What can we do when a display is old and culturally out of date, but we have no resources to refresh it? Many exhibitions have this problem. In some cases, there is a clever temporary way to refresh a display. First, don’t change it. Next …

“Cost per square foot” is a useful ratio. Likewise, “occupants per square foot” and “sales per square foot”. What other “amounts per square foot” could be useful? Here’s one: “words per square foot”. What’s the WPSF on your current project? …

Before they come to our experiences, there is one thing our visitors see a lot of. Glowing rectangles. They’re everywhere. The sheer number is huge, and growing. In less than one day, it would be totally normal for you to experience the following: …

MONIQUE: [Chewing] This free cheese isn’t bad. Museums should give out more free cheese. Free cheese never fails. PHIL: [Stops chewing] Uh, what? MONIQUE: Metaphorical cheese, I mean. PHIL: Uh oh, here we go. …

In ancient times, shortly after life emerged from the sea, movies came on DVDs. “Special collector’s editions” had a second disk with “extra” content. We often treat our interactive media experiences like that second DVD. …

Vast sums are raised to create new museum buildings. Vast sums that are often greater than the value of our whole collection. So why do we ask our architects to make black box galleries inside, to make the building disappear? …

PHIL: My client’s exhibition of rare letters isn’t working. I’m supposed to fix it! MONIQUE: Not working? PHIL: Their rare letters are handwritten in a foreign language nobody can read. So they added labels. But now the labels just look like more letters. …

Subject-matter experts (SMEs) base their careers on knowledge of the subject. But everyone else should base their careers on ignorance of the subject. Your professional ignorance of the subject parallels what visitors will feel. …

Douglas Flandro (Exhibition Designer & Director of Sustainability, CambridgeSeven) discusses “What is Sustainable Exhibition Design?” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). …

Shared worries are a powerful thing to have in common. That old “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing and all. But our shared joys are just as powerful. Here’s my list of the top ten joys I bet we can all be thankful for (and Happy Thanksgiving): …

It’s Thanksgiving Week in the US, meaning no newsletter on Thursday. Today, a top ten list of the worries I bet we all have in common. Tomorrow, a top ten list of the joys we all share. It’s Thanksgiving, after all. Here’s the worry list: …

Planners plan using floor plans. A floor plan is a great tool. But sometimes even veterans make weird decisions because we’re thinking while looking straight down. We have a dollhouse-owner view. But our visitors never have that view. …

Morning, Bob. [Morning.] Got the content hose? [Yep.] Good. Which gallery are we doing? [Roman.] I think I did half of that yesterday. It’s a blur, right? [Yep.] OK, here we go. Look, that wall is totally empty. Let ‘er rip. [Right.] Whoa, that new hose is something. …

Sometimes you have an object that feels too big for its display case. Sometimes you have an object that’s just the right size. And sometimes the object feels small compared to its case.  But why does “big case, little object” have to be a bad thing? …

Most objects in museum collections are photosensitive — they can be harmed by light. To preserve such objects, we can only display them lit dimly. So we have to light galleries dimly too, and even use dark interior colors. We end up with a lot of darkness. But …

White walls reflect light, creating glare and flattening contrast. Our eyes adapt to the brightest surfaces, shrinking pupils faster than they can expand again. Our eyes can never rest. That makes it hard to see details in things nearby. If not white, then what? …

Why are so many museum gallery walls white? Good question. Because white is hardly ever the best color for effective display, or human visual comfort. The “white cube” idea originated 100 years ago with MoMA and the Bauhaus …

You almost certainly know about immersive art, the for-profit leisure-time trend that has been influencing the museum projects for a few years now. But that’s not the only thing out there. Allow me to introduce the “-tainments” …

One in four people has a disability. Why aren’t we designing museums better for them? Sina Bahram & Corey Timpson from Prime Access Consulting join Jonathan to discuss “Inclusive Design Will Change the World.”

Many tech trends in the museum world disappear as fast as they came. (Come baaaaack, spin browser!) But there is one I swore was going to die an early death years ago … and it never did. How did touch tables never die? …