Tag Archive for: Affiliates

Logo Lowdown: 2024 edition

Approved Smithsonian Affiliate sunburst logo with the word affiliate italicized beneath the word smithsonian all under the blue and yellow sunburst.

Did you know that the Smithsonian sunburst is one of the most widely recognized brands in the U.S., and our Affiliates are the only organizations authorized to use a special sunburst logo in their materials? It’s true!

As an exclusive benefit of being a Smithsonian Affiliate, your organization can use the Smithsonian Affiliate logo or taglines for marketing materials, brochures, and signs. It’s a great way to show your association with the Smithsonian to your visitors and stakeholders. So, as a refresher or a quick intro, here’s an overview of the logos you are approved to use, how to use them correctly, and a few other tips. This information is always accessible on our website on our Logos & Taglines page, and the Smithsonian Affiliations team is also always happy to chat with you if you have any questions.

What logos are approved to use?

There are two logos approved for Affiliate use:

  • Smithsonian Affiliate logo
  • Smithsonian Affiliate Membership Program logo (ONLY for those Affiliates participating in the membership benefit, however the same rules and guidelines apply)

The Smithsonian Affiliate logo can be used on marketing materials, websites, newsletters, brochures, and more. If you are considering the logo for any fundraising, donation, or giving material, please contact the Smithsonian Affiliations office first. Generally, the Smithsonian Affiliate logo may not be used on fundraising material, but please reach out to us to see if it may be an appropriate case.

The Smithsonian Affiliate logo has been updated to emphasize the Smithsonian connection. The word “Affiliate” is italicized in the lockup to indicate the association with the Institution. If the logo you are using does not have this lockup, please contact us to receive an updated logo package.

Where do I find the logos?

The Smithsonian Affiliate logo can be requested from the Smithsonian Affiliations office. Please contact your National Outreach Manager or email Affiliates@si.edu to obtain the logo package. All logo and/or tagline use must be reviewed and approved by the Affiliations office.

What are the approved taglines?

Example of the "A Smithsonian Affiliate" tagline on the Southern Museum logo.

Smithsonian Affiliates may choose to use one of two taglines if using the logo is not appropriate on your material. The taglines “In Association with the Smithsonian” or “A Smithsonian Affiliate” can be used as an alternative to the logo. Please note, if including the tagline in your own logo lockup, you must retain a version without a Smithsonian mention should your logo ever be used for any fundraising material.

May I use the logo and tagline together?

No. The logo and tagline are two separate marketing items for Affiliate use, they should not be used in the same visual lockup or sentence.

Are there any specific tips for Affiliates?

Screengrab of the Smithsonian Affiliate section of the Rockwell Museum's website.

Yes! Check out these tips and documents to help guide you in communicating about your Affiliation:

  1. Familiarize yourself with our Logo & Tagline Guidelines.
  2. Read these tips for communicating your Affiliation.
  3. Add information on your website in your “About Us” section to explain your connection with the Smithsonian. See The Rockwell Museum, Michigan State University Museum, and The Mayborn Museum for examples of large and small ways to include this on your website.
  4. Talk to your National Outreach Manager to discuss how you may be considering applying the logo or tagline to your material.
  5. Send us drafts! Not only do we love to see your material, you must receive approval from the Smithsonian Affiliations office prior to any use of the Smithsonian name and/or logos. Send your drafts to Elizabeth Fingar, Communications and Professional Development Manager- FingarE@si.edu.

What else should you keep in mind?

The smithsonian sunburst is black in this example of what NOT to do with the logo
  • Everything must be approved by the Affiliations office. Please do not use the logo or tagline without first checking with us. We have a very quick turnaround time for approvals and will work with you to meet your deadlines.
  • The Smithsonian is always Institution, never Institute.
  • The sunburst should never appear dark or clash with any other colors in your design.
  • The logo cannot be used as part of a sentence.
  • The logo cannot be altered in any way.

This may seem daunting, but your team at Smithsonian Affiliations will work with you! We are here to help you align your organization with the Smithsonian brand and show your audiences and stakeholders how you are connected to our network of Smithsonian collaborators. If you’d like a refresher, please contact us and we’ll be happy to schedule a call to talk about co-branding and other ways to collaborate to share the incredible work you are doing in your communities.

