Evaluation of ‘The Design Studio’ exhibition

Now the end was in sight, all that was left to do was the clearing up of the exhibition so that we could hand back the keys to the shop in the condition that we found it. To ensure this was done by closing Friday I arranged to attend the afternoon session of the clear up but on the day I was contacted by Team Leader Mike who informed me the clear up would be complete by 1pm and so I was not needed. It would seem that the weeks worth of work in preparation could be cleared up in a morning which was pleasing and efficient to all those who participated.

Overal I felt that given our nearly non-existent budget and minimal professional help, the exhibition was a success and although lacking that high end quality, I would look at this experience as a learing curve to improve for the future as for most of us this was the first time showing our work never mind exhibiting to the general public.

I was a little disappointed in the fact that not everyone put the same amount of work into the running and preparation of the exhibition, with some only coming in for one day and some not attending at all, but I hope those who needed to know are aware of this and its reflection on the end product. This certainly was a learning experience for me and I felt that if I were to do it again, I would definitely want to from the view of a Team Leaders position so as to better control the outcome of the exhibition’s principles.

Day 7 – Exhibition Final Day- Photographs

Lower wall of the Idea Board finally covered to hide the brown marks showing before



















Covered Idea Board



















Team Leader Craig surveys the covering I have performed



















Food and refreshments table for the visitors

Comments wall, now covered and clean looking

Visitors drwaing board all finished and covered

After shot of the covered wall

Various images of the walls before and after coverage

Doorway covering idea

Day 7 – Exhibition Final Day- Thursday

Thursday was the last day of which the exhibition would be open for viewing to the general public, it was also at the end of this day that our course path leader, Jo Bowman and course tutor Mariana Cutino Moguel would be attending to view and asses the successfulness of the exhibition we had created.

For this reason I felt the exhibition needed to be tidied up and so went about fixing small things such as the hanging work issues, making sure it was parallel to the ground, as well as creating more writing pen felt tips for the visitors drawing board. The biggest disappointment was that the walls were still not completely covered, leaving holes, stains and cracks still visible. This of course was unacceptable so we searched for a solution which came in the form of lining papr bought from a cheap stationary shop. The paper was an off white colour but came in roles and was perfect for covering the majority of the exposed wall.

I spent most part of the afternoon covering nearly half the side of the exhibition with this lining paper to give a more professionally themed effect to the subject of our show. Once it was complete and I stepped back to survey it appeared to be a success with the walls now covered from holes with neat strips of clean paper. Images of before and after for the walls can be seen in the photographs for this day.

Day 6 - Exhibition- Wednesday

Following commitments to work, it wasn’t until Wednesday that I was next able to attend the exhibition, I arrived around 10am and to be honest was hard pushed to find tasks which needed to be completed. I could see that the walls still were not covered and so enquired why to which I was met with blank faces, which only showed that the list written on Saturday were not fully satisfied.

I found some paper and added it to the walls to try and cover up the holes and various marks, but I soon ran out of material and so needed to find a better solution. My time spent at the exhibition on Wednesday was mainly just to man the front of house and as a result of other group members attending, I found I was no longer needed around 2 o’clock so decided to leave and come back in the next day for preparation of Jo’s visit.

Day 2 - Exhibition Finalising - Photographs

Sheet taken from sofa covering and made into screen to break up space and hide unecessary parts of the exhibition



















Idea borad made by various members of the group to cover the wall with an artisitic nature



















Pencil Centrepiece



















Another angle of the idea board



















Guest writing wall for the viewers of the exhibition to add their own art



















Front window of the exhibition
























Midday.......Lunch break



















Final layout



















Comments table where viewers left their thoughts and feelings about the exhibition
























Mike in the staff area of the exhibition, viewing the 10 commandments
























The 10 Commandments.....a set of rules to govern the daily running of the exhibition

Day 2 - Exhibition Setup - Saturday

On the Saturday, due to be the opening of the exhibition, I came in around 1pm to find not alot was going on, the morning team had printed off the descriptions for the work and had proceeded to mount them. I was informed that overnight some of the work had fallen down a little probably due to the combination of fishing wire, sellotape and the inside heat so I made it my first task to repair this problem.

I was annoyed however to discover that the morning team had done a poor DIY job on the work, re-taping it using black and blue tape with no regard to the finished appearance which just undermined the clean floating effect of the work. I quickly rectified this problem and put the work back to its correct state.

I discussed the many small issues to do with the day to day running of the exhibition with Sav, especially in the absence of team leaders to which he agreed with me would be a good idea to put up a list of guidelines for whoever was in on that certain day to follow. These tasks included general cleaning and maintenance of the exhibition as well as a few guidelines towards the running of the show daily. We called these the ’10 commandments’ which can be seen in the photos taken for Saturday.

Despite the lack of attendance on the Friday, there was a better turn out on the Saturday to help with the final stages of the setup which by closing time Saturday was almost complete. A few changes were made by myself to improve the exhibition including the hanging of the sheet previously used to cover the sofa, the rectifying of the badly patched work as previously stated and the addition of a few other small touches to improve the overall look.

I stayed late after closing along with Sav to clear up the mess left over from the days finalising of the exhibition layout. During this time Mariana dropped by and helped us solve a few unresolved issues regarding layout and presentation to give the exhibition a more professional look overall. We wrote all the jobs down on a ‘To do’ list and labelled them accordingly in respect to which day each task had to be completed by. As I was not back in until Wednesday and Sav would not be in for the few days to follow, it was important that these tasks were completed.

Day 1 - Exhibition Setup - Photographs

Martin painting the sign for the window showing onlookers the presence of the exhibition

The pencil centrepiece and general layout of the exhibition

The well made centrepiece created by Dan and John

Final constructed work created by myself and Rob ready for hanging

Early morning hard at work

The initial 'square' idea for the work which was a little unstable

Me hanging the work from the roof.......attempting to get it parallel with the floor

Rob......my Polish Assistant for the day.......love this guy

Here I am fixing the paint splats to the carpet

Always be proud of your accomplishments......lesson over

Hard at work..........