Getting Started with Interpretation & Design:
Museums on Main Street

DSMP partners Sara Clarke-DeReza and Raven Bishop led capacity-building workshops for Eastern Shore community museums in preparation for the upcoming Smithsonian Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit, Crossroads: Change in Rural America. In this workshop series participants explored strategies for creating a public display or exhibit that tells a story to a visitor audience. This workshop series, organized by the Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area and Washington College with support from Maryland Humanities, provided participats with the tools to plan and execute engaging displays and exhibits.

Overview Workshop:
Getting Started with Interpretation & Design

In this introductory session participants explored interpretive goals, identifying target audiences, and learn the basics of writing and visually organizing accessible texts for a range of visitors.

Hands-On Workshop 1:
Print and Digital Interpretation & Design

In this half-day session participants learned how to craft an exhibit from conception to preliminary graphic design. The workshop began with an introduction to thematic thinking and organization, explored best practices for artifact selection, and an exercise in drafting text that effectively communicates a particular story to a range of potential audiences. The workshop then turned towards visual displays, discussing basic graphic design principles for effective and high-impact communication using Canva, a free online design platform.

Canva & Design Resources:

Getting Started With Canva

Canva Design Tutorials

Canva Color Wheel

Canva Color Palettes

Coolers Contrast Checker

Exhibit Templates:

Exhibit Posters Templates

Exhibit Banners Templates

Canva Tutorial: Crab Feast Poster

Canva Tutorial: Working with Exhibit Templates

Hands-On Workshop 2:
Print and Digital Interpretation & Design

In this half-day session participants from Hands-On Session I returned with their preliminary exhibit designs and participated in a peer-review session aimed at improving clarity, organization, and content in their exhibit. Expert consultation in technical writing and graphic design helped each participant improve their in-process projects. Participants also had the opportunity to learn basic techniques for digitizing artifacts for use in exhibits.

Canva & Design Resources:

Creating QR Codes in Canva

Best Practices for QR Codes

25 Graphic Design Tips for Non-Designers & Beginners

Design Tips:

Click on the images below to learn simple steps to help a design go from good to great.

Getting Ready to Print:

Once your project is complete, it is time to download your design to send to a printing service. You will want to understand your printing service's specifications for images so that you can download your design in the correct file format and at the correct size for those specifications.

Downloading/Saving Designs from Canva

The video to the right gives some tips for using an online printing service like Vistaprint.