Lisa Brochu recently wrote an excellent post about how effective communication between client and contractor can prevent confusion over changes to project deliverables. Her suggestion is attaching a grid system to the project contract to track approvals and requested changes.

We could not agree more with Lisa on this one. We keep clients updated with many informal reviews throughout the process so that hopefully they won’t want us to change much on the final deliverable. However, with every project deliverable (such as a design book) we submit to our clients for formal review, we include our own sign-off form which is very similar to the grid system Lisa recommends. We list each component of the deliverable and ask the client to approve it as is, not approve it, or approve it with listed changes.

Posted by: Katie

Goals are general intentions; objectives are precise.  Goals are intangible; objectives are tangible.
Goals are abstract; objectives are concrete.  Goals are not measured; objectives are measured.

Example exhibit goal: Provide interpretive opportunities to enhance visitors’ appreciation of this area.

Example exhibit objective: Double the number of visitors each year for the next two years.

As an interpretive planner of a creative firm, I prefer exhibit goals.  Goals are the stuff of brainstorms.  Goals are concepts not yet exposed to the rigors of budgeting.  Goals are inspiring.  Objectives?  Objectives can seem restraining.  Objectives can seem to fetter design.  Objectives can seem so…numerical.

This being said, objectives are necessary.  Effective, efficient design firms need objectives if they plan to design well into the future by the very fact that they limit and measure.  For those out there that prefer goals to objectives, I want to reveal an objective that can save a designer-client relationship: the success objective.

The success objective is a communication tool that interweaves the client’s goals and the designers’ goals. It establishes an over-arching, common objective for exhibit success, namely how the client will measure and judge the success of an exhibit.  This objective is established by asking the client to complete this sentence: Our exhibit will be deemed successful if and when___________________________________. Since objectives are measureable, both the client and the exhibit designer can test the exhibit for results.

Once the objective is set, it fixates what is occassionally a moving target.  Once the objective is set, it should be advertised, so all the client’s stakeholders are aware of the metric.

Years ago, Taylor Studios, Inc. was awarded a small contract to design and build an audiovisual exhibit for a visitor center.  The schedule was extremely tight, so both teams (Taylor and client) agreed to streamline the design/build schedule.

Our client formed an abbreviated design team (as opposed to their standard, larger design team) in order to simplify input, exhibit reviews, and signoffs.  Their abbreviated team was composed of state-level decision makers.  The local park staff were not fully represented; they were asked to sit this one out.

The project kickoff meeting was successful-the client’s team was prepared, excited, and engaged.  I left the meeting satisfied; it appeared as all team members were on the same page.  As an interpretive planner, I left with a prized possession-a list of the exhibit’s interpretive objectives.  The success of the exhibit would be judged by how well it met these interpretive objectives.

Taylor Studios and the site’s team met the challenging exhibit deadline without a hitch.  With that concern behind us, it was time for the client to evaluate the exhibit product.  Like a producer or playwright awaiting initial newspaper reviews, I prepared myself for feedback.

Relief came once the client’s team praised the exhibit.  The client’s team evaluated the exhibit by the objectives that were established at the onset of the design process.

The following day, I returned to the site to tie several loose ends.  The local park staff also had their first opportunity to evaluate the exhibit.  And they were none too pleased.

They shared their disappointment and diapproval of the final product.  The park staff had established a different set of success criteria.  The interpretive objectives that the exhibit faithfully addressed were not the objectives that the local park staff had in mind.

Continually looking to improve our products and services, Taylor Studios evaluated the situation to prevent this circumstance in the future.  Thus was born, the success objective. It requires the client’s staff to set the primary, overarching measurement of success and then announce it to all stakeholders.  Since objectives are measureable exhibit success or failure becomes evident.

Establishing the success objective does not preclude additional exhibit objectives or goals.  In the above circumstance, the client established interpretive objectives for success.  Management objectives and action objectives are two other types of objectives that could be used for success objectives.  With an advertised success objective in the preceding scenario, Taylor Studios would have been able to ensure that all stakeholders were working towards a common understanding of success.

Anyone reading this want to share a useful exhibit objective?

Posted by: Pete

Today’s post is the final installment of our design-build series.  I hope that the descriptions of each phase of our process has helped facilitate your understanding of what it takes to bring an exhibit to life.  As always, if you have questions or comments, please let us know.

