Roots of Wisdom
An interactive exhibit illuminating the long history of indigenous knowledge holders working to address environmental concerns.
Roots of Wisdom is a 2,500s.f. traveling exhibit that highlights regional stories where western science and indigenous knowledge have worked together to address environmental and social concerns.
Exhibit team
Matt Suplee, Design Lead
Jaclyn Barber, Graphic Design
Cecilia Nguyen, Lori Erickson, Vicki Coats, Research and Development
Tim Steeves, Production Lead
The exhibit featured four zones telling the stories of unique indigenous communities. Each zone was color coded to identify which area a visitor found themselves in.
Video played a large part in the exhibit, allowing visitors to hear the stories of these indigenous communities in their own voice.
Graphics sought to visualize the kinship and interconnectedness of indigenous communities with their regional plants, animals and distinct languages.
The exhibit was specifically focused on youth as its target audience.
We incorporated a lot of landscape imagery to help identify the local environments particular to each community.
Existing nature photographs were often poor quality, scientifically inaccurate or too clinical to use. We chose illustration as a tool to correctly represent the unique plants and animals particular to each region.
The exhibit was a mix of hands-on mechanical and digital interactives.
I chose a design aesthetic that was reminiscent of the natural world but honest about its materials and methods, such as using stained appleply to suggest green landscapes.
Roots of Wisdom was designed to be a traveling exhibit which meant that all components would disassemble and be stored on 12 custom carts that would then roll up into a semi-truck for transit.
Design Brief
The project began with a deep dive into the aesthetic and emotional approach we wanted to take in this exhibit.