EXHIBIT DESIGN / Installation view of the exhibit in the Marathon County Public Library – Wausau Headquarters.
EXHIBIT DESIGN / Justice for All, The Legacy of Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson — the first four banners.
BANNER DESIGN / A visual overview showing the arc of Shirley S. Abrahamson's career.
EXHIBIT DESIGN / Abrahamson's life a legacy for generations. Layouts for banners five through eight shown here.
BANNER DESIGN / The closing banner design for the traveling exhibit
BRANDING / Logo used for the exhibit.
WEBSITE DESIGN / Branding applied to the website created with designer/developer, Karen Fraley of Tek Consulting.
EVENT PROPOSAL / Mockup for exterior banners, Wisconsin Historical Society building facade.
PRINT DESIGN / Certificate designed for The Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson Legacy Award scholarship recipients.
ADVERTISEMENT / Full page ad in Wisconsin Lawyer, a Wisconsin State Bar publication.
Branding and design to honor a Chief Justice.
Project Need
The Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson Legacy Committee wanted to create a traveling exhibit and companion website to educate the public about Abrahamson’s life and accomplishments.
The exhibit presents the groundbreaking career of Wisconsin’s first woman justice, and first woman chief justice.
Creative Team
Our creative team, led by Colleen Ball, provided research, shaped the content, wrote the copy, and curated the photographs to present the narrative of the Abrahamson’s extraordinary life.
Brand Concept
The brand and visual identity developed over time from immersing ourselves in her life. I worked to creatively reflect her powerful, purposeful actions to reshape thinking about justice, civil rights, and women’s rights.
Color Palette
A set of rich colors — bright red, dark red, medium, robust blue, and tapestry warm gold — were selected to be reminiscent of the 70s and 80s, important decades in Abrahamson’s career.
Typeface
In the exhibit’s typographic logo Zuzanna Licko’s Matrix Regular, with its sturdy, pointed wedge serifs is used to relay the sharpness of her mind and her personality. Matrix Italic is used for the tagline as a flowing transition between the lines.
Traveling Exhibit
Eight 7-foot-tall retractable banners were designed to highlight key accomplishments, sense of humor, and trace the arc of her family life and illustrious career. Curated photographs and text were woven together using a flexible grid structure with repeating blocks of color or text in energetic alignment.
Additional collateral was designed including event programs, a donor recognition poster, award certificates, and directional signage.
Website
Web designer and developer, Karen Fraley of Tek Consulting, created the beautiful site Justice for All: The Legacy of Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson and expertly applied the brand styling. Graphics and browser icon were designed by Strong Heart.