Designing an Interactive Exhibition Experience That Responds to the Practical Needs of 80 Graduating Exhibitors

MEME GRADUATION EXHIBITION is the 23rd Graduation Project Joint Exhibition presented by the Department of Graphic Communication at Shih Hsin University. The exhibition showcases a diverse array of creative works, including photography, artworks, design pieces, and research papers. The title "MEME" draws its inspiration from the concept of cultural transmission, as elucidated by the renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his book "The Selfish Gene." Just as biological organisms propagate their genes for the sake of genetic continuity, humans are driven to perpetuate their cultural identity. In the age of mass media, people are working diligently to bolster the impact and dissemination of their self-identity within the currents of society.

Organisation_ Department of Graphic Communications at Shih Hsin University

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‍Coordination_ Ping Hsuan Yu
Creative Executive Direction, Exhibition Concept, Public Relations Strategy, Art Direction, Key Visual Design, Exhibition Design, Publication Design_ Joy Hsieh
Assistant Creative Direction, Copywriting_ Yu-An Lai
Public Relations_ Yu-Chia Su, Lillian Chang, Elsa Chen
Exhibition Design Assistant_ Cybil Chu, Yu-Ju Chang
Photography (Key Visual)_ An Chen, Kahou Wong, Nobita Ling, Yue Yi Chu, Stanley Hsu
Photography (Exhibition)_ Kahou Wong, Nobita Ling, Douglas Chorng
Photography (Collaterals)_ Hsin Tzu Liao

May 4－7, 2017
Song Shan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei

CONCEPT OF KEY VISUAL

The key visual design takes the department's focus on "Visual Creation and Practice" as an experimental approach, blending it with the exhibition's concept of "Meme, the continuation of human culture through identity." The aim is to explore "collective behaviour in the modern era through visual experimentation." This approach encompasses various exhibition elements such as "photography, art works, design, and research papers."

The key visual design process unfolds as follows:
STEP 1: Five photographers independently produce five distinct creations, including images and text.
‍STEP 2: Ten participants individually engage with these five pieces of content, providing their subjective perceptions and feedback.
‍STEP 3: After twenty-four hours, these ten participants again write or draw what they recall about these five creations.
‍STEP 4: The graphic designer generates the key visual based on the content most frequently mentioned in the feedback from the ten participants. This serves as the enduring representation of the content over time, aligning with the exhibition's concept: "In the era of mass media, people strive to enhance the influence and dissemination of their self-identity within societal currents."

Logotype

The logo design takes inspiration from MEME (Cultural Inheritance Unit), a name derived from GENE (Human Genetic Inheritance Unit). It is based on the structural framework of GENE and incorporates the constituent symbols of Morse code, "-", and ".", to create the visual representation of a single MEME. When multiple MEME units are combined, they form content.

PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY

The exhibition's public relations strategy focuses on reaching out to the target audience desired by the graduating students. These include industry professionals, individuals connected to the topics of their work, specific target audiences, and friends and family. The approach involves outdoor large-scale visual promotions and strategically placing posters and flyers in cultural venues to attract specific interest groups.

On our exhibition's Facebook page, we share posts incorporating keywords that extend the exhibition concept, such as "hippocampus," "cultural leadership," "perspectives," "click rates," "subculture," and the "24-hour system." These posts also explore contemporary issues of interest to students, such as “Taiwan's Anti-nuclear Movement,” “Sunflower Student Movement,” and “diverse family legislation draft,” providing a clear understanding of the exhibition's concept. Furthermore, we encourage exhibitors to share their thoughts on these topics, enabling them to connect with friends and family and initiate discussions within their social circles. As for industry professionals are reached directly through invitation letters.

The four-day exhibition attracted over 10,000 visitors, including several invited industry professionals who engaged in direct discussions and exchanges with the exhibitors.

EXHIBITION EXPERIENCE DESIGN

The exhibition experience was carefully designed with several considerations in mind, including the effective "transmission of the exhibition concept," the department's orientation towards "Visual Creation and Practice," “the comfort of viewing 80 exhibits,” “special presentation requirements for certain works,” and “the unique elongated venue layout.” The exhibition layout follows a gallery format, offering an open viewing flow and well-placed partitions to group similar types of works. This ensures a comfortable and straightforward exhibition experience.

The exhibition's entrance includes an area for explaining the exhibition concept. This space provides insight into the concept through a process of "guessing," "retelling," and "continuing," allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the core concept.

EXHIBITION INTERACTION DESIGN

In terms of details, visitors receive a card holder with an exhibition map upon entering, and the design of exhibit description cards is in a format that visitors can take and collect their favourite work descriptions. They can also purchase the corresponding works at the exit. Separating the exhibition from sales behaviour not only prevents the awkwardness of exhibitors not being present at sales locations but also enhances the quality and fluidity of the viewing experience.

PUBLICATION DESIGN

The publication design of the exhibition takes into consideration the need of exhibition attendees to collect works and their potential post-purchase applications. Differing from the conventional model of selling complete works as part of school graduation publication, we offer individual posters featuring the unique works of each exhibitor. This approach increases the chances of the works being collected, reduces post-printing waste, and includes the contact information of the respective artists to foster continued engagement and communication beyond the exhibition.

Feedback

"Choosing our own publication and open collaboration of the key visual design is a very open and democratic decision."Exhibition Visitor

"Thanks to the hardworking graduation project team for making each of us visible."Exhibitors