Sad news about Dan Jacobs, I hope ccmouse is doing OK...
Sneeky was one in a million. I have often thought about him since the old eBay chatboard was killed by eBay. He liked to post this picture, of Snowflake the gorilla...
Exhibiting out of the box.
I was rewarded with 2 out of 5 for presentation of my Homestead Act exhibit
as the judges thought the background was too distracting.
For my essays exhibit, I got a 5.
The essays won the AAPE Creativity award, and the Homestead Act won the WE Sterling Achievement award.
I have taken on board the judges' feedback
and reformatted the essays exhibit, hopefully keeping the creative bits! This exhibit may yet get to WESTPEX.
Sheryll
Hi all!
Sheryll - as always, thank you for the effort in coming up with club topics.
some of the questions that I recall when I read the description included: What would you like your exhibit pages to look like if you could do them any way you wanted?
It might be a 'cop-out' answer. But, I make my exhibit pages the way I want them to be. As I've gotten feedback over time, I've made adjustments and changes. If I get feedback that is contrary to my own personal goals, I decide not to do anything with that change. Instead, I decide how I should communicate why I use what I do for a layout.
Have a made changes that I initially resisted? Of course. But, my main goals are to communicate and educate as I share things that interest me. I have to realize that sometimes what seems clear to me doesn't communicate well to everyone else.
I've come to really like the 4 position line header at the top of these pages. I initially went with some standard centered headings, but I recovered so much useful space when I went to this style that I don't think I'll go back.
One thing that isn't easy to do with physical pages is shown here - I like the concept of overlapping to give depth. I tend to stay away from it with my physically mounted pages, though I may see if I can manage it with this one.
Rob
Here is a page from my 24 cent 1861 exhibit.
I like to educate with my exhibits and I've been working to find a way to continue to do that while still being competitive within the bounds that judges work in APS shows. While there are many exhibits I respect for their material and organization, etc - I also know that if I didn't already enter into reading it with some knowledge of the subject area, I would be lost as to the significance without some help to learn along the way. In other words, I am trying to work two audiences:
1. any viewer who might like to see why I am showing what I am showing and learn a thing or two along the way
2. the judging corps who are tasked with helping me to make this exhibit do as well I it can from a competitive standpoint.
things I like about this page:
- The running headings at the top. Saves me space to be creative below. Greyed out topics indicate we're continuing a chapter or sub-chapter and black shows a new topic.
- The "under the line" material setup. Stuff at the bottom of the page is there to add "color commentary" to the exhibit to educate and entertain. By being "under the line" I indicate that it is not necessary to read it to follow the story line.
- Rate and Route boxes. You can read one. You can read the other. You can read both. Or you can ignore them. At least you know what is going on there. It illustrates a depth of knowledge and I use this format for all Rate/Route boxes. consistency of format helps with learning.
- Clear tracings of important markings. I have a tendency to over use this and I have been reducing it. However, for an item like this, where you won't see another example of registration to Germany in the exhibit, it feels important to guide viewers to the things that told me this was worthy of showing.
- You can look at the cover and read the two short lines above it and get out if you want. The rest doesn't overpower the cover even though there is a great deal there. You still see the item as the focal point.
- I like the font size and balance and I think I managed to hit the line width sizes that work with classic material such as this.
What I don't like about this page:
- I might not want to have two 'sidebar' or 'under the line' items on this page. I like to cite the underlying postal regulations, etc when I can without making them overbearing. But, frankly, I suspect people might enjoy the second heading "Who Got the Money?" a bit more.
- I bounce back and forth between reporting what is exactly shown with a marking and interpretting the date for the audience. (note the route box) I think it would be better if I were consistent with the date in a format that supports quicker reading. (Feb 6 instead of 2 6 for example)
Compromise and no compromise - all in one.
The page below shows how I like to incorporate maps. I have been told, in the past, to use only line maps so they don't overshadow the piece I am exhibiting. I get that. But, I find I get more people to stop at my frames by including REAL map portions, fading them out a bit and including additional helpers to show what I need them to see. The hardest part? Getting the maps throughout the exhibit to have a level of consistency that makes them seem more like the 'helper' information that they are. If the maps are inconsistent, they do seem to take away from the material.
Since making map changes throughout, I have received no negative comments from judges since. I suspect there are still some that might not like them. But, if I have pretty good knonwledge of geography and I still prefer a little help with locations, then I suspect the rest of the public might like some help too.... (and that includes judges - who are asked to look at all kinds of material - it's a kindness to give a helping hand)
