Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Discovery Center | Physical Life Science Wall Display
The Discovery Center has a section for each department to display their work for visitors and school field trips. Physical Life Sciences (PLS) wanted to update their display on Carbon Capture and Forensic Science after recent breakthroughs. I was excited to receive this interior environment project from Lisa Valdez in PLS.
The display consists of an entire wall about 11 x 8 feet, including a doorway arch with six individual posters highlighting elements discovered at the Lab.
The font and layout was already established from the adjacent wall, also part of the PLS display. I needed to create complementary colors but differentiate the subject matter. The challenge was fitting 11 foam board posters in a layering effect on a slightly slanted wall and 9 pieces on an asymmetrical arch and make all of it look like once structure.
The arch had its own set of challenges, to appear seamless but printed in three overlapping pieces for installation. The right side of the arch is much wider than the left with a cut out where the waist-high wall meets the arch. I had to make sure the print files where perfect otherwise we'd have to re-print.
I was lucky to work with our talented staff who printed the posters and made them look great. My Manager, Kirk Hadley, and I installed everything, it was laborious but paying attention to every detail paid off. Now the visitors and children can enjoy learning about the life sciences in an eye-catching environment.
It was important to the department to feature the elements discovered at the Lab. Each element is a separate poster printed and mounted on foam core. The element named after the Lab: Livermorium, was especially important to highlight, so I designed it to stand out with color and put it at the children's eye level.
Below are the final designs, as you can see they were created in panels so we could include different levels. The panels with the information are 1/2 inch thicker to stand out and create more visual interest. The photos are also separate foam core posters on top for three layers of depth. We outsourced the acrylic titles at the top. The lettering was printed and cut in house, then placed on the acrylic by hand.
Below are the archway mockups, I included a photo so the client could see the space and approve the colors and font sizing. The visual also helped me confirm the colors were eye-catching and cohesive with the surrounding environment.
Below are photos of the Discovery Center, to get an idea of the space and activities. Engaging the children and visitors was the main motivator for the colors and design.
The photos featured on the display are a mix of Adobe Stock and photos taken at the lab. I photoshopped the lab photos to enhance the color and ensure they matched the overall color palette. The analogous colors and subject matter of the Stock background image tied everything together.
