Radical Text Approach

(This one might be controversial. So I’ll publish it during a holiday! Our secret. Shh.)

We all love good copy. But the text isn't why visitors come. Not what they look at. Not what they remember. An exhibition is not a book on a wall.

Any visual medium — exhibitions, documentary films — should get developed visually. Visuals first, text later.

How much later? 

The End.

(By the way, “visuals” here means “anything you'll see.” Artifacts, images, movies, scenic constructions, interactive software, immersive video.)

Often, someone starts writing text right away. Don't do it. Resist. Make the visuals work even harder. When you have visuals for everything, write the actual visitor-facing text. Fast. Last. Use text for:

- repeating the visuals for emphasis
- explaining the few things visuals can’t say
- things only text can do, like explicit questions
- explaining where visuals came from

Here’s the thing:
An exhibition is a visual medium, not a textual one. Develop it visually until the last minute. Only use text to fill in what's left. 

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. No MtM tomorrow. See you Thursday.

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MtM Word of the Day:
Legibility. Being visually clear enough to distinguish. If a text is legible, the next question might be whether it is written so you can read it, which is "readability." Legibility is about appearance, readability is about writing.