Museum Catalog + Postcards : Case Study

Promotional materials celebrate 100 years of national parks: Trailblazing brochures, scenic postcards, and a commemorative booklet on beige background.

This design package highlights the Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks exhibition from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. It includes a catalog and postcards of the National Parks that are featured in the exhibition. The goal was to create a cohesive design that connects the history of National Parks to the stamps presented in this specific exhibition.

Open brown and yellow presentation box displaying a richly colored booklet and printed card, with elegant typography that highlights 100 years of national parks: Trailblazing package.

The idea began with sketching layouts for the catalog which drew inspiration from National park signage and pamphlets. Exploring different layouts and folding techniques helped establish the structure of the catalog, along with design decisions throughout the rest of the packaging.

The catalog includes a short excerpt of the exhibition, providing insight to specific works and objects, including stamps, mail offices, and other materials that show the importance of postage to the National Parks history. The final layout builds from the sketches above using typography and imagery to reflect the overall look of National Parks during that time while focusing on the historical purpose of each work in the exhibition.

The postcards were hand drawn and digitizes using similar typography and style choices made in the catalog. The four parks were selected based on which parks were highlighted in the catalog excerpt. The selected parks include the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Sequoia, and Mount Rainer National Park. These postcards expand the design into a more collectible piece allowing each park its own visual identity while staying consistent with the overall design package.

All together, this design creates a unified collections that fits into one packaging, which also highlights the history of National Parks and Postal Services featured in this exhibition.