Seattle Art Museum
Context
The Seattle Art Museum fosters creativity and builds community through global collections, powerful exhibitions, and dynamic programs across its three locations. As part of the small in-house marketing team, our mission was to support this by engaging diverse audiences and connecting them with the arts. As a junior designer new to collaborative creative work, I partnered with an art director, copy editors, and two other designers to concept, design, and produce materials for a range of exhibitions. My work spanned brochures, banners, learning guides, and gallery collateral—helping translate curatorial visions into public-facing experiences.
Challenge
Working with one-of-a-kind artworks came with strict rights and usage restrictions, which made image selection, cropping, and layout particularly complex. As a new designer, this pushed me to think creatively within tight boundaries—experimenting with typography, composition, and layout strategies to develop campaigns that were both visually striking and compliant with legal and curatorial guidelines.
Approach & strategy
Every few months, our team of designers, and content managers met with curators and education staff to understand the next exhibition: its themes, target audience, cultural context, and learning goals. From these discussions, we developed a creative brief that guided the marketing campaign.
To shape my concepts, I drew from emerging design trends, past campaigns by peer institutions, and visual references rooted in the region or cultures represented in the exhibition. This approach helped ensure the work felt fresh and engaging, while staying respectful and aligned with the story being told.
Execution
This role pushed me to develop new ways of working—collaborating closely with others, sharing ideas, and building on them. I brought concepts to life using both digital and traditional techniques, including wheatpasting, calligraphy, collage, and illustration. Each exhibition demanded a distinct visual language.
For Meet Me at the Center of the Earth, the campaign centered around its otherworldly sculptural suits, which we featured prominently to capture attention. The tagline “Meet Me” invited curiosity and intrigue, appearing across taxis, posters, and downtown wheatpastes to bring them into the public eye.
Outcome & impacts
Our campaigns helped drive increased attendance across major exhibitions and positioned the Seattle Art Museum at the forefront of design among cultural institutions. The marketing materials received multiple publication and design awards, earning recognition for their creativity and impact. Visually, the campaigns extended far beyond the museum—appearing on buses, taxis, and street corners—cementing SAM as both a cultural and design destination within Seattle.
Reflections
This experience taught me how to design within constraints—whether legal, cultural, or logistical—while still pushing for creative expression. It sharpened my eye for typography, layout, and storytelling, and gave me firsthand experience collaborating across departments to support shared goals. More than anything, it deepened my belief that great design is as much about listening and research as it is about execution.
