What was it like for you?

The design students worked at Watford Museum for two weeks, developing their ideas and models for a Watford Junction exhibition. Below they talk about the inspirations for their designs, and the challenges and satisfactions of the project.

The inspiration for the designs

"The inspiration for my design came from the colours used in the Watford Junction logo and the train tracks joining everything together."

"Our design hopes to add colour to the exhibition and to distinguish the four main areas of the 'Watford Junction' exhibition through bold and fun colours. We hope our turning boxes with more personal stories on them are interactive and help to attract the public."

"We thought it would be nice to have difference sections, separated with the use of colour on the walls. Each section would have its own unit which information would be displayed in, in a thin case maybe made out of Perspex. Information such as photos, etc. We tried to keep the space open, for the access of everyone. Light, light colours and natural light from the windows we tried to keep clear."

How did the Museum compare with your expectations?

"I expected it to be fairly dull and non-offensive, using quite old colours such as browns and greens. I was impressed thought at how open the museum was to the use of vibrant colour and new ideas, getting away from the traditional designs."

"The Museum as it is now is exactly as I expected it to be, quite dark and very traditional in its layout.  The staff at the museum have been very open to new and exciting ideas, bright colours and unusual layouts."

The satisfactions of the project

"Great opportunity to work on a live brief.  Museum staff very enthusiastic and supportive.  Good experience working in a different / real environment.  Great for CV.  Exciting that work will be on website.  Nice coffee!!"

"Being given the chance to be involved in designing an exhibition which could change people's outlook on museums."

"I enjoyed working with the museum as it gave us a chance to use our ideas and inspirations in a brief that would not usually take the more vibrant route.  It's also great for us to work on a live brief for experience and to put on our CVs.  To see our work take place in real life is an excellent opportunity."

Difficulties and challenges

"The room is a difficult space as it leads through to another space.  Because we hadn't seen the exhibits it was difficult to imagine what it would look like."

"It's difficult to imagine a new modern looking area alongside other more traditional areas."

"I found it quite hard to imagine the space as a blank room, as it was very busy and dull when we were first introduced."

"The area we had to work with had very strong features with unusual corners which was a bit challenging. The space was a reasonable size but a little bit small for some ideas."