Captions for a case of small figures

TypeSelf-initiated study, not a commission

ReferencesTwo CC0 photographs

Layouts testedThree

TimeOne week

Question

The case holds a crowd of small white figures in one long row, and the only text is a small bilingual label at the right-hand end. Anyone reading it stands with their back to most of the sculptures.

Study

We mocked up three alternatives over the photograph: one longer label at the end, short labels along the plinth, and a row of small numbers on the glass keyed to a printed sheet. The numbers kept the figures clear and let the text stay as long as it needed to be.

A long glass case holding a row of small white figurative sculptures, with a bilingual label on the plinth — The reference case. Its one label sits below the last few figures.

Fluted stone columns of an open colonnade framing a lawn and a museum entrance hung with exhibition banners — A second reference: exhibition banners seen between columns, from the street.

Kept

Numbers on the glass, words on paper. Our caption drafts now start by marking where a visitor stands while reading.