Enlivening History

Southwest Museum Services (Houston) produces exhibit graphics for various regional institutions. Its portfolio included the Buddy Holly Museum (Lubbock, TX) and the Dallas Holocaust Museum. Charles Houser, a Southwest graphic designer, said the economy didn’t significantly impact the company because project funding had been procured in most cases before conditions worsened.

The company produced a comprehensive, permanent exhibit program for the Fort Randolph and Fort Buhlow State Historic Site in Alexandria, LA, that recounts the forts’ roles during the Civil War. Using source materials supplied by the site’s managers, Houser and exhibit designer Juan Diaz composed the program using Adobe’s Creative Suite 5, as well as FlexiSign Pro to design vinyl-graphic elements.

“One of my favorite parts of the project was photographing the Red River and using the image to develop a 75-ft.-long mural that spans an entire exhibit section,” Houser said. “The combination of vinyl graphics and physical artifacts proved interesting and required careful layout so one element didn’t overpower the other.”

He said Southwest fabricated the vinyl components using Oracal’s 631 exhibit-grade, calendered film because it would provide the best backdrop to complement overlapping graphics. It printed the graphics on an Encad Novajet 850 60-in. printer. For the featured graphics, the shop printed Lexjet’s 7-mil Universal Fine Photo Satin Plus paper protected with Lexjet’s 3-mil, satin-finish laminate. Southwest installed the prints on 0.125-in.-thick Komatex® PVC backers.

Houser offered advice applicable to all signage and graphic designers: “Get involved with the production process and learn what can and can’t be done. When you understand how to properly use materials, your designs will flourish because you more effectively envision the end result.”