Falklands 30 Exibition Video

We have created a video, showing the history of the design, concept and installation of the Falklands 30 Exhibition at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Enjoy!

Opening Ceremony - It's Official!

The Fleet Air Arm Museum Falklands 30 Exhibition opening took place on Armed Forces Day, June 30th 2012. All the exhibition graphics were in place, and before a large crowd the exhibition was opened by Rear Admiral L E Middleton CB DSO, who was captain of HMS Hermes during the Conflict. There were presentations from local schools (including one from pupils from the Falkland Islands themselves) and then we were free to walk round the exhibition.


Below are some photos of the event, and we will shortly be compiling a video to chart the entire process of putting the exhibition graphics together.


We would once again like to thank the team at the Fleet Air Arm Museum for the opportunity to produce this exhibition work, and thank the Wallis Agency team who put it together.

The Family Education Area, complete with Flight Deck information boards (for you to try out launching and landing a Sea Harrier!), jigsaw and board game.

Our Falklands 30 Board Game.

Trying on Flight Deck uniforms!

The Full Opening Approaches

The Falklands 30 Exhibition will officially open this Saturday - 30th June. Wallis Agency will be there, and pictures will follow.

For that opening, we are putting the finishing touches on a few further items. We are producing two memorial boards for the memorial area, an information board and hand-held sheets for the family educational area (learn how to land and launch a Sea Harrier from the flight deck of an Aircraft Carrier!)

We are also close to signing off our board game, which will take pride of place in the family education area. Throw the dice to see who goes first!

What Next?

The Soft Opening is complete. There will be a proper opening at the end of the month, and we are also involved in preparing some items to finish the exhibition off. There will be some information boards around each zone (Blue and Orange), some information sheets for the Memorial Area and some items to help with the educational area in the Orange Zone. These include a mini flight-deck instruction panel, a jigsaw and a board game! These are some of the most original and exciting projects Wallis Agency has ever done!

The Blue Zone

As well as the main exhibition area, there is also the Blue Zone, where original aircraft from the Falklands conflict are displayed. These are in an adjacent hall, so the directional signage takes visitors to them, and the area is branded with a blue version of the logo, to show it is part of the same exhibition, but in a separate area.

The Memorial Area of the Museum is midway between the Orange and Blue Zones. This board, fixed to the Falklands Memorial display, directs visitors to one area or the other.

The Blue Zone mainly comprises the aircraft information boards. These are made from aluminium composite, and show the details of the various original aircraft.

In this picture, you can see the magnetic branding strip on the information point (also below).

Directional Signage

We created a few directional signs to help visitors find their way to and from the exhibition.

The Soft Opening

The exhibition had its soft opening yesterday, with a visit from HRH Prince Andrew. All went well, and the space now looks great, with all the boards up, and the aircraft information panels, directional signage and exhibits in place. The area of the Museum designated for this exhibition looks fantastic.

Aerial views of the finished exhibition

At ground level the exhibition space is well paced and presents the information and exhibits clearly.

This is the one and only green aircraft information panel, signifying that this Westland Wessex helicopter is part of the Royal Marines display area.

The overall entrance panorama.

Down to the last detail - this information point has a magnetic panel at the foot, to brand it for the exhibition.

The Royal Marines case, fully illuminated.

These are a selection of our Reminiscence boards, now in position.

A close up, showing the 'tromp l'oeil' effect of the individual reminiscence 'postcards' placed in a scrapbook style.

The branded staircase wrap, to enhance the Royal Marines area.

Clear text boards tell the story of the conflict.

Thanks

Having delivered all the graphics for the Falklands 30 exhibition soft opening, it seems like a good time to give out some sincere thanks.

Firstly, we would like to thank the Museum itself for giving us the exciting opportunity to be involved with this project. We would also like to thank the design team - Alex Holloway at Wallis Agency and Rowena Taylor for their excellent support and great ideas.

The production has been done by the team at Hardy Signs, Dorchester. Thanks to Jamie and all the guest there.

But, there is still more to do! We are developing some items for the education aspect of the exhibition, including a jigsaw, trail book and board game. We will also be producing some new graphics for the opening of the exhibition, and anything the Museum requires afterwards!

We just thought we should use this slight pause for breath to thank everyone so far...

The Exhibition Area Takes Shape

Here are a few pics showing how the whole area is taking real shape. Some of the exhibits are now in place, as is the accompanying artwork. We took some shots of the area from the gantry above, which shows the layout, and how the space can work as an exhibition area.

Aerial shots of the exhibition space, with the banners, vinyl wallpapers, text boards and inlaid hexagonal case panels all visible.

Showing the height and depth of the exhibition area, this shot shows most of our graphics.

The object in the foreground is an actual nose cone and Peto tube from an Israeli-supplied Dagger aircraft. This aircraft is also featured on one of the vinyl wallpapers, in a photographed attack on the British fleet.

Final Delivery... For Now...

We delivered the final foamex text boards to the Museum today (13 June) in advance of tomorrow's visit by HRH Prince Andrew (who of course served in the Falklands Conflict). We also delivered some magnetic information signs for the information points.

This represents all the graphics for now for the soft opening of the exhibition. Not all the directional signage and aircraft boards have been put up yet, but this will happen soon.

The photos below are of the text boards and some of the stored items.

One of the six Reminiscence Boards. These boards contain the actual recorded recollections of personnel, families at home and Islanders. Each recollection is individually designed and then placed on the board to look like a scrapbook / cork board. We even designed little 'pins' so the effect works perfectly!

The Falkland Islanders reminiscence board and two history boards waiting to be put in place.

The Families Reminiscence Board (on the floor, left) waiting to go up. You can see the exhibition space really starting to take shape.

Three Personnel Reminiscence Boards waiting to go on their wall.

Some of the information text panels in position.

An aerial view of some of the items stored and waiting to be placed around the Museum when the exhibition opens.

This storage pic captures the Royal Marines staircase wrap, designed to demarcate the Royal Marines area within the exhibition space.

Panorama Complete

The San Carlos Water banner panorama is complete - the banners are all hung around the Harrier giving it real impact as you enter the hall. The Harrier seems to be flying into the scene, and the big orange logo below marks out the exhibition space.

Nearly There...

There are three days to go before the visit to the Museum of HRH Prince Andrew, an important event in advance of the official exhibition opening. We have got nearly everything there, but there are a few foamex information panels to complete before that red letter day.

The photos below show some of the text boards waiting to go up, along with a corner of the space where we are storing the aircraft information boards, directional signage and the impressive Royal Marines hexagonal case. This case contains a replica bergen from the conflict - incredibly heavy!

Text information boards waiting to go up

The orange and blue graphics direct visitors to the reminiscence boards on the wallpapered walls. These boards link the personal recollections of people involved with the conflict with the factual timeline.

The exhibition space starting to take shape. The floor has been painted, the banners are up!

The Royal Marines hexagonal case, with inlaid foamex panels.

Storing the aluminium aircraft information boards, and some of the directional signage,