Shackleton Exhibit
July 2021
End of the World: An Antarctic Museum Adventure is a hypothetical immersive museum experience meant to educate and inspire families with the incredible story of Ernest Shackleton’s daring explorations of Antarctica. What could be depicted as a frigid story of survival is instead depicted as a colorful adventure, meant to inspire scientific curiosity in children even as it avoids the colonialism which tragically so often casts a shadow over the kinds of adventure stories traditionally aimed at children (Antarctica has never had a native people).
Focusing particularly on the 1915 loss of the ship Endurance and the subsequent incredible survival and teamwork of her crew, the 1,960-square foot circular exhibit would have projected onto its floor a map of Antarctica. This would enable guests to mimic the planned route of the crew even as they make their way from one end of the exhibit to another. Dividing the exhibit in half would be an “ice” wall. This would serve as a place to depict exhibits, shown in shadowboxes fabricated to look like the ship’s cargo crates. Most importantly, though, it would support a quarter-scale model (36 feet) of the Endurance herself.
Touch screens could also be placed within precariously stacked crates, allowing opportunities for further interactivity. Atop these stacks could be placed simple animatronics of various Antarctic animals. These would serve not only as weenies to guide guests through the space, but also as exciting visual tools to educate guests about Antarctica’s diverse ecosystem, as documented in the writings of Sir Ernest Shackleton himself.
Interactive info stations are presented to adventurers in the form of stacked and frozen crates. Atop, an animatronic animal looks down, with the center crate in each stack serving as a containment unit for a touch screen offering information on the corresponding animal.
An example of the UI featured on the crate touch screens, which cycles through several matching games: in this example, adventurers can select one of the sound icons to preview sounds possibly made by the animal; when touched, the animal (in this case the penguin) will light up with the color corresponding to that button. Once viewers have previewed the three sounds (unlimited times), they can hold and drag the sound icon over to the animal in question to make their guess. A popup will let them know if they are correct or, if incorrect, to try again.
Branding Phase
Since most guests will be unfamiliar with Sir Ernest Shackleton or the Endurance adventure, the brand, title, and accompanying logo for the exhibit avoids direct mention of him. Instead, the branding focuses on the dramatic nature of Antarctic exploration itself, identifying the frozen continent - as many in Shackleton’s day did - as “the end of the world.”
The logo evokes the types of swooping, illustrative text seen in many of the signs and logos of the early 1900s, utilizing an adapted version of the font VictoriaCat (by Peter Wiegel, inspired by font Victoria which was issued before 1903 by the font foundry Flinsch) and Alegreya (designed by Juan Pablo Del Peral for Huerta Tipográfica).
In large scale print and digital uses, the logo can include the subtitle, “An Antarctic Museum Adventure” but this subtitle can be removed for smaller usages.
