Recycle Reinvent Restore

I would say it is true statement, that necessity is the mother of invention. This is not always a bad thing for smaller, less well funded museums, of which there are many. If you dont have the big budgets of the keynote organisations, there is an upside, your creative skills will flourish, enabling you to work with what you have, instead of buying in large entertainment style displays. I often have to remind myself on a job that the display design is there to support the artefacts telling the story, by putting them into a visual context the viewer can understand without overpowering them.

Something I find that expands the possibilities of the creative upcycling is product knowledge and material experience. Knowing what products are out there and how to use them can turn a piece of old used display, no matter what its condition, into something useful and attractive with very little cost. Rather than commissioning a completely new costly display piece, have a look at the back of the store room and see what you can recycle. 

It is a sign of good stewardship when I am asked to incorporate such items into a design for a larger organisation and in fact some of these Museums actually incorporate the requirement to do this into their mission statements. In a time where we are all thinking about our consumeristic impact on the planet, this is nice to see. Never write something off; with a little creative energy it may just be the piece you need to complete your display puzzle. 

The pictures in this article are of a portion of a well used mannequin, which, with some creative remodelling, will feature prominently in an upcoming Paashendaele display in a National Museum.