In addition to the architectural design for the exhibition “Mad for Money” in the Tax & Customs Museum, I also worked rather hard on the graphic layer. I wanted to highlight that separately. Together with graphic designer Rob Meerman (formerly from Mannschaft) I did a lot of illustration work for, among others, a timeline of 60 square meters. We also developed and designed the publicity campaign together. All in a day’s work!
A timeline about means of exchange does not seem very spectacular at first sight. So our goal was to bring the fascinating essence of the story of money to life. We divided the subject into 3 veins that intertwine as branches, where images and anecdotes appear in side-shoots and “polyps”.
In addition to the main points, we developed a whole batch of “narrative avatars” in silhouette form. These are figures that provide anecdotes and arch commentary on the course of history: we see an emperor calling that he accepts his own money sound, Napoleon complaining about his brother in the Netherlands, a counterfeiter, a goat-herd, a queen, a dandy, and so on. In between historical events, our little unofficial mascot, Mischief the Fox, also appears. We see this trickster at all kinds of historical events where he is clearly trying to pull a fast one. Because the history of money, and the craziness around money, is the story of trust and also of its antonym, deception.
“Gek op Geld”, which can be seen until 8 March at the Tax & Customs Museum, Parklaan 7, Rotterdam
