Designing the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition

Source: Greanleaf Photography 

This year the exhibition’s ‘lightbox’ concept has been developed  and there is a new interpretive design using a ‘continuous ribbon’. The exhibition itself features several new interactive elements.

The designers won a joint invitation-only pitch in March for a concept, which included plans for the museum’s South Kensington site as well as international and touring versions of the exhibition.

Source: Greanleaf Photography

Gabrielle Underwood has worked on the spatial design and art direction, with A Plus B designing graphics and the digital experience.  

Each photograph in the exhibition is back-lit by a vertical lightbox, which is integrated into temporary walls.

Source: Greanleaf Photography

The winning photographs form a central structure, which sits higher than the other photographs and glows brighter.

Radiating out from this, an uplit fabric ribbon weaves in and out of other photographs, which are grouped together by theme.

Source: Greanleaf Photography

Gabrielle Underwood says: “The idea was to have a warm glowing central area showing the winners at the centre, with thematic areas pivoting out from the this.”

There is a “preferred or suggested route”, Underwood says, but as there will be thousands of people visiting and some sections will be busier than others, visitors can pass through openings in the ribbon and move in and out from the central glowing orb, which is visible from most points.

Source: Greanleaf Photography

Information about the photographs including where and when they were taken is written on a graphic panel underneath each image.

A Plus B developed all graphic and digital elements as part of the overall exhibition scheme. Interactives include the “attractor” at the beginning of the exhibition, a moving image display which gives an insight into 50 years of the exhibition.

Source: Greanleaf Photography

There is also a cinema room and a touch-screen interactive, which allows visitors to access an archive of previous winners as well as “The People’s Choice” – those photographs that the public favoured but didn’t make the final 100 on display.

An app has been developed for use within the exhibition. If a visitor finds a large crowd around an image, they can tap a code into their phone, which unlocks information on the photograph

Source: Greanleaf Photography

There are seated areas to encourage visitors to move away from crowds and view this information.

Underwood says: “Over recent years the show has developed a strong brand and to celebrate the 50th competition we wanted to evolve this design identity and reinvigorate the visitor’s experience.

Source: Greanleaf Photography

“The spatial and graphic design creates a fluid ribbon on which the photographs are showcased – a motif that flows through into the digital platform, to create a seamless physical-digital experience.”

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition runs at the Natural History Museum until August 2015.