Rediscovering Waltham’s Harpsichord History
A grind project of under two months, we worked with the Charles River Museum to illuminate a new angle on Boston’s harpsichord history.
Impact
180 visitors over first two days (including the mayor of Waltham)
Press
GBH, CAMD Year in Review
Role
Graphic Design, Research, Writing
The Challenge: Unearthing a Tangled Story
I connected research across books, interviews, videos, and website copy, focusing on harpsichord craftsmanship in relation to Waltham’s manufacturing history.
The wealth of information was categorized to make the best of our wall and floor space. Along with exhibit designer Gengyi Li, information print-outs and wall panels were carefully planned to accommodate the artifacts we were able to loan.
The Work: Writing and Design
Although harpsichord builders were visiting, the exhibit still aimed to reach a general audience. With our main categories finalized, I focused on simplifying text, and deciding what key concepts to visualize. Final panels were then proofread by veteran harpsichordists Hendrik Broekman and Mark Kroll.
As each panel passed through production and tested in the exhibit space, changes were constantly being made by the team to design and content. It was my responsibility to ensure final panels were visually consistent, as well as up-to-date and correct.
