewarding field.

"A rich and detailed description of the team approach to creating museum exhibitions. Janet Kamien and Polly McKenna-Cress were pioneers in developing this successful approach, and their experience, wisdom, and humor shine through on every page. A must-read for anyone involved in museum exhibitions." --Kathleen McLean, Principal, Independent Exhibitions "This book is like having a personal mentor by your side during every step of the exhibition process. The authors have written a book that is concise, insightful, practical, and friendly--just what you need during a complex and often tense process." --Elaine Heumann Gurian, Senior Consultant, The Museum Group Exhibition design involves numerous disciplines, variable physical and intellectual content, and the goal of enabling visitors to understand and enjoy complex topics more completely. It is a necessarily collaborative and multilayered process. Creating Exhibitions is the first guide of its kind: a one-stop resource that integrates the design process with content development to deliver a comprehensive program for conceiving, designing, and installing exhibitions. Structured around the key phases of the exhibition creation process, this team-oriented guide covers the entire project duration and offers problem-solving techniques supported by useful examples of how each solution was strategically applied. It offers this critical information in the context of a collaborative design process, speaks to a broad range of stakeholders in any exhibition project, and encourages innovation in every aspect of planning, development, and design. Both comprehensive and closely detailed, this one-stop manual: Delivers in-depth coverage of current thinking and research in exhibition design along with case studies that illustrate how the process was applied Includes exercises and experiments that provide hands-on experience with different concepts and approaches Features contributions from leading exhibition and museum professionals from all levels, offering multiple points of view for achieving collaboration and innovation Creating Exhibitions is an indispensable resource for professionals and students in architecture, graphic design, environmental graphic design, industrial design, digital media, lighting and theater, interior design, and landscape architecture. It is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to become not just a practitioner, but also an innovator in this fascinating and rewarding field.

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