← All work
PosterExhibition designLayout

City Reading Rooms

Public reading spaces exhibition · Posters and exhibition graphics

Year
2024
Client
City Reading Project
My role
Exhibition key visual, poster series, display graphics
Timeline
5 weeks
City Reading Rooms: Public reading spaces exhibition · Posters and exhibition graphics

01Background

“City Reading Rooms” was an exhibition about public reading spaces in the city, showing more than twenty renovated community libraries and small reading rooms. The curators wanted something that looked like public signage rather than advertising.

02My role

I designed the exhibition key visual and poster series, the catalogue cover and interior layout, and the graphics and wayfinding inside the gallery.

City Reading Rooms exhibition posters and catalogue laid flat
Three main posters and one catalogue share a single grid. Rhythm comes only from where the colour blocks sit.

03Process

  1. 1

    Borrowing the language of public signs

    A Swiss-style grid and a high-contrast orange and black palette make the posters feel like street signs. Each one carries only three lines: name, date, place.

  2. 2

    One grid all the way through

    Posters, catalogue and wall graphics share a 12-column grid, and all text aligns to the same baseline, so the sizes read as one system.

  3. 3

    Colour-matching on site

    The orange shifts a lot between papers. In the week before opening, we colour-checked the spot ink three times under the gallery’s actual lighting.

Detail of posters on the City Reading Rooms exhibition wall
Chinese and English text sit together at the same weight and leading, which makes a wall that is calm and still catches the eye.

Palette

  • Signal orange#F2601A
  • Ink black#121212
  • Paper white#F2EEE6
  • Concrete grey#BDB9B0

04Result

The exhibition ran for 90 days in Shanghai in autumn 2024 and drew more than 42,000 visits. The catalogue went back to press once.

  • 42kVisits
  • 90 daysExhibition run
  • 1Catalogue reprint