Production Phase:

With exhibit design finalized and graphics and text well on the way, it’s during the Production Phase when the design team’s vision begins to materialize.  The first step of the Production Phase is lots of planning. Following a team kickoff meeting attended by the project designer and fabrication team among others, fabricators write out the steps required to complete each component and make materials lists. A final set of construction drawings are completed as needed and fabricators get to work on the required samples for client review.

After construction drawings and samples have been submitted to and approved by the client, the fabrication team gets to work. Each week, photos are taken of progress made and posted to the client’s website. This keeps clients in the loop during the entire Production Phase. Clients are also highly encouraged to visit the production facility.

As exhibit artists begin putting hammer to nail, interpretive planners hammer out text revisions based on comments received at the conclusion of the Final Design Phase. The text revisions are reviewed one more time before the text is placed on graphic panels. By the time printouts of the graphics complete with text are sent to the client, the client is only checking for grammatical accuracy.

When the final graphics and text are approved by the client, the graphic files are sent to the printer.

The culmination of the Production Phase occurs when all the exhibit components and graphics are “Ready to Ship.” This date is generally a contractual date spelled out in the client’s initial agreement with Taylor Studios and means everything is complete and ready to begin its trip to the client’s facility.

“Ready to Ship” is followed, of course, by shipping and installation.  Installation is complete when all components are in their place and a Taylor Studios team member walks through the exhibit with the client. The team member demonstrates how each piece works and makes sure the client is satisfied with the installation.

An exciting time for the client, the project is not quite complete at installation. Within a month of installation, the client will receive a maintenance manual outlining a maintenance schedule and basic exhibit care. The purpose of the maintenance manual is to give the client the tools to ensure that the exhibit will look and function as it should for years to come. Should any component fail as a result of normal wear and tear, Taylor Studios’ stellar - yes, stellar - five-year warranty has the client covered. That’s it! Another happy client has become a graduate of the Design-Build process! Now it’s time for the client to enjoy their new exhibit! As for us, it’s back to Point A…

Posted by: Renee

If you’ve been following along, this post describes the third step, Final Design, in our design-build process:

By the time a project moves into Final Design, all basic renderings have the client’s stamp of approval, a graphic look has been selected, and the beginning stages of copy have been approved. The last stage of the design is, appropriately, about the final details.

During Final Design, construction drawings are crafted for the components in each exhibit area. The drawings show not only exact dimensions of each component, but also specify hardware and materials and indicate construction methods.

As the final exhibit components are being detailed, graphics also come a long way during Final Design. While preparing the final files and printing takes place during the Production Phase, it’s during Final Design when the exact number and size of each graphic in the exhibit is determined. The content for each graphic is decided, as well as the material each graphic will be printed to.

By the time Final Design begins, copywriters have been gathering background materials and doing research for two phases. It’s at the conclusion of Final Design when the client will have the first opportunity to review draft text for the entire exhibit. However, Final text will not be placed on the graphic until the Production Phase.

Posted by: Renee

A couple weeks ago I began explaining our design-build process in more detail.  This post details the second phase in the process: Design Development.

During Design Development, the project design team continues to build upon the messages and exhibit flow that were developed during Schematic Design. Design Development is when the look of an exhibit really begins to take shape. Conceptual renderings are completed for each area of the exhibit. Designers take into account the project resources that were allocated to each area and are careful to stay within the client’s project budget. Colors and materials are selected and samples are gathered for a materials board that’s put together for client review. Progress is posted frequently to a website established just for the client, and adjustments are made per client comments.

An exhibit’s copy is also further developed as the central theme, subthemes, and storylines become the basis for introduction panels for each area of the exhibit. The project’s interpretive planner works very closely with exhibit and graphic designers during this phase to ensure that interpretation is driving the design.

While all of this is taking place, graphic designers are developing various “looks” for the exhibit graphics. A graphic hierarchy is designed for each level of interpretation. The hierarchy will show what the graphic panels for the various levels of interpretation would look like from broad, introductory panels to very detailed artifact labels.

The conceptual sketches, a first draft of the copy for each of the exhibit area’s introductions, and the graphic options are presented to the client before the next, much more detailed, stage begins.

Next week…Final Design…

Posted by: Renee

When embarking on the journey of exhibit design and fabrication, moving from a conceptual idea to a finished product isn’t exactly going from point A to point B. In fact, it’s more like going from point A to point D, with points B and C breaking up the middle.

However, that doesn’t mean exhibit design and fabrication is at all convoluted. If all parties have a good understanding of the steps and stops along the way, moving from point A - Schematic Design into point B - Design Development can happen without a hitch, paving the way to point C - Final Design, and finally point D - Production. That’s not to say there won’t be tough choices to make and lots of work for all parties involved, but if everyone’s on the same page there also won’t be mid-project surprises.

