Mario Andretti: Racing Royalty
Mario Andretti is the most successful auto racer of all time. His story is one of hard work and good fortune that lifted a refugee family from great adversity to the fulfillment of the American Dream.
This 8,000sf feature exhibit was created with World of Speed Motorsports museum to celebrate the epic racing career of Mario Andretti.
Exhibit team
Matt Suplee, Exhibit Designer/Developer
Ron Huegli, Curator
Mike Bellinger, Graphic Designer
Erin Bledy, Ty Feague, Video Production
photos: Ty Feague, courtesy of World of Speed
The beginning of the exhibit featured a 90 second synopsis video that expressed the overarching themes of the exhibit through images, interviews and video clips.
Cars were grouped into "pods" around different themes. This pod spoke to Andretti's Early Life and racing career.
We sought to reach audiences in as many ways as possible. One of the most successful ways was through the videos we created for each pod. These featured interviews with Mario and his peers, alongside historical footage.
We conserved resources by reusing interpretive panel bases from a previous exhibit and reskinning them with new graphics.
Effort was made to tease out information that was relevant to current events, such as Andretti's little-known history as a refugee who immigrated to the U.S. at 15, speaking little English.
I utilized photos to tell the story as much as possible. This black and white photo of a young fresh-faced Mario helps drive home how long he had been racing.
I sought out quotes that would reinforce the messages we were communicating in each area, such as this one that gives insight into his racing versatility.
We emphasized the breadth of Andretti's success in racing by using a large graphic timeline that catalogued all of his major wins.
We emphasized the decades in which Andretti won to express the unusually long span of his racing successes. We also made note of the style of racing he won in to remind visitors of his ability to find success in almost any type of car racing.
Andretti came from Pennsylvania to celebrate the exhibit and was very moved by what we had created.
In their own words.
Mario Andretti: Racing Royalty made use of video throughout the exhibit and online. This was a very effective method of drawing the audience in, telling the epic Andretti story, and making emotional connections with viewers. An introductory 90 second video opened the exhibition and gave a succinct overview of the entire exhibit. Subsequent videos told more detailed and specific stories about each thematic "pod" that they sat adjacent to, such as one about Andretti's early life, which sat beside one of the cars featured in the story.
Development Process
I begin each project by establishing a clear understanding of who the exhibit is trying to reach and what messages we want to get across to them. The design and layout then build upon this foundational understanding.