All Here: Accessibility and Diversity:Balancing Design, Content and Access in the Molina Family Latino Gallery

Many thanks to Eli Boldt, 2023 Smithsonian Leadership for Change intern, for this guest post. Boldt was one of several interns identifying and writing stories about underrepresented topics for Smithsonian Affiliations. This is one of two stories they completed this summer. 

A small, tactile display showing a scene from the Pueblo lands. One bronze, woman figurine is placing bread into a round, clay oven. Another is watching loaves of bread cool. To the bottom left is a button that prompts a user to push to smell bread.
One of the tactile displays in the exhibition which, when the silver button is pressed, releases an odor of bread baking. Photo by Eli Boldt.

The Molina Family Latino Gallery, which opened in June 2022, is a precursor to the National Museum of the American Latino. The museum, legislated by Congress in 2020, is still in development and currently has exhibition space at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The Molina Gallery is a taste of what the museum will be: it represents the many varied histories of the Latino experience in America and the way Latino culture and figures have impacted and shaped the United States.

The exhibition was developed using a design model called I.P.O.P., a framework for building a content strategy focusing on Ideas, People, Objects, and Physical experiences. This allows the content to be diversified across the exhibition. Some people connect more with objects, while others connect with pictures and stories of people. Some people benefit heavily from having physical experiences, which tactile objects help to do.

Making an exhibit accessible is a balancing of the many types of people who are coming into the space. To design with accessibility in mind means finding the sweet spot where information is available and accessible to the most amount of people.

Under the direction of Elizabeth Ziebarth, Access Smithsonian helped bring the gallery’s vision for inclusive design to fruition. Leading a small but mighty team—Ziebarth is both director of Access Smithsonian and head diversity officer at the Smithsonian—the staff strives “for consistent and integrated inclusive design that provides meaningful access” in all their work. Ziebarth identifies making a space accessible to the blind as the most challenging.

“My rule of thumb is that if I can make something accessible to people who are blind or have low vision, I could probably make everything else accessible. The most challenging part of the design is to take something that is visual and make it into something that can deliver the content and the experience to somebody who can’t see it,” Ziebarth said.

A black and white QR code that can be scanned for visual descriptions.
One of the QR codes that can be scanned for visual descriptions. Photo by Eli Boldt.

Ways the gallery took on the challenge was creating a shoreline, a perimeter of cases around the middle. People who use canes can tap their way through and follow the path. There are cues and raised tabs on the ground to identify where QR codes, which pull up audio narration, are located. The gallery makes use of tactiles to tell the story as well. Tactiles are objects that are meant to be touched and interacted with. The museum shows a clay figurine and invites visitors to touch. There is a button that releases the smell of bread, another that plays the sounds of Domino Park, Miami, and releases the smell of coffee. There are audio descriptions and closed captions on video content for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors, and space for wheelchair users to have as much mobility as possible.

The accessibility of the gallery is not unique, but it also is not the standard. It was made possible because accessibility was a part of the conversation from the start. Access Smithsonian was able to make a substantial impact on the exhibit’s layout, design, and technology because the designers and curators asked questions about accessibility all throughout.

“There’s no way that we can be everywhere, and we rely on developing relationships, trust, and a great understanding with teams,” said Ashley Grady, senior program specialist at Access Smithsonian. “They hopefully have the knowledge to make a lot of decisions independently, but they know that we’re always here for that guidance and access to user/expert testing or the disability community.”

The gallery was designed by Museum Environments, an organization that designs and creates multicultural and sustainable exhibits. Mariano Desmarás, the creative director for Museum Environments, was eager to help make the gallery accessible. He noted that as a consultant and designer, he can make suggestions but to do what the gallery ended up accomplishing, the backing of the institution and its leaders is essential. Desmarás points to his own background of having undiagnosed ADHD as a child and his experience with dyslexia, as well as his father’s later-in-life vision impairment, as reasons why accessibility is so important to him.

“Everybody had some sort of connection that they could make to why it would be important to have an inclusively designed exhibition space. And so that made a difference,” Ziebarth said.

That lived experience of seeing the struggles of people with disabilities is often a motivator for making spaces accessible; it is why user/expert testing was vital to the creation of the gallery and its accessible features.

The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) is a non-profit organization doing work with inclusive design. Their user/experts are people who, through their own lived experiences, have expertise. IHCD and Access Smithsonian brought user/experts into the gallery as it was being built.

A clay tactile figure of a boy, worn down by touching.
Another tactile element which has been worn down by visitors touching it. Photo by Eli Boldt.