I hope that providing some information about each of our four phases over the next few weeks will help take the mystery out of our process. After all the talk of sandwiches and cookies, not to mention my cliché “journey” analogy (cut me some slack - I’m a project manager!) I’ll give it to you straight.

Schematic Design:

All interpretive exhibits are built on the backbone of the Schematic Design phase. This is the time when projects are researched and the overarching interpretive themes are determined. The exhibit flow, or way we expect visitors to move through the space, is also an important outcome of this phase. How does Taylor Studios come up with the appropriate messages and flow? With our client’s help, of course!

Following an internal orientation to the project, one of the first steps of the Schematic Design phase is to meet with our client. The interpretive planner and another member of the design team will lead a kick-off meeting at the project site. At the meeting, the client’s interpretive goals will be discussed and prioritized, as well as any specific ideas they would like to see incorporated into the project. The design team may also present visual examples to get a feel for the look the client is after.  Assuming it’s been constructed, this is also the opportune time for the design team to tour the space.

Following the meeting, the design team gets to work brainstorming. The interpretive planner drafts an outline of exhibit content to include a central theme and sub-themes. The central theme is the main idea visitors will take away with them upon leaving the exhibit. Sub-themes further break down the interpretive content.

Once the content outline is completed, the interpretive planner and exhibit designer determine what would be the best conceptual exhibit flow and come up with a “bubble plan.”  The bubble plan is a floor plan that shows how we expect visitors to move through a space, indicates the content to be interpreted in each area, and outlines what percentage of the total project budget we recommend be used in each area.

The content outline and bubble plan are sent to the client. When the client gives the design team a thumbs up, the Schematic Design deliverables serve as the interpretive foundation upon which the rest of the project design will rest.

Stay tuned for more details regarding Design Development, Final Design, and Production…

Posted by: Renee

“The Universe is wider than our views of it.”

-Henry David Thoreau

Twenty years ago in the inspirational film, Dead Poets Society, Professor Keating (Robin Williams) encouraged his English Class to experience the world from another perspective.  To illustrate this, Keating had each of the boys in the class take turns standing on top of his desk at the front of the room.

Our mission here at Taylor Studios: “to create products and experiences that inspire people.” How does someone design for an inspirational and engaging exhibit experience?  Often it is as simple as changing your perspective.  Looking at ideas, floor plans, drawings, or even facts from a different angle helps drive creativity to a point where it can be inspirational.  So how might this work?  A change in perspective can…

Keep Possibilities Endless:

One of the most exciting parts of working through the design process is the collaboration between all parties involved.  How amazing to think that no matter how I see something there is always another way.  When a project presents an unforeseen challenge, and they all do, drawing on the perspectives of others ensures a successful solution.  Resisting others’ views on a particular issue only limits your resources.

Broaden Your Impact:

We all have different backgrounds that influence how we see and experience this world.  So, it only makes sense that a successful exhibit would be created around the perspectives of many.  Have you ever looked at something that you thought you knew well from a slightly different point of view only to discover it in an entirely new light?  It’s this “new light” that will help add engagement to your design and in return make a larger impact.

Promote Exploration:

Changing perspective can lead a design down a road that you never initially thought was a possibility.  Approaching a design from the most obvious angle runs the risk of being ordinary.  However, if we are to create an environment that is inspirational and engaging, we must take full advantage of shifting perspectives as a means toward exploration.  Do something you “know” won’t work or that you “know” is “wrong” and see what happens.  Often it is seeing a shape that doesn’t fit to see one that will!

While you won’t find us here at Taylor Studios standing on our desks in the literal sense, I can say that whenever we approach a new design, we make sure to push back the markers and make a space to “stand.”  However, if actually standing on our desks is what it takes, you can bet that we’ll do it!

Posted by: Cory

Last week I came across a blog post that referenced one of our past posts, “Let’s Make a Sandwich.”  From what I gathered from the blog, www.tdtidbits.blogspot.com, the author is a project manager for one of our friends in Chicago, Chicago Scenic Studios.  In the post, “Building a Sandwich,” the importance of a detailed Scope of Work written in an RFP was outlined.  I couldn’t agree more with the point, “you will never get what you want unless you ask for it.”

