If you’re in need of having museum graphics printed for your location or you’re having them printed for your museum client then it’s important to note that not every print service provider is equipped to deliver the type of printing you’ll need for a museum. If you’ve had graphics printed for a museum already then you likely are familiar with this and you’re simply looking for new print partner to do the job, but if you are new to ordering print for a museum then this article will also be extremely beneficial to you.
Here we’ll cover a number of the most common print needs for museums such as exhibits in general, exhibit design and the types of graphics a museum actually needs to get printed.
Museum Exhibits & Exhibit Printing
Every museum relies heavily on exhibits to generate interest and interactivity. The museum itself houses amazing artifacts and knowledge but without the exhibits a museum is simply a warehouse full of historic and priceless items. So it’s no surprise that the museum exhibit needs to be interesting, engaging and easy to interact with which involves utilizing high quality printing that brings the exhibit to life.
Museum Exhibit Design
While not 100% focused on the print side of an exhibit, museum exhibit design is extremely important to ensure that it is relevant and will connect with the museum patron. While we won’t go into the design journey from idea to final form, we will talk about the aspect of design that involves the printed areas of the museum exhibit.
Museum Exhibit Interactivity
Visitors are encouraged to interact with these exhibits and to get them to do that there must be visual cues printed on and around the exhibit that tell them it’s ok to interact with it and where to interact with the exhibit. Commonly you will see things like…
- Cutouts
- Single-Sided Panels
- Double-Sided Panels
- Surface Texturing
This means that the printed elements of the exhibit will need to conform to these special dimensions and creative inclusions.
Exhibit Readability
When it comes to designing a good museum exhibit you must consider how well it can be read by everyone. Things that you have to consider when optimizing the readability of your exhibit are…
- Age Consideration – How old or young will the visitors be (poor eyesight, small vocabulary, etc.)
- What the lighting is like (high, medium or low)
- Exhibit and Environmental Contrast
For the printed part of this that means you must ensure a clear high quality print is used and that the coloring and sizing are perfect.
Museum Exhibit Durability
This one goes without saying that if these exhibits will be interacted with then it needs to be able to hold up to being used a lot, thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of times in a very short window. Not only do these exhibits get interacted with a lot, they are also abused by visitors, especially younger visitors who aren’t as considerate when it comes to preserving the longevity of the exhibit.
This means that these exhibit graphics should be printed on thicker durable material as well as the possibility of sealing the print to add an extra layer of protection.
Type of Printed Museum Graphics
The great thing about museums is that there are so many different options to choose from or design with. This gives a lot of creative freedom for those who like to think holistically about the overall museum visitor experience.
So what are the graphics you can get printed for a museum? We’ve listed some of the most popular museum graphics below.
- Text Panels
- Wall Graphics & Wall Murals for Museums
- Window Graphics
- Museum Signs & Banners
- Backlit Displays
- Wall Panels & Graphics
- Museum Flags
- Barrier Banners for Museums
- Museum Posters & Boards
- Backdrops
There are many other printed elements you can have done for your museum as well, but we also encourage designers to think about all of the options and how these will get used. Some of the print will be used for decoration, while others are used to convey information & interactivity, while some may be solely focused on wayfinding and directing visitors throughout the museum.
So whether it’s museum graphics printing for exhibits, decor, wayfinding, collateral or something else it’s clear that the printed part of the museum experience is an important one. And at Qualprint we’re here to help you win the moment with your museum donors, members and guests.
Contact Us Now for More Information
Phone: (413) 442-4166
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