Here are some information about Mint design Studio (fall 2007) working with the Department of Anthropology on the exhibition at the Natural History Museum in New York City.
The exhibition highlights some of the regions showing greatest diversity, including Mesoamerica, the Amazon-Andean slope, the greater Himalayas, equatorial Africa, greater Southeast Asia/Melanesia. John Richard Stepp, Associate Professor of Anthropology said sloping mountainous tropical areas are significant regions for diversity because the range of habitats presented in these areas creates different opportunities for cultural adaptations.
The students in Mint primarily used Adobe Illustrator to make visual sense of the numbers. Mint Director and Graphic Design Assistant Professor Connie Hwang said that tool was only one part of the project.
“It’s the innovative and brilliant minds of the students that made this project extraordinary and successful,” she said.
During the project’s three-month timeline during fall 2007, 11 Mint designers tackled the challenge how to hold the public’s interest while they viewed one map after another. Four lead designers were in charge at the refinement stage. Designer Mason Greenewald carried the project through the production stage.
Stepp said the outcome is fresh and new, not gender, race, or age specific and easy to digest and comprehend.
“The end result of the project is absolutely stunning, interesting, and mesmerizing,” he said. “The Mint designers transformed simple scientific data into something intriguing and beautiful, something that will live in viewer’s mind for a long time.”
