Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

Imagine receiving a DNA collection kit in the mail with your name on it, swabbing the inside of your cheek, transferring the cells onto a piece of special paper, and mailing it back to the return address. In the lab, a technician extracts your DNA, runs it on a gel, and captures a raw digital image from that gel. Then, your DNA sample is destroyed. Convicted felon? Father of another child? Or just redecorating the condo with your unique DNA portrait?

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“Signage” is a popular term around museum marketing offices. It gets a work order, designed, produced, and lives out its purpose. But what happens to the dozens of exhibition and museum signs when the show is over, the program done or the sign is just passed its prime?

A company called BetterWall allows you to buy those exhibition banners from around the world to become timeless works of art for your home or business. Started by a husband-wife team of environmental consultant and art historian, BetterWall works with museums through its “Recycle and Reuse Program” to help museums remain green by taking tons of vinyl banners off their hands and selling them, giving a portion of the profits back to the museums. I have a National Portrait Gallery, George Washington “Lansdowne” sign that used to be displayed on the Mall in Washington, D.C. framed in my living room, but this article by a Washington Post reporter was the first time I had heard of a company who made authentic museum advertising available to the public.

As unique objects produced in limited editions, the banners embody great art, great museums, and contemporary advertising trends. — BetterWall

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The IMA’s Previews member magazine goes into design next week. I thought it would be fun to give readers a behind the pages look at the process and another chance to weigh in.

Last October, a team of us who work on Previews sat down with stacks of magazines from all walks of life, including publications from other museums. We talked about appearance — the layout, design, fonts, colors, photos. We hashed out content — article type, member information, length, the calendar. We also considered the paper used to print the magazine on and asked ourselves ‘How green can we be?’ Read the rest of this entry »