Designing Your Exhibit

Here are the important documents to consult to help you create your exhibit and prepare for the contest:

Contest Rules for Exhibits

This is the Exhibit section of the full NHD Rule Book.

Organizing and Planning Your Exhibit Layout

Before you start constructing or designing your actual exhibit, consider drawing out draft and plan out each section and where they will go. Minnesota's National History Day program has created some great resources to help all NHD exhibit students get started with their exhibit designs. Check them out below!

Exhibit Map

This template is a great way to plan out your exhibit's content before you start creating.

Elements of an Effective Exhibit

This sheet gives great tips to consider as you plan.

Credits, Captions, & Citations

Learn the difference between these 3 important elements and tips for using each.

Exhibit Quick Tips

- Keep Revisions in Mind - Design your exhibit so that you can easily make edits and changes if needed. For instance, instead of gluing content directly to the exhibit board, use poster putty or another temporary method to attach the content to your board.
- Focus on Organization: Remember that you can have great content, but if the information is not organized or hard to find, it will not be effective. Use the headings and sub-headings to help the viewer navigate the exhibit in the order that you want them to encounter the information. Organize your content by dividing it in clear sections. Some example sections are:
  1. - Background Info
    - The Build-up
    - Your Thesis
    - The Main Event
    - Short Term Impacts
    - Long Term Impacts
- Use Strong Images: Make sure you find high quality images that support your project. You want to avoid using low quality/resolution images that can appear blurry or pixelated. Need help finding images on your topic? Check out the Finding Visuals page.
- Make sure every element of your design points back to your topic, thesis, and/or time period. There should be a conscious reason for every choice you make about color, typeface, or graphics.
- Make sure fonts sizes, colors, and backgrounds are easy to read. Have different people of different ages look at your exhibit as you build and get feedback to make sure it is accessible to all readers.

Don't Forget Your Written Materials!

You are required to submit one PDF that contains 3 required parts of your project in this order: title page, process paper, and annotated bibliography. Click below to learn more about the Title Page, Process Paper, and Annotated Bibliography.

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