Label-Writing Policy

Any label produced by The Minneapolis Institute of Arts should adhere to these guidelines. They are consistent with those in the Interpretive Media Table, which covers all informational systems.

Format and length

Gallery Identification

Function: Establishes place, time, or subject
Length: About 10 words

Gallery or Section Panel

Function: Articulates an organizing idea for a group of objects and provides a context in which to consider works of art
Length: 150 words; l00 words if there are two panels in a gallery

Group Label

Function: Draws attention to characteristics shared by all objects in a group
Length: l00 to 150 words

Object Identification

Function: Identifies maker and maker's date, country or culture, title or object type, date, medium, purchase fund, and accession number
Length: No text

Extended Object Label

Function: Discusses the most compelling features of a work of art or answers the visitor's most pressing questions
Length: 100 to 150 words

Caption

Function: Accompanies photos, maps, diagrams, and so forth
Length: About 30 words 

 Use of Language

Unfamiliar vocabulary and complex grammatical structure can be barriers to learning in museums. Every attempt should be made to eliminate technical and subjective language and unnecessary foreign terminology. Interpretive materials should be gender-fair and free of cultural bias.

Technical Language

Art history has specialized terminology that museum professionals use fluently and unconsciously. General visitors do not understand these terms. Such language makes labels difficult to comprehend and wastes time better spent looking at objects.
Define art historical terms, or avoid them and use nontechnical language. Describe media in language that general visitors will likely be familiar with.

painted in several colors rather than polychromed

Describe materials without reference to process unless omitting the process will confuse viewers.

carved wood should be shortened to wood

silver-plated brass remains silver-plated brass, because calling it brass when it looks like silver would confuse viewers

If the process is the most important information about a particular object, provide an explanation in the label text.

Jin-di-sugi is a technique John Bradstreet used to age cypress wood artificially. The wood is burned to remove the soft fibers and then scrubbed with wire brushes to highlight the remaining hard grain. The resulting three-dimensional pattern appears very old.

Subjective Language

Subjective language should be supported by objective reasons. General visitors want to know why objects in a museum are good, not simply that they are good.¹¹ For example, discuss the artist’s technical accomplishments, the rarity of the object, the object’s conceptual importance, or how the object satisfies the aesthetic criteria of the culture it represents.

Foreign Titles and Terminology

Foreign words often confuse or intimidate general visitors. Because they require translation, they also make a label longer, triggering a drop in readership.¹² If the English title is given first, readers can jump to the label text without struggling over foreign words. For titles given by the artist or conventionally used, give the English translation followed by the original-language title in parentheses. For generic descriptions such as landscape or still life, only English is necessary. If a translation would not adequately convey the meaning of the title (e.g., Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon), explain the foreign title in the label text.
    Some terms from other languages (bodhisat~va, krater, majolica) have no equivalents in English. These can remain in the original language with an English translation in parentheses or an explanation in the text.

Gender

Eliminate generic use of masculine-gender language whenever possible. 

• Use plural subjects
• Use she and he only with reference to actual people. Avoid he or she and him or her.
• Rewrite so that a pronoun is not necessary
• Find substitutes for frequently used masculine words (person and people for man and men, humankind or humanity for mankind, solo exhibition for one-man show).

Cultures

The terminology and approach used in describing and discussing cultures must be neutral. Writers need to be sensitive to changes in the terms preferred by cultural communities. We use the following, knowing that they may be supplanted by others in the future.

African American, Asian American, Native American or American Indian, European American (noun), Euro-American (adjective)

Collaboration

The following procedure allows curators, educators, editors, and general visitors opportunities to check the style, content, and accessibility of labels. Before beginning the procedure, curators must determine the interpretive focus of the label, bearing in mind what visitors can see in the object and the questions that they frequently ask. The focus must relate to the overall interpretive plan for the gallery in which the object is installed, as developed by curators, along with the chairs of the Curatorial and Education divisions, and reviewed by the Interdivisional Committee on Interpretation and the director.

1. Curator or educational materials writer prepares first draft, depending on the curator's preference.
2. Curator and writer work together to ensure that the label is effective for visitors.
3. Writer rewrites and curator reviews as necessary.
4. Curator approves text.
5. Editor edits text.
6. Curator and writer approve edited text.
7. Designer designs label.
8. Label is produced.
9. Label is installed.

    Staff will periodically evaluate labels to ensure that they meet the expectations and needs of the museum and its visitors. A variety of evaluation techniques will be used before, during, and after labels are written. For example, before writing a label staff might assess visitors' knowledge to uncover any misconceptions that need to be addressed, or staff might ask visitors to comment on a completed label to determine if it has communicated the intended message.¹³

Design

Design Specifications

An ideal object label design should conform to the following standards.¹⁴

• Type size of 18 to 24 points
• Line length of 8 to 12 words
• At least 70 percent contrast between label color and type color

Type size and contrast should be increased if the label will be difficult to see when installed (placed behind glass, seen in low light, on a low pedestal).
    Every attempt should be made to adhere to the museum's standard type specifications for each label format.

Information Mapping

Learning and memory are aided by visible structure in written materials and by graphic presentation of complex information.

Visible Structure

The reader should be able to see the structure of the text instantly. When appropriate, the writer can use bullets, headings, and bold type.

• Bullets attract the eye and help break information into manageable parts.
• Headings provide a visible outline and multiple points of access to the information, giving different types of readers with different purposes rapid access to the level of detail they want or need.
• Bold type can quickly draw the reader's eye to important words, phrases, or paragraphs. It should be used sparingly and is more appropriate in didactic panels or information structured as lists than in standard extended object labels.

Graphics

Use graphics (maps, photos, diagrams) if they communicate an idea more powerfully or succinctly than words.