This brief describes what the study of quirkology is, and details the final design activity. Quirkology describes the investigation into unusual behaviours or topics using normal scientific methods, and has spawned many researchers and academics who conduct studies into unusual questions then analyse the findings to determine their answers. The first recognized quirkologist is Victorian scientist Sir Francis Galton, although the term ‘quirkology’ was coined by current researcher Professor Robert Wiseman.
If I were to undertake a similar project again, I would think about developing some of my early ideas more fully to clear my mind and eliminate the range of possibilities, which could allow me to narrow my options and enable me to focus more quickly.
As quirkology delights in the unexpected, an exhibition has been planned by the Science Museum to feature this curious psychology that will bring this unique investigative science to a wide and diverse audience. The Science Museum in London is a free museum packed with interactive exhibits, awe-inspiring objects and an IMAX 3D Cinema. It allows the visitor to discover the past, present and future of science, technology and medicine across seven floors of galleries. In order to promote this exhibition in one of the world’s premier science museums, the task is to produce a range of promotional materials that relate to a wide range of themes such as lying, laughter and luck, amongst other aspects of human behaviour. There will be the chance for visitors to interact with investigations, watch unusual demonstrations, and look at film and photographic documentation of recorded experiments. The promotional materials need to include the following:
1. A poster advertising the exhibition at the Science Museum to include the provided information2. EITHER a mailer promoting the exhibition OR a promotional item to be on sale in the shop3. Appropriate signage for inside and outside the museum4. Exhibition ticket5. A visually stimulating 20‑page accompanying programme/journal
Final Outcomes
Final Outcomes
Evaluation
There are several aspects to this brief that I need to consider when coming up with my final solution. These include:
As the science museum is a free attraction, what implication will this have on the quality of the poster, signage and tickets? Will this restrict the possible print feature quality?
What is the price point for the gifts in the museum shop? Promotional items need to encompass both ends of the spectrum which may include low budget school visits and high end collectibles.
Research types of quirky questions or investigation that might involve lying, laughter and luck as their central theme and consider designs that encompass these key words.
Use the reference materials suggested to generate ideas and get a fuller understanding of the nature of quirkology.
This project should maintain an overall feeling of ‘quirkiness’ in its tone; consider alternative methods of presenting the materials rather than following convention.
Even before starting the final activity, I was looking forward to beginning the research into the project as I’m very interested in the subject matter. The structure of the activities allowed me to really delve into the more unusual side of life, and I took the opportunity to visit the museum in London to provide inspiration for both the solution and setting the posters in context, with my final layout using the actual photographs I took during my visit. It also appealed to me as I knew that it would be an opportunity to explore my playful design side, or as Paula Scher noted, this would be a rare opportunity to investigate serious design. However, what I actually found when beginning to plan my final design solution, was that far from using it as an opportunity to take risks, fail, be arrogant, bold and innocent with the design, I naturally looked to my tutor as the ‘client’ and considered what might be the most corporate and ‘safe’ solution. It took several drafts to mentally ‘let go’ of this thought and really start some serious design work.
I soon found that having unlimited options is actually extremely testing as a designer. With no constraints in the brief over colour palette, cost, size or orientation of the brochure, preferences or restrictions in the print finish, it was actually a challenge to be free with the designing as I am so used to constraining my ideas or limiting them to keep within the client’s parameters. With several drafts sketched, once I had a theme and concept in place, the final outcomes were very straightforward in their production. So many possibilities could be explored, with the only difficulty being finding the time to follow them through to completion, as I would have liked to have done with the Quirky Booth.
One of the most challenging areas of the project was producing a concept that was unique. This was also a weakness of mine as it took much longer than I anticipated to find a solution I was satisfied with which cost precious time, and effective time management is normally one of my strengths. To overcome this, I needed to brainstorm more ideas to try and hook my target audience, and used my project space to help keep me on track with my mood board of my target audience and the design brief visible at all times. It would help in future if I could allocate more time in the ideas generation phase, and perhaps think about the solution in context (e.g., visit the museum) early in the planning stage to avoid mental block.
It was my aim not to produce something that relied on the word ‘quirky’ or ‘quirkology’ being in the title, and also didn’t use the images of a question mark or brain in the design. I wanted to play to the intelligence of the target audience so used the colloquial phrase ‘Nowt as queer as folk’ to insinuate the exhibition content. I felt that not only did this phrase capture the topic of human behaviour effectively, but the crazy gang of people were engaging and humorous and most people could imagine themselves pulling a quirky expression and joining their gang. I felt that this side of the solution was extremely effective in maintaining a consistent tone of voice.