Volunteer: Exhibition Design Concept & Direction

This is a volunteer opportunity provided by Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit creating social change through pro bono connections.

We are seeking an exhibition or graphic designer to help develop the didactic and visual presentation for our policy platform. We have initial ideas for how the platform could be presented, but need someone who can think through the visitor experience, develop visual concepts, assess feasibility and cost, and help translate ideas into an effective exhibition component. We want the presentation to be more demonstrative than explanatory: artistic, elegant, simple, and understandable to a broad audience. Rather than relying on dense text, we want visual systems that communicate ideas intuitively and create a meaningful experience for visitors. Possible starting points include a base map with a transparent visual overlay, small interpretive signage, digital collage, layered graphics, or other spatial and interactive approaches. These are only initial ideas; we are looking for someone who can refine, challenge, and expand them. The ideal volunteer will have experience in exhibition design, graphic design, information design, spatial storytelling, or interpretive displays. They should be comfortable balancing creative thinking with practical considerations such as materials, fabrication, technology, accessibility, installation, and budget. The goal is to develop a clear and compelling design direction for presenting the policy platform and, if feasible, create materials that can be used or further developed for the exhibition.

The consultant would: - Review our policy platform and initial ideas; - Develop two to three visual or installation concepts; - Recommend an approach for making the content demonstrative and accessible; and - Deliver a concise design brief with sketches, mood boards, or reference layouts and a rough cost range (low, mid, high) for each concept. The final outcome should give us a clear, visually compelling design direction and a realistic path from concept to exhibition installation.

Climate House US (“Climate House”) Mission: Climate House is a creative think tank using the arts to illustrate actionable pathways forward—and bring them to life. Our Mythos Embodied Climate: Climate change is not the abstract, technical issue it’s often framed to be–but a universal, ambient one experienced through our bodies and daily lives. CH communicates using universal sensory language, to reintegrate our understanding of climate change as real in the felt sense, and as a core defining issue shaping everything around us. Universal Sensory Language: By speaking this universal language of the senses, we can communicate in a language everyone speaks and understands. This helps reframe climate as an everyone issue–providing an opportunity for the general public to reclaim their agency in understanding it and engaging with its solutions creatively, collaboratively, and meaningfully. Culture-First: Culture is the fabric of daily life. CH uses a broad suite of cultural tools to meet people where they are, designing programming that is audience-tailored and culture-first, recognizing this as the carrier oil for engaging with more complex topics. Show-not-tell: Because seeing is believing, we design programs that show, not tell. All of our programs are seared with a blueprint, grounding solutions on the experiential plane, allowing our audience to feel solutions that are so actionable, they can taste them.