Next of Kin Exhibition Identity
Designed by James Brook for National Museums Scotland, 2015-17

Next of Kin is a National Museums Scotland touring exhibition, which reveals the personal stories of separation and loss experienced by Scottish families and communities with loved ones fighting on the fronts, and features keepsakes such as letters and postcards, medals sent to next of kin, and unique artefacts collected by troops as souvenirs.

As well as designing exhibition graphics for the tour, which travelled to eight venues throughout Scotland, I also designed the marketing material, initially for the first three venues: Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, Rozelle House Galleries, and Hawick Museum. The brief for the marketing material included the creation of a design concept, to be used across posters, invitations, leaflets and other marketing material, that ‘should feel respectful, but not be too sombre in tone. This is a serious exhibition that covers moving personal stories, but is also a celebration of memories, family, community and friendship, shared throughout Scotland.’  

I worked with a selection of images of objects from the exhibition to create a layered montage, with subtle drop shadows, which suggests that the objects – which are mainly two dimensional – are placed in a pile on a table, or pinned to noticeboard. I arranged the objects to develop a narrative, with an implied relationship between the photographs, letters, medals and keepsakes.



Next of Kin Poster
One of nine designs | 297 x 210 mm | Printed on Vision Superior by Allander, Edinburgh


Next of Kin Invitations 
One of nine designs | 165 x 165 mm | Printed on Vision Superior by Allander, Edinburgh


Next of Kin Leaflet
99 x 210 mm | Printed on Vision Superior by Allander, Edinburgh


Next of Kin Handling Resource 
Information pack | 72 pages in custom-made folder | 26.5 x 31 cm
Printed and bound by Edinburgh Copyshop


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