Lets Make a Sandwich

June 8, 2009 by Taylor Studios in General

When I started as a project manager for Taylor Studios, one of the most exciting aspects was that I’d be in an industry that was different and intriguing, doing my part to help create inspirational museum exhibits! Even with some experience under my belt, I am still learning the nuances of this industry, on both the design and the fabrication end. So, I thought with this blog post, I would try to break down what we do using an analogy we can all relate to. Let’s make a sandwich!

Exhibits have two major periods, the design process and the fabrication process. The design process can be further broken down into schematic, design development, and final design phases. The schematic phase is a sort of discovery process. We explore the major concepts and ideas of an exhibit, and decide what exactly we want to convey. Not much, if any, actual design work is done during this phase. For our analogy, at the end of schematic we would have come to the conclusion that a sandwich was, in fact, what we want for lunch. Design development is when things begin to take shape. This phase would develop the first pictures of our sandwich. What type of sandwich is it? Is it on bread, hoagie, or dare-I-say pita? Will it be hot or cold? Would a sane person eat it? Starting with the information provided in the schematic phase, we will create the first design, and then continue to alter and develop it throughout this phase until we have a product that is ready to go into final design. Let’s say our final decision was a delicious BLT. Now, in final design, we’ll hammer out all the tiny details. How many strips of bacon? What size tomato slices? Where do we want to purchase the lettuce? “We need to create a drawing showing exactly how much mayo to use and how we want it spread.” It may seem neurotic, but the goal is to have everything clearly defined so that the transition into fabrication will be seamless and efficient.

Fabrication is when the magic happens. The designers hand over all the necessary drawings and instructions to those fabricators that have the desired skills (unfortunately, there isn’t a baker or butcher on staff as TSI). Then the needed materials are ordered, and each individual component is made. Finally we combine all the items to make the finished product, our beautiful BLT. Enjoy your lunch!

Posted by: Sean