Hello, I've been told to consult other professionals in order to build better archival displays, which means displays that fit in with the College's branding and advertising campaigns. I think the aim is to use archives to help sell the College experience to visitors and potential new enrolments. I am working in a climate where graphic design and marketing reigns supreme, and archives are considered valuable if displayed in a way that complements the corporate enviroment. The value of archival items is measured by how much they enhance the reputation of the school. Does anyone have any experience in creating displays that aren't necessarily creative but do have that glossy catalogue look about them? With a shoestring budget of course! The cabinet below is the type I have to use. As you can see there is not a lot of space or height, and these cabinets are too close to the ground if considering comfortable browsing. The team seem to respond well to professionally printed labels and high res copies of documents.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Replies
Hi Lisa, this is what I meant by perspex box on top of your cabinet. Cheers, Catherine
Hi Lisa,
To add to Catherine's message, in WA Officeworks make great banners from graphics and images for quite a reasonable price. We all know the joys of the Archives Budget!
I had the pleasure of seeing colour and arrangement put to excellent use at the Scotch Archives in Melbourne this year, and so the way in which objects are matched with signage can also can also be employed to provide good visual impact.
Kind regards,
Ros
Hi Ros
Thank you for the tip about the banners. We have a history with the company SignOn, and fortunately the marketing team organised some big corflute displays to brighten things up.
I am interested in more banners for future displays, so I will point out that Officeworks is another option if we want to save a bit of money. I've done a price comparison and found that Officeworks really is the way to go to get the most out of the budget.
Kind regards
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I've been thinking on how you could better use this cabinet and these ideas would involve minimal cost to upgrade. Measure the top, into thirds, and have a local perspex company manufacture three boxes that can then sit on the top, creating a top down protected display. Maintenance would need to use beading to create edges, so the boxes don't move. I'll add a photo of one we have created here. Use perspex stands to create levels and interest. Shop for Shops in Melb is a great cheap source of items, see if you can find a local supplier.
With regards to the actual display, some 'marketing' accents may help. On your labels, add the school colours as stripes at the bottom or across one corner, or watermark your crest or put the crest in colour in one corner. Whatever you think best and use across all display labels. Print your scaned historical images as large as you can, then trim the white edges off, lamintae, trim the laminate edge to the edge of the image. Gives the images a consistent look. If you have a grapic designer or are handy with photoshp, you could create a montage of several images and blow it up. Marketing can pay for a pull up banner! :) Will post some images shortly.
Regards,
Catherine
Xavier, Kew, Vic.
Hi Catherine
Thanks very much for all of your useful suggestions. I absolutely agree about expanding the space. It's true, a few more perspex stands would really help..
There's a particular person the College uses for graphic design, so I will see if I can organise some large prints and even banners.
Thanks again Catherine.
Kind regards
Lisa