DESIGNER

Marika Rainey

PROFILE/DESCRIPTION

The Exploratorium (stylized explOratorium with oversized capital O) is a science and technology museum in San Francisco that focuses on physics, life sciences, and human perception. It was founded in 1969 by the physicist Frank Oppenheimer in the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and recently moved to Piers 15 & 17 on the Embarcadero. Its exhibits encourage curiosity and exploration, and most are interactive. Some of the Exploratorium's major attractions are a tinkering workshop and the Tactile Dome, an environment in total darkness that visitors explore by touch. It is very popular, and has won numerous awards for both its content and design. The Exploratorium is popular with families and children. Because of this, bus shelter ads in neighborhoods with families and children will probably be effective. Since the museum is in San Francisco, it makes sense to place it in San Francisco and regions near the bridges into San Francisco in places where there are lots of families with kids. The Presidio (94118) and the Richmond District (94121) in San Francisco have a relatively high proportion of families with children compared to the rest of San Francisco, and would therefore be good places to put the ads. The Exploratorium's logo is the word "explOratorium" in white text on a black background. My design will place an image (of a hand, an eye, or an ear, in order to emphasize the museum's focus on people) within the large "O".

GOALS

I want to emphasize that the Exploratorium is a museum for/about people. Because the Exploratorium moved to a more modern, specially designed facility fairly recently, I also want the design to look sleek and modern to match the new architectural/design style of the museum.