What does it take to create an addictive and fun videogame? How many beats per second does a DJ need to get bodies moving on the dance floor? What goes behind creating a roller coaster or a skate park that produces the most fun and biggest thrills? Discover the secrets behind how videogame developers, music producers, roller coaster designers and other creative problem solvers do what they do in the Indiana State Museum’s new exhibition, Design Zone, on view October 22 through

Design Zone is a highly interactive, hands-on exhibition where visitors can explore a variety of creative concepts to learn the processes and tools needed to create a successful design. Design Zone is organized into three thematic zones, all highlighting the importance of science and mathematical thinking in areas critical to building creativity and innovation: art, music and engineering.

Design Zone’s themed areas include:

ART- See it! – Visitors discover the math behind visual creativity—from architecture to video games—designers use scale, patterns and other key mathematical concepts to turn visual ideas into reality. Visitors can explore the relationship between weights and distance by creating their own colorful two-dimensional mobile in Balancing Art, navigate a Marble Maze, adjusting the variables in this videogame to create the highest score and test their abilities to continue a pattern in three dimensions as they Build a Tower.

MUSIC – Hear it! – Visitors explore relationships between length and pitch in musical instruments, ratios and rhythms and visual representations of sound. Visitors can experiment with tube length and pitch to create music with the Whack-a- Phone, explore the math behind rhythm and music by mixing a song on a Drum Machine and as the Light Show DJ, discover how laser light show technicians create mesmerizing patterns that get people dancing.

ACTION – Move it! – Visitors explore the math and physics behind anything that moves. Visitors can discover what it takes to create a thrilling ride in Roller Coaster Hills, explore how hill height and speed are needed to create a Fast Tracks roller coaster course and Design a Skate Park by manipulating slope to create essential skate park features and then test their design with a virtual skater and ride the course!

For more details on the exhibition and related programs, please call 317.232.1637 or visit online at

www.indianamuseum.org.