PROJECTS
PRINT DESIGN | EXTERIOR GRAPHICS
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Washington, DC
Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks
June 2016 – March 2019
Christine Lefebvre Design provided graphic design services for the National Postal Museum exhibition, Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks. CLD designed an extensive suite of printed materials, including the gallery guide, opening invitation, a Family Day handbook and passport stamp, a commemorative postal cancellation, exterior museum banner, and National Mall and USPS lobby advertisements. The printed material coordinated with the exhibition designed by Fairfax, Virginia–based Design Minds.
GALLERY GUIDE The gallery guide was carefully designed to include copious information: highlighted objects, a checklist of related content found elsewhere in the museum, further reading, information about the images featured in the exhibition, and a list by state of the national parks featured in the exhibition.
The gallery guide unfolded into a poster-sized reprint of a painting of the Grand Canyon, originally commissioned for use on a 1988 postage stamp. The image of a Giant Sequoia that spanned the front and back covers of the gallery guide was also original stamp art, created for the American Trees stamp series of 1978.
“This looks byoo-tee-ful. Probably the nicest NPM gallery takeaway ever.”
— Smithsonian National Postal Museum
INVITATION CLD designed the invitation for the exhibition’s ceremonial ribbon cutting. It featured a keepsake tear-off bookmark. We also designed a variation without printed text in the center, for museum staff to use as correspondence cards throughout the run of the exhibition.
HANDBOOK The “Junior Trailblazer Handbook,” available on Family Day, included an “I Spy” scavenger hunt on the back and space to adhere stamps in the center.
While the Junior Trailblazer Handbook used the “official” exhibition logomark, other collateral and advertising used a modified wordmark designed by CLD to fit the needed print applications.
PASSPORT STAMP & POSTAL CANCELLATION The donkey stamp was intended for visitors to commemorate their visit in their Passport to Your National Parks books. We also designed an official commemorative postal cancellation, available at the post office located within the Postal Museum.
EXTERIOR GRAPHICS & ADVERTISEMENTS
The print collateral style was extended to the banners hung on the Postal Museum’s exterior, as well as advertisements located around the National Mall, and tabletop ads within UPSP lobbies. The icons used were pulled from the exhibition design.
Credits: Graphic Design by Christine Lefebvre Design. Gallery Guide and invitations printed by Global Printing (Alexandria, VA). Banner printed by EPI Colorspace (Gaithersburg, MD).