Rediscovering
a Seattle Icon
Smith Tower
Museum Exhibit
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Seattle’s first skyscraper that included rum runners, guns, typewriters, romantic superstitions, and ties to Chinese royalty are all woven into the historical fabric of this icon, which presents a window into the Emerald City’s colorful past.
Smith Tower’s hospitality group needed a refresh to their historical exhibit that occupies the first, second and 35th floors. Working with our museum content partner, Weatherhead Experience Design, we dove deep into the past and brought to life a myriad of stories, artifacts and legends.
CLIENT: SMITH TOWER, COLUMBIA HOSPITALITY // DISCIPLINES: EXHIBIT, PRINT, DIGITAL, WAYFINDING
+ Strategy
The first step in redesigning and refreshing the existing exhibits/tours at Smith Tower, was to better organize and clarify how the audience would move through the space, especially across three different floors. This included cues, wayfinding and a personable story line where visitors picked a historical character from a list of ten from Smith Tower’s past—following along with their journey throughout the exhibit. Custom character brochures and maps were dispensed at the beginning of the experience and content could either be read via their character or at a more general level. Design-wise, we redesigned and created super-scaled wall graphics, story board graphics and interactive elements throughout the exhibit. We transformed the project into a deeper and more meaningful discovery for the visiting sleuths. The stories of characters paired with a strong image presence and story arc of the building’s history, all combined to make a much more impactful experience that all culminated at the top of the skyscraper’s stunning observatory level. Here, visitors could engage in drinks and some nosh as they took in the 360 degree views of Seattle and the Puget Sound. The last experience wink was visitors punctuating their character’s stories with revealed answers at the top.
