This was the major project from the final year of my degree course. I wrote the brief myself: the aim of the project was to design an exhibition for the Natural History Museum, looking at how mammals are adapted to survive in different habitats. The target audience is 11-14 year olds.
The concept for the exhibition was to present models and mammal specimens as the stars of the show. They would be displayed in dynamic poses to give a sense of life. The backgrounds are images of the relevant habitat in a posterized style, simplified so as to not detract from the mammals and also reminiscent of computer graphics, as my research into the target audience determined computers and gaming as a popular interest.
Isometric Overview of the exhibition space, giving an indication of the style of graphics and placement of mammals. The pictograms are graphics that would be used within the exhibition to help orient the visitor as to which habitat they are in; the colour of the pictogram is the dominant colour for that habitat. The spectrum of colours reflects the changing climate of the habitat, progressing from hot to cold as the visitors move from desert through to the oceans. (Click the image for a larger version):
Visual concept for the Rainforest area: lighting effects would help create the idea of dappled light and dense foliage (coloured pencil & Photoshop):
Tundra area (Photoshop):
Exhibition Entrance: An interactive model showing where different habitats are located around the world acts as a focus point to draw visitors in. Panels introduce the content of the exhibition and the key concepts it deals with - namely the process of adaptation and what a habitat is (Photoshop):
Savanna Area (Photoshop & Illustrator):
Deciduous Area: Over a duration of 20 minutes, the lighting within this area changes to simulate the changing seasons - spring, summer, autumn, winter. (Full colour model photographs & colours edits in Photoshop):
