Mark Riewestahl

Founder of Black Spruce Design which specializes in offereing visual communication services to entrepreneurs and small businesses. My work includes logos, exhibit design, interpretive graphics, promotional materials, and web graphics.

The goal of this internship―written by exhibit designer and supervisor Hank Grasso―“was for Mark to explore different kinds of museum specializations and craft deliverables that might demonstrate competence in each arena.” My primary project centered around a 5.5-ton supercomputer, the focus of an upcoming exhibit. Tasks included taking detailed measurements, translating measurements into an appropriate scale, and fabricating a scale model. The second major project was to develop and fabricate two exhibit cases titled, A Pioneer of Vaccines and A Real Life Hero: Dr. Joseph Goldberger. Creation of these cases involved making content binders, concept boards, 2D graphic design, and custom object mounts. In addition to creating exhibit cases, my time was spent updating a library of museum materials, documenting oral history guests, and restoring historical documents using the Adobe Suite.

At the George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History, I developed text, designed graphics, and installed the exhibit Inside the Hive. The interpretation accompanies an observation hive that was installed in the museum as a part of a senior’s thesis. The observation hive allows visitors to observe the honeybees’ complex behavior safely. Visitor learning is provoked through the observation hive, text panel, 3D printed shelves, and a shadowbox—Native Bees: The Original Pollinators. This shadowbox was added after the initial installation of Inside the Hive to help visitors understand that honeybees are not native to the United States. I created the box as the final for a course in wild bee ecology.

A Butchery Shoppe is a small retail meat shop focusing on clean-label products. After joining the administrative team at the shop, I was tasked with revitalizing product labels, creating a design strategy guide, and leading website photography. Other projects have included designing print advertisements and a point-of-sale display. The display serves to keep customers engaged with shop promotions and relies on a partnership with the art program at the local school district.