Museum Visit

I accompanied the class trip to the Museum on Saturday, April 12 and it was the first time I had visited this Museum so it was a doubly pleasant surprise to see both the Map exhibit and the permanent collections.

• There were many rooms full of interesting things from many other collections, and also included a few maps that I did not know were in the permanent collections from the National Gallery of Art.
• Many of the over-sized map products were interesting because they retained the folding element in the table cases. (For example the Road Network Map from 1694).
• The clarity of strong characteristic regional elements contrasted from different parts of the world was interesting in terms of map design elements, since many of the insets and symbols were actually the same size as flash buttons, a natural continuity, I thought. Maybe the preferred aesthetics of certain graphic symbols has been optimal at a certain size over time and across cultures, or maybe it has averaged out over time that there is an optimal "type" range that is still expressed today in terms of fonts, even though we are no longer technologically limited to a certain print size.
• Most of the maps could be read at standing distance, so it was a very up close exhibit. I didn't see any bill-board sized text like we have today on advertisements, like "turn left at Shoneys" next exit maps. In comparison to the exhibit maps, today's map products seem to have gotten less intended for individualized or select audiences these days.
• The lettering on the maps was very literary, and manuscript sized, with not too much over-large text, even on the larger maps. However, the individuation of the regional symbolism seemed to follow a set of protocols that maybe isn't that far off from the kinds of style freedoms that are homogenized through computer software and printing technology like we've been working with. I'd like to go back and see the exhibit again.
• Additionally the gift store also had all kinds of mappy things, and had a representative selection of map-prints. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the cafe had vegetarian selections that were affordable, since I'm a vegetarian, and also the coffee was tastee and could be consumed in line while standing and waiting to enter the exhibit. I enjoyed the day trip!