Science Museum Blog Post

1. Critique the logo

The logo of the Science Museum relates very well to the subject matter of its museum, which is obviously, science! It looks very futuristic and Star Trek-like, which makes its connotative affiliation with science more obvious. Although it takes more than one quick glance to figure out what exactly the brand is representing, if you pay attention to the font and follow the letters, it leads you to de-code and figure out what exactly you are looking at. As far as age appropriateness, I believe that children who are still struggling with reading and writing may find this logo difficult and intimidating. Since a target audience for the museum is presumably school-aged children, this logo is not as friendly to the eyes and brain for younger children. Adults, however, would probably get a kick out of decoding the words "science museum," in such an artistic and interesting font. 

On a side note, the strictly horizontal and vertical lines are reflected throughout the museum in designs on the wall and displays so there is continuity of the brand throughout the museum and its logo.

2. Navigation

As someone who appreciates very clear and clean directions, I felt lost at times inside the Science Museum. I think this was due to how dark the interior lighting was. Some exhibitions had very clear labels (see below) and some did not.

This picture below was taken in the stairwell, during which time I was lost. It was not very helpful considering the computer that was supposed to function alongside of it was not functioning. I found these types of glow in the dark maps in every stairwell, but I was still lost and confused, which added to my frustration in navigating around the museum.

The Science Museum allowed for several paths, which was good and bad. It was bad because we took one route, hoping to end up at the Plastics Exhibition. We searched for it for a very long time and it wasn't until we completely backtracked to where we had started that we found the stairs leading up one level to the Plastics Exhibition. The good thing about allowing for several paths is that someone could presumably pick certain things and stations that they want to explore and skip all of the other stuff in between because it can get overwhelming really fast if you stop at every single section.

The map was so colorful and so legible that I thought I would love it. However, as I mentioned before, the lighting inside of the museum was usually dark, even the stairwells, so it was very difficult to see the map! If there had been adequate lighting in the stairwell, the map would have been a superb map to use to navigate the museum. However, as it was, as I was moving and on my way to a different exhibition, it was difficult to figure out where exactly I was in relation to the map.

3. Shop / Cafe

The shop and cafe extended the brand in a really smart way. First off, the designs of the cafe and shop continued the consistency of vertical and horizontal lines and the font from the logo.

(This picture below is taken from outside of the cafe on the first floor.)

(This picture is taken of another cafe we found on the 1st floor. Its deep blue color continues the consistency of the blue in the logo even though it has a different font. The regular logo can still be seen on the podium on the right.)

The cafes and shops extend the brand of the museum because of the continuity of the design of the logo is still present in its exterior designs and on its products. The cafes use similar design choices while the shop uses the font and the content of the museum to push certain products. Some products such as legos or model spaceships reinforce an interest in "the sciences," whereas other products simply advertise the museum itself with its cool logo. The labeling of the shop (pictured below) also continues the labeling design choice of the logo font and some of the other exhibitions. Just like all of the interactive stations located throughout the museum, this label very smartly invites you to be interactive once more and buy products that allow you to continue to be scientific and learn outside of the museum. It's a brilliant advertising strategy.

4. Display cases

The display cases throughout the museum varied depending on where they were located and even then, how items were displayed were very different depending on whether or not the item in question needed protection or was a functional tool for teaching. 

(This display board was covered in a sheet of glass or plastic and you could touch the vibrant colors.)

 (This display was completely shielded in glass and it makes sense because this looks like the kind of thing that children and adults could possibly break if they messed around with it.)

 (These cars being displayed on the wall keeps people from touching them and also saves space in the room. Double score!)

 (This learning station had very obvious openings with computers screens that invited you to approach and learn about various things such as your feelings. The lighted up lettering drew your eye to the content of the station. )

 (This display basically invited you to go up to it and touch it! The idea of displaying an exhibition's name on the product of which all its contents are is ingenious! The white font was really striking on the red plastic material. Once you got in, it was less possible to touch the items on display, but the red plastic "curtains" were tangible throughout the exhibit.)

5. Exhibits

My favorite exhibit was the Plasticity exhibit. The entrance is right above, and as I said, the lettering of the exhibit right on plastic curtains was ingenious. I loved it! Throughout the exhibit, these red curtains maintained the boundaries of the exhibit without "trapping" you in like most rooms because you could literally walk through and out of the exhibit if you wanted to. 

Also, because of the red curtains, some items were displayed on the ceiling, which added a unique feel to the exhibit and to me, as the museum go-er. It felt incredibly different, visually and mentally. It challenged you to be observant and appreciate its difference. 

This exhibition was the most memorable for me because it was really innovative in how it chose to display and label its objects. It made a somewhat boring subject into a fantasy land where you wanted to learn about plastics! That to me means that the goal of the exhibit was achieved!

6. Facts

Truth be told, I did not love the Science Museum as much as I thought I would because I was not in the mood to disseminate how a museum is designed and participate as a museum goer. If I had been able to just enjoy it as a museum goer, I might have been more game to actually sit down at the various learning stations and learned something. I tinkered with a lot of the learning stations...but I avoided actually learning the science-based content it was teaching. Therefore, I left the Science Museum not a whole lot smarter in science than when I walked in. 

I did learn how to critically assess how a museum is presented and represented through its logo and color and interior designs. This first time experience has dramatically changed the way I experience museums.