A typical user/expert testing session, as described by Grady, would begin with her meeting the exhibit team to understand what questions needed to be answered in that specific session. This ensured the right people were there to help. If they needed to test assistive listening devices, people who were Deaf or hard of hearing were prioritized.

“While those things can be intersectional, it’s important to make sure we’ve got the right people that would benefit the most from whatever the equipment is or element is,” Grady said.

The sessions were conversational. They engaged more with contextual inquiry to see how people engaged with the content. The sessions often included Access Smithsonian as well as people working on the exhibit’s content and design. This allowed for questions to be asked and answered as real people experienced the content.

The sessions lasted anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours, Grady explained, but they could look different depending on what was being tested and how many people were brought in. Sometimes only one or two components were being tested, whereas other times the sessions would be a comprehensive walkthrough of the gallery. Of course, user/expert testing was halted during the pandemic, but the team pivoted the testing to Zoom and continued their work.

A tactile display representing Domino Park in Little Havana, Miami. A game of dominos set up in the middle, with a coffee pot that emits the smell of coffee to the bottom left. In the back, between two small pillars is a photo from Domino Park.
A tactile display representing Domino Park in Little Havana, Miami. Photo by Eli Boldt.

Through user testing, things changed. Many were small changes, of course, but even small changes helped make every component as accessible as it could be. Color contrasts were changed, the heights of QR codes adjusted and font size perfected. When they got into the space, the design team mapped out the floorplan with blue tape according to ADA standards only to realize that the turn radius was not enough for motorized wheelchairs.

Michelle Cook, an inclusive design specialist with Access Smithsonian, stressed that the minimum standards are just that: the minimum.

“That’s one of the things that has been historically a challenge for those of us in the design field — and advocates for accessible or inclusive design — has been convincing people that it’s better to do more than the minimum because it serves a more diverse audience,” Cook said.

And diversity is what the Molina Family Latino Gallery is trying to communicate. To show that populations you might not think about are vital to the history of the United States. Latino history is American history: our cultures are intertwined. And within that diversity is the intersection of accessibility. They are two ideas that exist within each other.

“There’s this fear that inclusion focuses on a particular population and that it’s reductive,” Desmarás said. “I actually think that if it’s done right, inclusion is additive. That you’re saying that we’re all here.”


Source list:

  • https://latino.si.edu/
    The website for the National Museum of the American Latino, a project currently in production. At the end of 2020, Former President Trump signed a bill for its creation. What was formerly the Smithsonian Latino Center became the National Museum of the American Latino.
  • https://latino.si.edu/support/molina-family-latino-gallery
    The website for the Molina Family Latino Gallery. The gallery is the precursor to the National Museum of the American Latino.
  • https://americanhistory.si.edu/
    The website for the National Museum of American History, where the Molina Family Latino Gallery lives.
  • https://latino.si.edu/lead-donors-molina-family
    The five children of Dr. C. David Molina collectively donated $10 million for the creation of the gallery.
  • https://access.si.edu/
    The website for Access Smithsonian. This organization was created in 1991 and works with museums to create meaningful access for everyone.
  • https://museumenvironments.com/
    Museum Environments is an organization that creates exhibits on large and small scales. They specialize in multicultural and bilingual exhibitions. For ¡Presente! they won the 2023 Smithsonian Award for Excellence in Exhibitions.
  • https://www.humancentereddesign.org/
    The Institute for Human Centered Design is an education and design non-profit organization focused on universal, inclusive and accessible design. They were a part of creating the Molina Family Gallery, including but not limited to user/expert sessions.
  • https://www.humancentereddesign.org/user-expert-lab
    User/experts have personal experience with disabilities or limitations and can provide expertise and advice for design. They were heavily involved in the creation of the Molina Family Latino Gallery.
  • https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/design-standards/
    The website for the Americans with Disabilities Act and the design standards. As noted by Smithsonian employees through the experience of creating an accessible exhibition, ADA standards do not cover newer devices and are often insufficient. Described as the bare minimum. 

2021 Affiliations Virtual Conference was a Huge Success!

Thank you to our Smithsonian and Affiliate speakers and attendees who participated in our 2021 Virtual Conference, October 26-28, and made it an extraordinary success! 2021 saw the highest-ever conference attendance in the history of the Affiliations National Conference, which is a testament to our conference program and the introduction of Affiliate Institutional registration, allowing even more Affiliate colleagues to attend this year.

