Today we visited the National Zoo, where we talked about living collections. Before starting the museum studies program, I never really considered zoos to be “museums,” but in a way they are. They’re like natural history museums, except with living collections.
Creative new signage in the panda house
One of the most interesting challenges that zoos have is that their objects move around. The animals aren’t always within the public view and they don’t sit still. One of the staff members we spoke to pointed out that in a museum, the paintings are always next to their labels, however, in a zoo the design team needs to be creative when making signage. Visitors, when faced with the choice of looking at animals or reading signage, will most likely choose to look at the animals. They handle this problem by creating colorful, engaging text panels that draw visitors in, and place them in locations where the visitor can read while also viewing the animals.
Zoos also have the challenge of talking about difficult subject matter. Many of the animals represented in zoos are threatened or endangered in the wild. How do zoos tell that story without making their visitors feel defensive and completely turned off of the material? It’s a delicate balance of subtly stating the facts in a way that visitors can make the connections. They also provide ways that visitors can help protect these animals in the wild by offering alternative options for shopping, eating, and using renewable resources.
It was an interesting experience to visit a zoo in the context of a living museum. And who doesn’t love all those adorable animals!?!
A Gal in the Galleries 