imagemakersuk

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We’re looking for a Activity Plan and Audience Development Consultant!

Do you relish the opportunity to help heritage projects achieve their potential, and to enable people from all walks of life to engage with their heritage?  If so, this is a rare chance to work at the forefront of the heritage industry, and to take a lead role in the development of this aspect of our business.  

Introduction to Imagemakers

Imagemakers is a multi-disciplinary team of heritage, interpretation and design consultants. We combine creative thinking, content development and project management to create engaging and memorable visitor experiences at museums, galleries and a wide range of cultural and natural heritage sites.  

 Our work includes:

 Consultancy:

Interpretation plans and strategies

Masterplan and feasibility studies

Activity Plans and Audience Development Plans

Business Plans for heritage sites and organisations

Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Round 1 and Round 2 consultancy

Design concepts

HLF Mentor commissions  (one of our senior staff is an HLF Mentor for interpretation)

 The design and delivery of:

Multi-faceted interpretation and museum exhibitions

Visitor centre displays

Outdoor information / interpretation schemes

Digital media and applications for heritage sites

 You can find out more about our work at www.imagemakers.uk.com

 Our overseas business

Imagemakers has been planning and designing large-scale museum, heritage and science centre exhibitions in China since 2010. We have established links and partnerships with a number of Chinese firms and university departments, and our business is growing strongly.

 We are currently the only British interpretation consultant working in China, and this new post is likely to contribute to some of our Chinese projects. Our clients are showing an increasing interest in activities and volunteering as part of a comprehensive approach to their visitor offer. A valid passport and availability for occasional work abroad is therefore a requirement.

Audience development and activity planning

We have produced Audience Development and Activity Plans for our HLF funded projects, often with our associate consultants. However, our work has grown to the point where we wish to appoint a specialist consultant to grow this aspect of our business, enabling us to offer a complete in-house consultancy service to HLF projects and clients.

 The role of this post

The principal role of this post is to take a lead role in our Activity Planning and Audience Development commissions. The successful candidate will also contribute to our interpretation planning and HLF development projects, working alongside wider project teams tailored to each commission. As noted above, there is also scope for this post to contribute to some of our international projects should they wish.

 Main responsibilities of the post

To prepare tenders for Activity Plan and Audience Development Plan commissions, and attend interviews where required.

To prepare HLF Activity Plans and Audience Development Plans, including the necessary audience research and community     consultations.

To collaborate with and support colleagues on wider HLF related commissions, usually as part of a team under a Lead Consultant.

To efficiently project manage their work and outputs.  

To work effectively with clients, communities, stakeholders and a wide range of audiences and lay people.

To identify opportunities for obtaining new work, including networking and attending meetings and conferences, and meeting prospective clients.  

  Requirements of the post

Experience of preparing and writing HLF Activity Plans.

Experience of preparing and writing HLF Audience Development Plans.

Experience of working with a wide range of clients, stakeholders, community groups and people passionate about their heritage.

Excellent presentation and communication skills.

An organised and efficient self-starter with a systematic but flexible approach to working.

A ‘people’ person with excellent collaboration and team skills, and an ability to talk to everday people about their heritage.

Able to work on your own initiative and under pressure to meet deadlines and our client’s needs.

A degree in a relevant field e.g. education, cultural or natural history, museums, marketing, community development.

A full passport with no limitations on qualifying for Chinese business visas i.e. no criminal convictions.

DBS clearance for working with children and young people (can be applied for pre-appointment if required).

Availability for some out-of-hours work, including occasional evenings and weekends e.g. to run community feedback events for local residents.

 The following experience is not a requirement but could be an advantage:

Preparing successful HLF funding applications.

Evaluating the impact and outcomes of HLF projects.

Preparing business plans for heritage sites and attractions.

Working as a Development Officer or Case Officer for the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Membership of an appropriate professional organisation (e.g. Museums Association, Institute of Marketing, Association for Heritage Interpretation).

The post is full time and permanent, and subject to a 3 month probationary period. It will be line managed by our Lead Consultant David Masters, and Imagemakers’ MD Jane Sillifant.

 We employ a team of 13 staff in the UK and 2 in China, with a head office in Devon. Many of our staff work from home around the UK, and this will be an option for the successful candidate.