“I greatly appreciated the virtual nature of this conference. I don’t think I would have been able to attend if it were in person. I found it interesting to hear from so many different museums. Thank you for making this conference accessible to museums with tight budgets!“

Smithsonian Affiliate attendee

Throughout three days and 30 sessions and workshops, Smithsonian, Affiliate, and guest speakers led thought-provoking sessions on collaboration opportunities, inequity in exhibition development, creating inclusive HR practices, engaging communities in civic action, best practices in exhibition writing, and more. A dynamic opening session centered youth advocates and their views on the future of the museum field alongside Ellen Stofan, Under Secretary for Science & Research, and Kevin Young, Director of the National Museum of African American History & Culture.

In addition to the sessions and workshops, the Smithsonian Resource Fair library provided Smithsonian and Affiliate colleagues a virtual booth where they could upload documents, videos, and other resources for conference attendees to download and share with their organizations. Registered attendees can access and download these resources on the Virtual Attendee Hub until January 20, 2022.

Screen grab of the virtual attendee hub
Registered attendees can download resources on the Virtual Attendee Hub

“Sensational conference! I even wrote to my directors to thank them for making this possible. The platform used for the virtual conference was the easiest and most sophisticated I’ve experienced. The presenters were super, and I learned so much. Kudos to moderators–well done with links provided to us in the chat as well as lots of good interaction. I loved the conference!”

Smithsonian Affiliate attendee

All Smithsonian and Affiliate colleagues, regardless of registration, are able to view selected recordings from the Virtual Conference on our Smithsonian Affiliations website or YouTube playlist. If you require transcripts or have any questions, please email us at affiliates@si.edu.

Mark your calendars for when we next meet for an Affiliations Conference, October 23-25, 2022!

National Museum of American History Is Looking for Your Childhood Gaming Photos

Three people stand at pinball machines
Photo by Louie Castro-Garcia on Unsplash

Did you play video games or computer games as a kid? Did you go to arcades? Do you have old photos of yourself playing these games or holding controllers or a console (for instance, holding an unopened box in a holiday photo)? If so, we want to hear from you!

The National Museum of American History team is working on a video for an exhibition space that will feature photos of people playing video games, computer games, and arcade games from their childhood. If you submit a photo, you might even have a chance to appear in the video talking about your memories of playing games!

What they are looking for:

Photos of you, your friends, and your relatives from the early 1980s through early 2000s playing video, computer, or arcade games, and the stories that go along with them. What game were you playing in the photo? Was it your favorite? Who else, if anyone, were you playing with? Where and when was the photo taken? Do you remember how the controllers felt in your hands? Do you remember how it felt to win the game or advance to the next level? We welcome contributors from across the globe, but the photo should relate to gameplay in the United States.

Gather your photo (or photos), scan it, or snap a quick image and e-mail it to NMAH-VideoGames@si.edu. Include your name, an e-mail or phone number where we can reach you, and a few sentences about the photo and your memories of playing video games or arcade games. Deadline: December 31, 2021

Smithsonian Affiliations at 25: Chapter 5: Moving Forward, Together

Affiliations Anniversary Series: 25 Years in Your Neighborhood
Chapter 5: Moving Forward, Together
#SmithsonianAffiliations25

smithsonian 150th anniversary logo

In 1996, the Smithsonian created this logo to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

In 1993, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents established the Commission on the Future of the Smithsonian and tasked the group with “an examination of the Smithsonian, its mandate and its roles, and an examination of the cultural, societal, and technological factors that influence its capacity to act.” Two years later, the Commission issued a report that identified a range of strategies for the Smithsonian to consider as it approached its 150th birthday—strategies aimed at making the Institution more relevant and accessible to the American public and enabling it to fulfill its mission as a national organization.

The 1995 report concluded, “The Smithsonian cannot achieve the nation’s expectations by itself,” and set out a series of recommendations around education; collections, research, and exhibitions; governance; and the future. Embedded in this report were the following recommendations:

  • Emphasize education both on the Mall and across the country through electronic means, traveling and collaborative exhibitions, and public programs,
  • Build collaborative partnerships with other museums, research centers, and educational institutions throughout the nation, and
  • Shape a master plan for maintenance of the priceless collections, including the sharing of collections through long-term or permanent loans to partner institutions.

Crowd on National Mall in 1996

As the Smithsonian’s 150th birthday celebration draws to a close, the crowd gathers in front of the Castle for an evening performance. Photo by Richard Hofmeister. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Acc. 09-257.

