Well, I was walking through Walmart yesterday, looking for ideas in the craft section. I came across these little wooden craft boards. Essentially, they're just a wood board with a some decorative beveling on the edges. For some reason, my imagination was sparked by them. So I bought one. After all, they were only five dollars apiece.

The next day, I figured out why I liked these boards so much. I have been designing some new low-cost interpretive signage for a local history museum. I had considered making laminated interpretive sheets to place on a stand or to insert into a picture frame. However, the first option would have left the information sheets feeling "flat", and the picture framing option would have caused the data to "recede" and be less noticeable.

I realized that the bevel on the craft boards made the data "come forward", causing the information to "stand out" from it's surroundings. It's just simple visual rhetoric, but I believe that putting the interpretive information on these boards will help attract and guide the visitor's eye. Keeping the amount of text small and making the information quick and to-the-point will help to maintain the visitor's attention. The addition of one or more photos or illustrations could improve the presentation.

Anyhow, I made a prototype of an interpretive sign using the craft board, four chrome thumbtacks and an inkjet-printed copy of an informational sign I made in Inkscape. For the final product, I plan to use a printing/copying service to get better print quality for the information sheet. Still, I think the result (despite any spelling errors in the prototype) is a clean, informative, easy-to-read interpretive board that just about any low-budget museum could design, build, and install.