Exhibition Design for Educational Center | Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases

An exhibition at the library documents a changing Boston through urban atlases

Brief

Graphic design and coordination for a free exhibition at the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library

Role

Exhibition graphic designer

Studio

Joelle Riffle

Collaborators

Laura Schmidt (Guest Curator), Garrett Dash Nelson and Emily Bowe (LMEC), Print House (Fabricator)

Deliverables

Exhibition Graphic Design

Client

The Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library inspires curiosity and learning, and fosters geographic perspectives on the relationships between people and places, through free and accessible collections and resources, critical interpretation and research, and K-12 and public education.

The titling for the exhibit which uses a variety of fonts — slab serif, condensed sans serif, and wide grotesque, references the historical typography seen in urban atlases across time.

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To emphasize the exhibitions concept of how the city has changed over time, circles, crops, and annotations help visitors see how blocks and buildings have changed in form or use. Postcards, archival photos, and other ephemera help illustrate the story further, immersing the viewer in previous versions of our city.

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The exhibition’s tonal color system is pulled from the vivid colored blocks used on the atlases.

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One woman, Florida Ruffin Ridley is referred to throughout Building Blocks, a singular figure in Boston’s Black history.

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