For Tishon Woolcock, his passions have collided with his career. As a Visual Design Director and Director of Social Projects at Ralph Applebaum Associates, one of the world’s largest museum exhibition design firms, Tishon is intimately involved in creating what you will see inside The Hip Hop Museum.

We caught up with Tishon to discuss his role in building The Hip Hop Museum, his time as a B-boy and poet, and how he and his team are working to strike a balance for all audiences that visit when The Hip Hop Museum opens.

Adam Aziz: First, introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Ralph Applebaum Associates.

Tishon Woolcock: My name is Tishon Woolcock. I am a Visual Design Director at RAA and the Director of Social Projects. On the visual design side, our teams at RAA are comprised of three disciplines: visual design, content development, and physical design.

I am a classically trained graphic designer. I went to the Pratt Institute and studied Communication Design. I’ve been working in the design space since I graduated in 2005. At RAA, I am primarily focused on visual design. I work with teams to develop an exhibit’s graphic identity, work on pitches, and work on anything that involves graphics, graphic design, and typography.

In my other role as Director of Social Projects, I work across all our teams to think about how we approach projects that have a social impact component, which is almost everything we do. Every Museum has a social impact component.

AA: Regarding The Hip Hop Museum, can you give an example of something you’re working on now?

TW: Every project we do starts with the content. Let’s start there. At RAA, we do a deep dive into whatever the subject matter is. With The Hip Hop Museum, I didn’t have to do as much of a deep dive being a Hip Hop head, but you realize you don’t know everything, and I’ve learned a lot throughout the project. We do the deep dive into the history, and then I’m working with a senior visual designer with who we’ll sit, talk, go over the content, meet as a team, and talk about everything. And then, we’ll start to determine what strategies we can put into play, like graphically, to get these stories across. We’re looking at typography, we’re looking at ways to use photography, we’re looking at how lighting comes into play, thinking about how all that works within the exhibit spaces to get the message across.

AA: I’ve heard you’re a Spoken Word artist and a B-Boy. Is that true?

TW: I’m a poet more so than a spoken word artist. I have done spoken word. But I’m more of a page poet. I’ve performed in many places in New York.

I started B-boying in 2001 and did that consistently until 2008. I haven’t won any battles, but I have been in battles. When it comes to The Hip Hop Museum project, everything is important, but I feel like B-boying is that element that doesn’t really get the love and recognition that I think it needs to get as a part of the culture.

AA: How did you feel when you learned you would be part of The Hip Hop Museum project?

TW: At RAA, we’ve been fortunate to work on some important projects. When a project comes into the office, you can tell it’s unique, which is what The Hip Hop Museum is. It feels like an important project in that regard. I grew up on Hip Hop and felt very much invested in it regarding what it’s done for my life. As a poet, it also informs my work there. So yeah, it feels like an important space.

AA: As you continue your work around The Hip Hop Museum, how are you balancing that work, understanding that some people visiting The Museum will have a deep understanding of Hip Hop culture and others may be tourists, for example, with limited knowledge of the culture?

TW: Great question. Early on, when we were conversing about who the audience would be, we had some workshops with The Hip Hop Museum team where we talked about that. You may have a person who’s like a real Hip Hop head, who knows everything, a purist. But then you have someone coming from a different country or a suburban mom bringing their kids. And you must have an experience that is broad enough to appeal to them. You’re thinking about the high-level story that needs to be told and the way that is told.

Pacing is the other thing we’re thinking about as exhibit designers. We work on a narrative score, where we try to identify the moments throughout the visitor journey that are high points and low points. It’s tied to the exhibit content and what we anticipate the emotional response would be at that moment. So that’s a vital part of our planning: the narrative or the emotional score.

AA: What are you most looking forward to when The Hip Hop Museum opens? Is there a specific exhibit you’re looking forward to seeing?

TW: The most important thing for me is seeing someone interact with the work. I worked on the National Museum of African American History in DC, and going there with my family, and seeing how my grandfather responded to the work that we did, not even the work that we did, response to the history. I’m waiting for the day when I visit The Hip Hop Museum, and there are other people in that space and just seeing how they take in things or what resonates with them.

AA: Do you have a favourite Rap album of all time?

TW: This might catch some heat with young folks, but ‘Reasonable Doubt’ is my top Rap album of all time. I go back to it every year, and it captures a specific moment in my life. It captures the feeling of who I am as I move through different spaces.

Read more interviews on The Hip Hop Museum’s blog!