exhibition design

1900's Fashion Exhibit

ROLE

UX Designer

YEAR

2022

Project Overview 🎯

Project Overview 🎯

Project Overview 🎯

Throughout the 1900’s, fashion was used as a voice of expression in numerous ways, from the post corset-era in the 20’s to voicing identities for trans woman in the 60’s. Our group created a fashion exhibit centered on the progression of fashion in the 1900's, where we influenced the physical space and incorporated multiple touch points (digital, auditory, and physical) to create meaningful interactions that allow a sense of embodied participation within the exhibit.

Role 👩‍💻

In a group of 5, I contributed to the research and ideation of the project. I also took a lead role in the coded digital touchpoints.

Tools + Processes 🛠️

Co-design, User research, Creating a master narrative, Web design (HTML, CSS, JS), Figma prototyping, Physical prototype

Process

Process

Process

Understanding the Users

To gain a better understanding about the history and use of fashion in the 1900's, we read up on books and articles from and of that time period. From these articles and journals, we discovered that despite each time period representing a different type of femininity, there was a common theme of women using fashion to represent who they were. Fashion was a voice of empowerment and expression, and we wanted to display that feeling in our exhibit.

Creating a Digital Probe

To better understand how we could incite empowerment, we created a digital probe that was given to 5 college students who were female-identifying. We tasked them with watching video clips from the Great Gatsby and afterwards asked them to draw on paper what they would wear to a party in the 1920s. For the final activity, we asked the participants to create a “mood board” on Pinterest and find images that made them feel empowered. The purpose of this probe was to help our team understand how women interpreted fashion during the 1920s and what they would wear that made them feel confident. We also wanted to highlight the diversity of what makes each woman feel empowered.

However, from this exercise, we found that empowerment was subjective, a simple concept that we had overlooked. As a result we shifted our museum's focus from individual perceptions of empowerment to how fashion allowed women in history to feel empowered.

Master Narrative

To map out how we wanted our museum to be perceived we created a master narrative. This narrative follows the story of feminine fashion throughout the 1900s. We included the emotions we hoped to incite in our users as a template for designing what we would include within the museum. Through countless rounds of iteration, our team was able to create 3 sections, each with its respective decade within the 1900's where fashion was represented differently.

Master Narrative of Museum Experience

Ideation and Prototyping

To create an immersive experience, we created touch points within the museum. We created physical, digital, and auditory touch points that emphasized the theme of the exhibit and section, such as the one-way mirror to emphasize the 20's impact on the 60's. These touch points are shown in detail below.

Lastly, to emphasize the architectural structure of our design, we created a physical prototype of the museum. We used popsicle sticks, cardboard, paper, and cups to bring our exhibit to life.

Physical Prototype of Museum

The Exhibit Experience

The Exhibit Experience

The Exhibit Experience

  • the roaring 20's

    The 19th Amendment was just ratified. Fashion was shifting to fabric that allowed for more movement, known as "flapper fashion." Mannequins lined the walls in this Great Gatsby themed room, showcasing the era of socialization and consumerism at the time.

    Our digital touchpoint (coded with HTML, CSS, and JS) was a game for patrons to select an outfit based on fashion choices in the 20's. Here they could choose their dress, headwear, and shoes to complete an outfit. There was also a physical touchpoint of a one-way mirror that represented the vanity of society at the time (the other side of the mirror can be viewed in the 1960's room).

  • regression of feminism

    Around the 1930's-50's, a period of feminine regression came as the constrictive clothing and domestic lifestyle increased. This area is presented by a cone shaped hall to make the patron feel they are being pushed into a confined space, reflecting women and their freedom at the time. Despite the passing of the 19th amendment, social constraints and governmental pressure against women were still present.

    Mannequins were lined on the edges to represent the different fashion choices in each decade, and how they showed the style of clothing returning to what it was before the 20's.

  • Trans Women Rights Movement and Marsha P. Johnson

    Around the 1960's, a new wave of feminism came with Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Riots. Here, we included a physical touchpoint of one-way mirror into the 1920's room. This allowed patrons to look back on the 20's from the 60's, as the fashion movement of less restrictive clothing in the 20's inspired the movement in the 60's. While those in the 60's could look back, those in the 20's couldn't see their impact on the future.

    We also included an auditory touchpoint of a phone to listen in on a conversation of two adults saying how distasteful feminine fashion was in the 20's, reminding patrons of the criticism women faced despite the new freedom they encountered.

    We decorated the room to reflect city streets as a representation of the Stonewall Riots.

  • the roaring 20's

    The 19th amendment was just ratified and feminine fashion was seeing its shift alongside history. Women were switching from clothing deemed acceptable by men to clothing that allowed for more movement, known as "flapper fashion". Our digital touchpoint (coded with HTML, CSS, and JS) was a game for patrons to select an outfit based on fashion choices in the 20's. Here they could choose their dress, headwear, and shoes to complete an outfit. There was also a physical touchpoint of a one-way mirror that represented the vanity of society at the time (the other side of the mirror can be viewed in the 1960's room).

    The room's inspiration was taken from the Great Gatsby and trying to imitate a large party room bustling with new fashion and socialization.

  • Regression of feminism

    Around the 1930's-50's, a period of feminine regression came as the constrictive clothing and domestic lifestyle increased. We used this as a transition between the two big waves of feminine empowerment movements. This area is presented by a cone shaped hall to make the patron feel they are being pushed into a confined space, reflecting women and their freedom at the time. Despite the passing of the 19th amendment, social constraints and governmental pressure against women were still present.

    Mannequins were lined on the edges to represent the different fashion choices in each decade, and how they showed the style of clothing returning to what it was before the 20's.

  • Trans Women Rights Movement and Marsha P. Johnson

    Around the 1960's the world began to see trans women come public and fight for their rights using fashion to represent their identity. We highlighted Marsha P. Johnson in this section as she was an influential figure who's fashion choices are still seen in design choices today. Here we included a physical touchpoint of one-way mirror into the 1920's room. This allowed patrons to look back on the 20's from the 60's, as the fashion movement of less restrictive clothing in the 20's inspired the movement in the 60's. While those in the 60's could look back, those in the 20's couldn't see their impact on the future.

    We also included an auditory touchpoint of a phone to listen in on a conversation of two adults saying how distasteful feminine fashion was in the 20's, reminding patrons of the criticism women faced despite the new freedom they encountered.

    We decorated the room to reflect city streets as a representation of the Stonewall Riots.