The Pre-Aging Trick

Have you ever re-watched an old film you loved for its special effects, and realized that it didn't age well? 

The media industry raises the bar on production values every day. Museums can’t do that. An exhibition might have video, interactive or immersive media running for years. How can it retain its value longer?

Pre-age it.

What do pre-ripped jeans, retro 8-bit graphics, and antiqued decorations have in common? They’ve been pre-aged. If they look a generation old now, in five years they'll still look a generation old. While cutting-edge looks old in a month.

The list of possible pre-aging approaches is endless. Here are a few:

Manga 
8-bit
Watercolor
Black and white
Oil painting
Grainy
Woodcut
Underexposed
Overexposed
Papercut
Sketchy

Here's the thing:
Every exhibition includes media that needs to stay valuable for years. Avoid media aging badly by pre-aging it to begin with.

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. 1,000 thanks to everyone who replied to yesterday's survey.