Google Lab Visit

During the typo talks last year Bibliotheque mentioned a project they were working on, hosted at the science museum in collaboration with Google. I made the most of my visit home over the weekend and visited a few galleries and events to get some extra research in.
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The room consists of a number of interactive experiments allowing visitors to engage and experiment with each one. The experience as a whole was amazing and the design of the space worked perfectly with the experimental nature of the event.
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I have recorded my experience of the event to document how it engages and interacts with online and offline percipients. I have taken a lot of inspiration from this and really starting to think about the end of year show... how can this year be different! A lot is changing in graphic design, and I think the show has the potential to push the boundaries using the shapes as signage to create an experience that engages its visitors making it stay in their minds!

The signage all the way through the event was based on this idea of experimentation and uses industrial style signage.

When you enter you are given a card that records all of the experiments that you explore while at the exhibition. Straight away engaging you on a more personal level, treating everyone as an individual and allowing them to shape their own experience or venture!

As you walk in you notice a rather strange series of sounds, then soon realise that they are coming from the experiments around the room, being used by both online visitors and those there in the flesh. The different experiments allow you to engage with each series of strange instruments as you walk around the room.
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Each gives the option of recording and saving the music you make onto your card, showing which experiments you engaged with! Again a very personal touch to an event with so many visitors both on and off-line.

Some of the experiments were more visual, this experiment takes an image of your face and saturises it in a simple process, then an etching type machine marks it out on to the sand. Again both on and offline visitors can engage with the experiments all being created live!
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Similarly to the music you can record the making of your face onto your Google lab card!

At the end you scan your card on the webcam and it shows you all the experiments you engaged with. I have only listed a few of the processes I explored but further documentation of the event can be seen in the Scribd document, I would honestly advise anyone interested in designing experiences or events to visit the exhibition!

Finally the signage across the floor was based on warehouse flooring, again this idea of a giant industrial experiment is communicated through the colours and tone of voice the typeface delivers. Considering how the floor of the end of year show or D&AD could be changed or worked with is another aspect to consider for the yearbook brief.