I saw everything in miniature first. The model held the new exhibition in exact scale. Upstairs in Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, our patrons were perusing the galleries but down here, in the IMA’s Design and Installation Department, I was towering over the same rooms’ diminutive sisters. I didn’t know a physical model was made of each exhibition before it was installed but not only do they exist—they’re painstakingly accurate. The walls, floors and tiny art pieces are all perfectly portioned effigies. It’s pretty adorable.

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Filed under: Design, Thornton Dial

It was one year ago today that we launched the current version of IMAmuseum.org. We are admittedly still proud of our website as it took a large group of IMA staff six months of dedicated work to create what you see today. In a blog post, we introduced the world to the new set of features of the site. Today, we thought we would take a brief look back at those features and see what worked and what needed a little adjusting throughout the year.

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Filed under: New Media, Technology

I sat down with IMA Designer Matt Kelm to talk about his recent work on the title treatment for Andy Warhol Enterprises, and the innovative and popular sign he designed to welcome visitors to the exhibition. You can see the sign in the Pulliam Family Great Hall and visit the exhibit until January 2, 2011.

What is the project?

This is the title graphic for Andy Warhol Enterprises, an exhibition curated by Sarah Green and Allison Unruh, exploring the commercial component of Andy Warhol’s work. For the title graphic, we wanted to explore a design that referenced formal aspects of Warhol’s art including repetition, vibrant colors, and a tight grid. The solution we created, made up of 4000 posters and combined into 20 pads, also provided a unique opportunity for visitors to take a part of the experience home with them.

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Filed under: Design, Exhibitions

About 900 people visited the IMA last Friday night to attend two showings of Project IMA: Fashion Unbound. Of the 40 designers that traveled from all over the country, a local designer and student, Jeremy B. Hunt won the best of show prize for his crinoline inspired ensemble made entirely of packing material and card board. The Elizabeth Kraft-Meek fashion design award of $500 was awarded to Jeremy based on the decisions of three talented judges, Jacqueline Buckingham Anderson, CEO of Style Meets Life, David Hochoy, Artistic Director for Dance Kaleidoscope and Lisa Silhanek, CEO of Silhanek Ltd., and the former director of IMG Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

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Filed under: Current Events, Design

I decided to keep this volley a bit less cluttered than my “space pirates” version. I had made some vector bug outlines a long time ago and this seemed like a good time to use one. I used ants silhouettes to style the word “nature”. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Praying Mantis. I changed the mood by making it much darker. It’s starting to look like a scary/sci-fi movie poster to me now. Stay tuned for @jmscottimd’s final volley in this round coming soon.

See the other two round 2 serves before mine:

Also, see all four volleys from round 1 here.

Also, be sure to check out Aaron’s latest graphic design battle shenanigans over at at the official site of Layers Tennis. An epic battle of the beards sure to make you say wow.

Filed under: Art, Design, Local, Technology