Once there was… The Wonderful World of Oliver Jeffers | London

Lighting Design for Temporary Exhibition at Discover Children’s Story Centre

Once there was…The Wonderful World of Oliver Jeffers was an enchanting temporary exhibition at London’s Discover Children’s Story Centre, brought to life with creative lighting design by Michael Grubb Studio. The exhibition celebrated the whimsy and joy of Jeffers’s beloved books, guiding families through an immersive storytelling experience. Visitors could pretend to row a boat, meet a penguin, visit the Lost and Found office, and even hunt for the elusive Hueys, turning illustration into interactive exploration.

Playing with a limited budget, the studio faced the unique challenge of crafting a visually captivating atmosphere that mirrored the playful spirit of the illustrations. The inventive solution turned a modest tech setup into sustainable and engaging lighting scheme for the temporary exhibition.

Creative Lighting Design for Visitor Experience on a Limited Budget

At the heart of the scheme was a lo-fi yet ingenious lighting control system. Our studio decided to create a short-animated film that combined various illustrations from the books and projected on to the main wall. Leveraging Discover’s existing stock of economic stage and disco lighting equipment, our team embedded a hidden lighting control desk directly into a short animated film. In it, a series of coloured bars pulsed within the animation, translating RGB values to DMX-controlled RGB luminaries and controlling the levels of the tungsten par cans. The result was a dynamic, audiovisual-synchronised display that was intuitive enough for staff to operate with ease.

Temporary Exhibition Lighting Control with Animated Projection

By using lighting not just for illumination but as a storytelling medium, the exhibition achieved a deeply engaging ambiance. This aligns with how expert lighting strategies in museums and temporary exhibits enhance emotional connection and narrative immersion.The animated lighting cues guided visitors’ focus, underscored vivid story moments, and elevated the overall atmosphere. The motion and colour transitions created a sense of wonder, drawing children and adults deeper into the narrative world.

Innovative Lighting Design Transforms Storytelling Spaces

Both this and Michael Rosen exhibitions exemplify how creativity and collaboration can transcend budget constraints. By embracing innovation and joy, Michael Grubb Studio and the Discover Children’s Story Centre created experiences that left a lasting impact on visitors. These projects highlight the power of storytelling to ignite imaginations and bring people together while showcasing how innovative lighting design can transform even modest spaces into captivating, emotionally resonant environments making them perfect for visitor-focused exhibition experiences.

Once there was…The Wonderful World of Oliver Jeffers was a temporary interactive exhibition that ran from 27 September 2014 to September 2015 at Discover Children’s Story Centre, London.

This project is featured in the articles below

Design Week  |  Time Out Worldwide