  Start date

To be agreed with the successful applicant.

  Salary

The starting salary is negotiable, but will be around £32,500-£35,000 p.a. dependent on experience.

 Applications

Applications by letter email to [email protected] supported by a CV, setting out your credentials and why you would be a good candidate for this post.

 The deadine for applications is 20th February.

 Please phone David Masters on 07805 146020 if you’d like to discuss this opportunity or ask any questions.

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‘All hands to the pumps’

Imagemakers have recently completed a concept design for a complete refresh of Abbey Pumping Station museum in Leicester.

Abbey Pumping Station is housed in a working Victorian sewage pump house, which has the privilege of saving more lives than any other building in Leicester.

Working with the same client team as the King Richard III visitor centre, we developed a RIBA Stage 2 concept design and outline interpretation plan for the museum, which also houses Leicester’s science, technology and transport collection.

During a concentrated 3 week period, we led a series of client workshops and researched the site, collection and stories.  We then developed draft and final designs to will tell the story of the amazing steam engine and mostly working collection of engines and vehicles.

The final report is now with the City Mayor for a decision about how to take the project forward. If it gets the go-ahead, we hope to be able to share some of our designs with you.

Visit http://www.abbeypumpingstation.org/ for more information about the museum and its collection.

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Ordinary men?

On Monday, HRH the Princess Royal opened the new First World War displays at the Tank Museum after many months of hard work by the museum’s collections and exhibitions team. The First World War main hall is now presented as Tank Men: The Story of the First Crews and explores the stories of eight men who were amongst the first to crew tanks between 1916 and 1918. These ‘ordinary’ men came from all walks of life and included a social worker, a chemist and a builder. They were sent into battle in machines that had never been used in warfare before and found themselves in the most dangerous place in the world. Despite the enormous challenges and horrors they faced, they achieved remarkable things during the war and, in many cases, afterwards too.

In addition to the main hall, other First World War-related displays, the Enrolment Hall, Train Station, British Trench and German have been refreshed with new audio-visual installations, smells, scenic works, graphics and lighting.

Imagemakers is privileged to have been selected to work alongside the Tank Museum team to develop and refine the design of the scheme. Our commission included all 3D design and the creation of the audio-visual installations and graphics, as well as the procurement and management of specialist contractors. These included scenic, fabrication and fit out, mount-making, electrical, lighting and av hardware suppliers.

This complex and hugely varied scheme saw us developing showcase layouts and specifying mounts for a wide range of objects including medals and body armour, as well as large-scale scenic works – some around an original 1916 Mark I tank. We also commissioned high quality mannequins to represent two key figures in the story. Large-format graphics and showcase backdrops complete the picture and support what is the most important element of the scheme: the remarkable, affecting and unforgettable stories of the Tank Men.

We highly recommend a visit! For more details, please visit: http://www.tankmuseum.org/year-news/bovnews53534

Charlie Curnow Project & Production Manager

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‘The Painted Church’

Here’s a quick update on our HLF Mentor commission for St Mary’s Chalgrove in Oxfordshire.

St Mary’s is a medieval parish church with a difference - its 14th century chancel has an amazing and substantially complete set of medieval wall paintings. Depicting the stories of Jesus and Mary, they somehow managed to survive the Reformation. They graphically demonstrate what the interior of many of our medieval churches once looked like, and how people learned about the Bible when the mass was in Latin and hardly anyone could read. Medieval painting specialists are very excited about them, and you can see why.

Commissioned by the South East Region, we are mentoring the interpretation elements of the HLF funded conservation scheme. Our role is to help the client’s dedicated and highly knowledgeable volunteers to plan and deliver high quality interpretation, focussing on digital solutions accessible both remotely and on-site.  

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Tank Museum project nearing completion

Looking forward to overseeing the final fit out phase of the ‘Tank Men: the Story of the First Crews’ project at the Tank Museum this week. After a year of detailed design development and implementation with the museum’s collections and exhibitions team, this week sees the scheme being completed and the entire First World War area re-displayed. More details to follow in the near future, but here are some photographs of work in progress from the last couple of months.

