Great new things are always popping up at the Alberta Aviation Museum. With the help of a Federal Canada Summer Jobs grant, we had the privilege to recruit the expertise of a graphic designer to better define our museum’s branding strategies and exhibit signage. A recent graduate of MacEwan University’s design program, Coralie Larochelle spent the summer working extensively with our marketing, curatorial, and interpretive staff to start unifying our branding guide and create a series of toolkits and templates to enhance the museum visitor experience.
In her own words, Coralie describes the beautifully crafted work she has created for the museum. Keep an eye out for these great new elements during your next visit to the museum:
The museum’s visitor map received a full redesign, with redone plane outlines, clearer demarcations, and a new pamphlet format. The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Signs and Symbols were used for the icons, with new ones fitting the AIGA conventions designed as needed. For the younger visitors, a children’s map was also created. This version comes with reduced information for simplicity, and illustrations to direct youth to key planes and activity stations.
Visitors to the gift shop will have something to look forward to as new mug designs incorporating authentic Edmonton aviation photographs will be gracing the shelves in the near future.
Several items for children’s programming were designed in partnership with the Museum Programmer and Interpreters. Be on the lookout for new coloring sheets, activity badges and stickers. There is also a cabin crew paper dress-up doll kit available that will allow kids to dress-up Blatchford Bear, the museum’s intrepid interpretive mascot.
Lastly, the museum is embarking on a complete overhaul of its interpretive signage. I worked closely with Ryan Lee, the Museum Curator, to craft a template for the new signs. You will find the first batch of newly designed signs in front of the outdoor airplane displays. My work is also reflected in the brand-new Tiger Moth sign, which now serves as the working template for the rest of the museum. These new signs are highly legible while retaining the visual interest of the older interpretive signs. Pay attention to the background of the signs; you’ll notice assembly diagrams scanned from manuals of each plane from our library collection!
I really enjoyed working here at the museum over the past few months. I learned a lot, both about design work and Alberta’s aviation history. I am going back to school in September to complete a degree in Design Studies. You can find more of my work at www.coralielarochelle.myportfolio.com or on Instagram @coralie_design.