Just a year later, on the occasion of the Smithsonian’s 150th anniversary, I. Michael Heyman, then Secretary of the Smithsonian, announced the Smithsonian Affiliations program as one of several outreach initiatives introduced to fulfill the recommendations of the Commission and expand the Institution’s national reach: “The Smithsonian of the future must provide access to its collections and its vast resources. There is no value in being just the largest if we do not share the Smithsonian with as many people as possible. It means making sure those who cannot travel to Washington can somehow experience and enjoy the Smithsonian.”

In addition to the Affiliations program, the Smithsonian launched its first-ever website and the traveling exhibition, America’s Smithsonian, which featured some of the Institution’s most prized artifacts, including First Ladies’ gowns, Arthur Ashe’s tennis racquet, and the Apollo 14 command module, and reached an estimated 10 million people across the nation.

The Affiliations program was formally approved by the Board of Regents on September 15, 1996: “VOTED that the Board of Regents adopts the statement of policy and guidelines…on the Smithsonian Institution’s collections-based affiliations…”

A person sits at a workshop desk with the Apollo 13 Odyssey command module in the shadows.

Master restoration specialist Greg “Buck” Buckingham oversaw the evaluation, identification and reinstallation of more than 80,000 components of the Apollo 13 spacecraft Odyssey. This view shows Buckingham inside Odyssey’s restoration lab, which was glassed in to allow the public to view the historic project. Photo courtesy of the Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, KS.

The first Affiliate joined the program in early 1997. By the end of that year, there were 21 Affiliate collaborators across the U.S . As we entered the 21st century, more than 50 mission-aligned organizations made up the Affiliate network and were collaborating with the Smithsonian to bring its resources to their communities. In these first years, the Affiliations program was primarily envisioned as a way to extend the impact of the America’s Smithsonian exhibition and reach communities across the nation with objects from the Smithsonian’s collections. Affiliate organizations could borrow objects on long-term loan, connecting the Smithsonian with their audiences in ways that were meaningful, relevant, and accessible. Working with the National Air & Space Museum, the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS began the restoration of the Apollo 13 Command Module Odyssey in 1995, as part of an effort to re-assemble the historic spacecraft. Made famous by the movie Apollo 13 which tells of the greatest rescue effort of a manned space flight, Odyssey went on display at the Cosmosphere in 1998, the same year the museum became an Affiliate. The command module remains on display today in the Cosmosphere’s Apollo Gallery, and the Affiliate continues to provide critical restoration services to the Smithsonian through its SpaceWorks division.

Over our 25-year history, Affiliations has grown far beyond its initial mandate to share objects with Affiliate organizations and has lived up to the Institution’s ambition to educate beyond the National Mall and build collaborative relationships with other museums and cultural organizations. Today, with more than 200 Affiliate collaborators in 46 states, Panama, and Puerto Rico, the Smithsonian is able to engage communities across the nation in myriad ways, many of which have been highlighted in our blog over the last several months. As a network, we are able to spark curiosity and learning, inspire a deeper understanding of our world, and work together to create a better tomorrow.

As the African proverb says, “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” As we at Smithsonian Affiliations celebrate our 25th anniversary, we look forward to many more years of moving forward together with our Affiliate collaborators and continuing the Smithsonian’s important work grounded in the increase and diffusion of knowledge.

Smithsonian yellow sunburst with 175 to the right of it

Celebrate Smithsonian Affiliations’ 25th anniversary on social media with us September 15, 2021, #SmithsonianAffiliations25! All Smithsonian Affiliates are invited to share a memory as a Smithsonian Affiliate with us using the hashtag #SmithsonianAffiliations25. Make sure to tag @SIAffiliates on Twitter or @SmithsonianAffiliates on Instagram! Contact us for more info.

Catch up on our whole 25th Anniversary blog series here:

Smithsonian Affiliations at 25: Chapter 4: Supporting the People that Make Us Strong

Supporting our network of Affiliate partners is a keystone of our work at Smithsonian Affiliations. As we continue to reflect on our past 25 years, it is the strength of the people we work with at Affiliate organizations that truly makes an impact on the work that we do. This month we are focusing on the professional development collaborations with Affiliate colleagues. Here we take you on a visual journey of the ways in which we have helped to make an impact furthering the professional growth of staff at our Affiliate partner organizations.