 Further details can be found here: http://www.tankmuseum.org/year-news/bovnews53534

 Charlie Curnow Project & Production Manager

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It’s not a wind up

No, really it isn’t a wind up, this clever piece of kit really does allow you to turn a handle and view video on its embedded 7″ screen. Not only that but it is rugged and weatherproof and comes equipped with a handy wall mounting plate. 

The graphic on the front face can be changed to suit whatever identity you want and changing content is a breeze too. So, as quickly as you can do a piece to camera on your smartphone or tablet, you can copy it onto the device with a standard USB lead (also supplied with the device) and get your message out there.

We’re really impressed with the quality and functionality of the device and the really positive eco message associated with it. It’s designed and made in Devon to boot! The best thing of all is that it is available for a very reasonable 5 year lease (including any service or replacement) which compares very favourably with the cost of an average interpretation board. And, should you not be happy with it, Bob (the clever chap who’s designs and builds these devices) will take it back without any penalty charges.

So, what have you got to lose?

Wind up video player from imagemakers on Vimeo.

Contact us for more information.

[email protected]

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Getting creative in Uttoxeter

Towards the end of 2015 we were really pleased to be commissioned by the Uttoxeter Heritage Trust to implement their interpretation strategy. The strategy is at the centre of their plans for the re-development of Redfern’s Cottage: Museum of Uttoxeter Life. Since we were commissioned we’ve had some fascinating meetings learning about their collection and understanding their aspirations for the new visitor experience.

We recently lead a creative work shop with the curatorial team and a number of the museum trustees. The objective of this workshop was to review the existing proposals and appraise the interpretation provision and delivery media. The opportunity to review, develop and improve is always exciting and provides opportunites for everyone with an interest in the developments to have a say and feel part of the process, leading to real feelings of ownership and emotional investment in the project.

I’m delighted to say that we made great progress with the input from the trustees and the curators. The next step is to record our proposals in a new Design Plan along with a detailed cost analysis and submit this to the team in Uttoxeter.

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Beyond the walls

One of the first impressions of the walled garden at Holkham Hall in Norfolk is – wow, what a lot of bricks! In fact, enclosing an area equivalent to about six football pitches with a 14ft high wall takes in the order of 3.5 million bricks. And then there are the miles of pipework and flues running underground and through the heated walls and glasshouses. All in all, it's a marvel of Victorian horticultural engineering and enterprise. But it is also so much more, as the ‘Beyond the Walls’ project hopes to demonstrate.  

We’ve been brought on board to help Holkham Walled Garden Ltd with their Stage 2 HLF bid – in particular, planning and designing an exciting interpretive scheme to complement the restoration works, formal education, horticultural training and volunteering elements of the project.

The interpretation of Holkham’s walled garden is as much about ‘green gardening’, ‘growing your own’ and ‘healthy eating’ as it is about the garden’s fascinating 230-year history. It’s about opening up the garden to a broader audience and helping spark insights and interests that people can ‘take home’ and apply in their own lives.  

If you’re interested in finding out what lies ‘Beyond the Walls’ at Holkham why not visit http://holkhamwalledgarden.blogspot.co.uk/  to keep up with developments?

Now, where are my pruning shears?

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Quirky Wirksworth

We are delighted have been commissioned to produce the Interpretation Design Plan for the Wirksworth heritage centre, in this delightful Derbyshire Dales town.

Working with the client, architect and trustees, our brief is to create a distinctive and quirky scheme of interpretation, reflecting the creative character of the town and its community.  

Once a centre for lead mining and limestone quarrying, Wirksworth and is now a lively and community minded place with attractive architecture and a popular arts festival. The heritage centre, a registered museum, holds a collection and archive that tells the story of the town and its people.

Mindful of the need for a joined up approach, we are also procuring the Activity Plan in support of the HLF Round 2 submission.

Watch this space as the project progresses…

© Picturing Wirksworth Past and Present.

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Our first international design award

Amidst the towering skyscrapers, glitz and glamour of Shanghai, a modest but nonetheless significant event recently took place. The ‘i-ding International Design Award’ is the first comprehensive design award in China, and the organising committee has a bold vision for it to become one of the most respected, creative and comprehensive design awards in the world. 

