A display is a poster-sized or larger illustration mounted on a board. You can set up a display at a table where you distribute fliers, use it in conjunction with a planned talk, or perhaps get permission to leave it at a library. Table displays are an eye-catching, non-threatening way to educate the public about animal rights issues.
PLANNING A DISPLAY
Pick a general topic for your display, such as vivisection, cruel transport, product testing, circuses, or hunting. Then look for photographs to illustrate the subject and for phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that are especially catchy and to the point. Maintain a file of animal rights newsletters and pamphlets; these are good sources for photographs and text that will support your themes. You can then use these materials to form a collage.
GETTING THE MATERIALS
You can get the materials you’ll need for making your display at a shop that supplies art materials or at a hardware bazaar. Basic supplies are:
• brightly colored mat board, 32" x 40"
• plywood, 1/4" or 1/2" width, 33" x 41“
• clear acetate (adhesive-backed or regular) or clear plexiglass, same size as plywood
• adhesive vinyl lettering, three or four inches
• black plastic channel molding (size depends on thickness of display)
• clear silicone sealant
• black paint and paintbrush
• a utility knife or paper cutter
• scissors
• glue
• a ruler or yardstick
DESIGNING A DISPLAY
Once you have some photographs and text for your display, you’ll need to lay them out to find an attractive way of presenting them.
Start by placing a title in big letters at the top, such as “Chicken Transport”: Painful and Cruel, “Cosmetics Testing: No Pretty Picture” or “Cattle Transport: Drive to Death”.
You could then put a strong quotation or other text in the center of the display. Or balance several pieces of text throughout the display. Just be sure that any text or photograph you use is large enough to be seen easily from a modest distance.
A good display on animal experimentation could include pictures of experiments, with a few sentences of explanation below each picture. Answer some common questions about vivisection, outline violations of the law, or vividly describe some animal experiments.
Always tell people what they can do to help.
ASSEMBLING A DISPLAY
Follow these steps to assemble your display:
1 Paint the edges (and the back if it will be seen) of the plywood with black paint. Set it aside to dry.
2 Apply the title to the mat board, using the adhesive lettering.
3 Apply the pictures and text with glue, keeping the layout simple and easy to follow. Don’t crowd display items together.
4 Glue the mat board to the plywood. You’ll need to weigh it down overnight so that it will dry without buckling.
5 Cover the display with the sheet of clear acetate or plexiglass to protect it from damage.
6 Encase the display in plastic channel molding, and seal the edges with silicone sealant to keep out moisture and dust. Your display should last for years.
MAKING AN EASEL
You’ll need an easel to set up and mount your display. An easel is somewhat expensive to buy, but you can make your own fairly simply. Follow these steps:
1 Get three 5-foot lengths and one 3-foot length of 1-inch-by-2-inch wood (sometimes called furring strips).
2 Lay the 5-foot lengths on top of each other, lengthwise. Drill a hole about two inches from the top of each piece.
3 Place a bolt through the hole in the three pieces to join them, and secure the bolt with a nut on the other side.
4 Swing the middle piece back. Join the outer two pieces by nailing the 3-foot length piece across them. This provides a shelf for the display.
5 Add a piece of wood molding across the front of the shelf to hold the poster more securely.
MAKING A POSTER DISPLAY
An animal rights poster, which you can request from PETA, will last a lot longer if you take the time to mount it as a display.
Glue the poster to a 1/4-inch or 3/8-inch sheet of plywood. Cover it with a sheet of clear acetate or plexiglass, encased with plastic channel molding (just as you treated the table display). If the acetate or plexiglass will reflect too much light, use artist’s fixative spray instead to protect the poster’s surface.
SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND LIBRARY DISPLAYS
Library displays are an effective way to reach the public. Some public libraries have display cases that you can reserve. Schools and colleges also have excellent, high-traffic areas at which you can set up your display. Simply call the appropriate person in charge and ask but be prepared to modify your display in case there are any objections to the more graphic depictions.
A cruelty-free products display with a collage, a poster, a collection of cruelty-free products, and some leaflets or newsletters is sure to get attention. Or you might feature hunting, leather, animal experimentation, factory farming, vegetarianism, inhumane transport or general animal rights.
In any case, be sure your, your group’s, or the group you are working in affiliation with’s name, address, and telephone number are visible on the display. Include any appropriate books on animal rights issues from the library. If the pickings are slim on the animal rights shelves, donate a few books to the library — Animal Liberation, Food Revolution, Save the Animals!, A Vegetarian Lifestyle, and Heads and Tails are great choices.
