Interactive exhibits are the heart of science centers and children’s museums.

I have been designing, building, enhancing and maintaining interactive hands-on exhibits for the past 16 years in the largest science center in the southeast. I want to share my knowledge and experience with small to medium sized science centers, aquariums, children’s museums and zoos -- especially those that do not have the benefit of a professional exhibits staff -- with design, construction and consulting services.

This may sound familiar. I went through a major expansion with an outside firm building the exhibits. When they were complete, twenty five percent of the interactive exhibits needed redesign. An additional fifty percent needed modification. The original graphics and text were low contrast and silk-screened on laminate making them easy to rub off with slight handling. They were also ineffective at explaining what to do, what was happening or why it was happening.

Unfortunately, based on conversations with staff at other science centers, this is not unusual.


Guidelines for Exhibit Design and Construction

Exhibits should be intuitive, fun, entertaining and challenging,
There should be some type of instant gratification.
They should be educational, but without the above very few children or adults will stay around long enough to learn.
They should be able to survive 1,000,000 unsupervised 8th graders.
They should be reasonably maintenance free.
They should be made from “off the shelf” or easily reproducible parts.
They should come with proper documentation.

Exhibit graphics should be clear, concise and informative,
They should answer, “What’s it about?” “What’s happening?”, “Why is it happening?”.
They should be eye-catching
They should be durable.

I have assembled a team of experts in their fields: exhibit design and development; grant writing; graphic arts; interactive design; machinist, sheet metal work; cabinetry construction; and electronic and computer technology. These people and companies represent years of experience and success in design, construction, and maintenance of interactive exhibits as well as research and proposal writing to identify and secure funding.

At this time we are prepared to bid on relatively small projects, from one exhibit to around 500 sq. ft. of exhibit space. The exhibits we provide may be the lowest in cost, however they will be the highest in value, adhering to the guidelines outlined above.

The services we offer include
Concept
Design
Prototype
Construction
Installation
Evaluation and remediation of existing exhibits
Consulting
Fundraising

Contact me about your project.