Museum infographics

2017 · Cosmonautics and Aviation centre, VDNH, Moscow

A series of 30 infographic plates, each 4 by 5 metres, for the Cosmonautics and Aviation centre at VDNH in Moscow: every planet and the Moon, the ISS and how it is put together, spaceflight, mission control, how cosmonauts are trained. Made with Misha Simakov.

The Cosmonautics and Aviation centre at VDNH: plates along the glass wall, visitors in the sunlit hall

The task

For the Cosmonautics and Aviation centre at VDNH, Moscow: a series of 30 plates on space, each 4 by 5 metres, read standing up in the pavilion with no interface and no second screen to fall back on. About a year of work, from the brief and a spreadsheet plan to print.

The result

Thirty large dark plates along the glass wall of the pavilion, one subject each: every planet and the Moon, the ISS and how it is built, spaceflight, mission control, how cosmonauts are trained, the shape of the Earth and why every flat map lies, and the cities behind the space programme. The hard part was fitting a dense subject to the way it would be read: from a set distance, in a set place, at a set size, so every plate was designed for its position in the hall as much as for its content. The mission control plate went through six rounds before the final.

Project sheet

My role: Concept, editorial work, design, with Misha Simakov.
Client: Cosmonautics and Aviation centre, VDNH, Moscow.
Scope: 30 plates, 4 by 5 metres each.
When: 2017, about a year of work.

In the museum, the plates, the process

Two visitors reading the Mars plate — Mars. The plates stand against the glass wall of the pavilion, so the park shows through behind the text.

A visitor in front of the Moon plate, a child on a pouf beside it — The Moon, with its phases along the right edge.

Visitors at the Venus plate — Venus, and the visitors reading it.

Plate: the International Space Station — The ISS.

Plate: what shape is the Earth — What shape is the Earth, and how we came to know it.

Plate: the Earth on maps, why every flat map lies — The Earth on maps, and why every flat map lies.

Plate: how cosmonauts are trained — How cosmonauts are trained.

Plate: the Institute of Biomedical Problems — The Institute of Biomedical Problems.

The mission control plate from the notebook sketch through four rounds to print — Mission control, on a loop: the first sketch in a notebook, then round one, round four, round six, print.

Plate: the asteroid belt — The asteroid belt.