Above: The Imagemakers team and our collaborators receiving the award.

From an initial entry of nearly 500 projects, the judging panel, comprising a mix of high profile designers from across China, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia, selected 64 award winners.  

Imagemakers won an award for excellence in public space design for its collaboration on the Yanghu Wetland Centre in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. 

We felt really honoured to be one of the very few western faces among an prestigious line up of Chinese design professionals and to witness the beginning of a bold vision on the part of the ‘i ding award’ organisation to transform the world’s perceptions of ‘Made in China’ to ‘Designed and created in China’. 

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Wonderful Wardown

We are delighted to share the news that Wardown Park Museum in Luton has been awarded a £1.8m HLF Round 2 pass to deliver a major development programme.

Imagemakers prepared the Round 2 Interpretation Design Plan, and we’re very excited about delivering the scheme. Our design concept is based around recreating the Victorian interior but with a contemporary twist, and interpreting the story of the house and the collection as two interwoven strands.

We will repurpose Victorian furniture into interactive displays, and integrate the permanent exhibition with digital media, character tours, and unusual, artistic experiences.

Watch this space for reports as the project progresses…

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Diving in to the Cleveland Pools, Bath

We are delighted to have been commissioned to prepare an Interpretation Design Plan for the Cleveland Pools in Bath. Britain’s oldest outdoor swimming pool, Cleveland Pools has been awarded a National level HLF Round 1 award. We’re really looking forward to diving in and working with this wonderful Georgian site, which was still used as a swimming pool in the 1980s and holds many memories for local people.

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Visitor numbers up!

Back in March this year we completed the design and installation of the Viking Voyagers exhibition at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. The design of this exhibition was conceived with the Museum’s family audience right at its heart. So it’s very rewarding to hear from the Museum that visitor numbers are 34% up on last year’s figures. It’s also great news to hear that they are expecting to welcome their 100,000th visitor in October – meaning they are well on target for their target of 130,000 for the year, with the October half-term, Christmas and the Easter half-term still to come.

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Huangshi Garden Expo

We’re sadly very used to hearing stories of ecological catastrophe, smog and industrial pollution in China. We’re less familiar with the revolution taking place in ecological awareness which is leading to the transformation of once terribly blighted cities.

 What a privilege, then, to be invited to lead the conceptual design for a major Garden Expo in Huangshi – a city once renowned for its polluted grey skies and lifeless lakes and watercourses but which is now undergoing radical transformation into a National Ecological Garden City!

 Against the stiffest of competition we helped our client ANDA win the contract to deliver a major exhibition telling the powerful and emotional story of Huangshi’s dramatic transformation.

 Our concepts for the huge Expo pavilion included gigantic, flexible LED screens shaped as pomegranate flowers (a symbol of the city’s green transformation); an entrance walkway of flowing water and green planting celebrating the natural wonders of Hubei Province; an aerial walkway that interprets core elements of the city strategic landscape plan through planting, sculpture and subtle use of interpretation media, such as augmented reality binoculars and engraved paving.  

We also designed traditional Chinese-garden-themed shop and café areas.

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£3.6million HLF funding for Headstone Manor Museum

Congratulations to the team at Headstone Manor Museum in Harrow on achieving a Round 2 pass at National Board level.

Working with the design team and conservation architects Buttress, Imagemakers prepared an Interpretation Plan and Interpretive Designs to RIBA Stage 3 in support of the application. We can’t wait to make a start on the delivery!

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Our Chinese projects go from strength to strength with the recent opening of the Yanghu Wetlland Centre in Changhsa, Hunan province. We designed the £3.4 million exhibition. We themed the content, designed the displays, artworks and interactives, produced the copy, and quality controlled the fabrication. The result is already attracting attention from other wetland projects across China.

News from China

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Here come the M&H Awards!

Excitement is building here as the 2015 awards approach on 29th April.

This year Imagemakers has two schemes shortlisted for the final – the King Richard III visitor centre in Leicester, for which we were Creative Director; and the Falkland Islands Museum in Port Stanley, where we undertook exhibition design.

We look forward to catching up with clients, colleagues and competitors at the ceremony and the all-important after party, and wish everyone all the best for a great celebration of British interpretive design.