As the main proposal writer for Taylor Studios, it’s often tricky to know exactly what a client wants and how our proposal will be evaluated.  Often times the proposal requirements do not follow or match the proposal evaluation criteria.  I spend a great deal of time ensuring all the proposal requirements are in line with the criteria on which we will be judged.  Since my work is going to be graded on not only our skills, abilities, and past work, but also, completeness, readability, organization, etc. it would be nice if all RFP writers would put together their packets with the same criteria in mind.

As for the actual Scope of Work section, our estimating department is ecstatic when an RFP comes through that outlines exactly what the client wants.  When we receive bid packets with instructions to just bid what we want or offer a price without really knowing what the client has in mind is not fair to the companies that bid on the work.  Proposals can take days to complete.  When we are spending this amount of hours trying to win a job just to find out we didn’t bid what the client wanted or our price was three times as much as the lowest bidder is really disappointing.  Going back to the tdtidbits blog, do you really think a company that bids $.50 per cookie vs. a company that bids $6 per cookie really offers the same product, service, and quality?

Now getting back to why I started this post - no it really wasn’t all about the details in RFPs.  After reading “Building a Sandwich” I reread our original sandwich post and thought that some clarification might be needed.  Our typical design-build process consists of four phases: Schematic Design, Design Development, Final Design, and Production.  Over the next few weeks, we will review what we do during each phase.  Since not everyone uses exactly the same terminology, this process can be confusing.  Hopefully this series will help answer questions, but if it doesn’t, please ask!

Posted by: Kara

After four years here at Taylor, I have a small chunk of company history under my belt. Being able to refer back to earlier projects is used as a shorthand way of describing a new project.  This is similar to the way new movie ideas are pitched in Hollywood - “It’s a cross between Thelma and Louise and Bambi, but with nuns…”  So at Taylor we’ll refer to a new job (or a Request for Proposals) as, “It’s like Stone Mountain, but underwater, and with touch screens…”

This is all fine and dandy when we all call a project the same thing. But what about new people, who don’t know that “Synergy” is the exhibit with our amazing floating whales down at Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve outside St. Augustine, Florida (maybe you can see why we called it Synergy, after the designer)?

A project gets its first name when it is going through the bid process. This name usually includes the municipal or state agency if it’s a government job as well as the designer if we are working as a subcontractor. The location gets tacked on at the end. So we end up with something like, “St Petersburg City of - Boyd Hill Nature Preserve - Tampa Bay Watershed Banners.” Just glides off the tongue, right? By the time the project gets to the production floor, things get shortened a bit. There was one job that ended up being called “Rancho Taco Grande” because the real name was so unwieldy. If we can whittle the project name down to one word - sweet! To the uninitiated, it sounds pretty cryptic as staff talk about Frying Pan, Pentagon, or Cleveland, but that’s the Taylor lingo. And one of our new projects does have nuns…

Posted by: Ryan

When I started as a project manager for Taylor Studios, one of the most exciting aspects was that I’d be in an industry that was different and intriguing, doing my part to help create inspirational museum exhibits! Even with some experience under my belt, I am still learning the nuances of this industry, on both the design and the fabrication end. So, I thought with this blog post, I would try to break down what we do using an analogy we can all relate to. Let’s make a sandwich!

Exhibits have two major periods, the design process and the fabrication process. The design process can be further broken down into schematic, design development, and final design phases. The schematic phase is a sort of discovery process. We explore the major concepts and ideas of an exhibit, and decide what exactly we want to convey. Not much, if any, actual design work is done during this phase. For our analogy, at the end of schematic we would have come to the conclusion that a sandwich was, in fact, what we want for lunch. Design development is when things begin to take shape. This phase would develop the first pictures of our sandwich. What type of sandwich is it? Is it on bread, hoagie, or dare-I-say pita? Will it be hot or cold? Would a sane person eat it? Starting with the information provided in the schematic phase, we will create the first design, and then continue to alter and develop it throughout this phase until we have a product that is ready to go into final design. Let’s say our final decision was a delicious BLT. Now, in final design, we’ll hammer out all the tiny details. How many strips of bacon? What size tomato slices? Where do we want to purchase the lettuce? “We need to create a drawing showing exactly how much mayo to use and how we want it spread.” It may seem neurotic, but the goal is to have everything clearly defined so that the transition into fabrication will be seamless and efficient.

Fabrication is when the magic happens. The designers hand over all the necessary drawings and instructions to those fabricators that have the desired skills (unfortunately, there isn’t a baker or butcher on staff as TSI). Then the needed materials are ordered, and each individual component is made. Finally we combine all the items to make the finished product, our beautiful BLT. Enjoy your lunch!

Posted by: Sean