The Hero Item

I was maybe 15? My Mum and sister had some sort of day trip planned so my Dad suggested we could have one of our own to the Royal Armouries in Leeds. A quick google to check opening times and we got into his Van and headed off.

At this point I knew only two things about the museum. Firstly, that it presumably had a lot of weapons and armour in it and secondly that it also contained the rather amazing Horned Helmet of Henry VIII. This was a highly decorative headpiece commissioned for Henry VIII of England by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I to celebrate an alliance in one of those mid-millennium wars that were largely just a good excuse for everyone to have a fight with whomever was aggrieving them at the current moment.

The important part here is that this helmet was at the time (and possibly still is) the symbol of the museum. It was on the front of every leaflet, poster, and web page. Proud columns sit outside the museum with a likeness on it, and they somehow even managed to get it put on the road signs.

Image of the Horned Helmet of Henry VIII including on the Road Sign (Image from Atlas Obscura)

Dutifully then in the museum itself there were lots of signs pointing to where it could be found. Posters proclaiming its beauty and a gift shop selling replicas or varying size, accuracy, and cost.

After wandering around much of the rest of the museum admiring objects made for viciously killing people, those for protecting you from the first category, or decorative versions of both we came to the gallery containing the helmet. There was the case, centre stage with plenty of room for full viewing and inside…

A card, apologising for the fact that the helmet was currently out for cleaning and minor restoration work.

This was emotionally devastating in a way I can’t quite describe. The helmet itself isn’t of any more particular interest than many of the other excellent pieces in the museum. But the fact that it had been built up as this must see object meant that its absence left such a sour taste in my mouth I can still recall it vividly nearly 15 years later.

I could also tell a similar story about the Barcelona Zoo and its albino white gorilla ‘Snowflake’ who was still touted on all the banners, was sold on tea towels and jigsaws in the street. It was only after passing through the ‘Snowflake’ exhibition then later finding the gorilla enclosure at the other end of the zoo where my Dad managed to spot the relatively tiny plaque at the back informing us that they had actually died several years earlier.

What is a Hero Item?

The term ‘hero item’ comes variously from marketing, shopping designers, and video games. I haven't managed to quite track down its origins to a satisfactory degree. In essence however it is the start of the show for any exhibition or museum. The idea is used extensively, if not necessarily under the same name.

In marketing/shopping it is the item everyone wants to come to you to buy. In video games it can be some kind of chase object. Something people will work towards (or perhaps be willing to pay for). The idea in both cases being the same, you are led to desire it, and once you get it there is a huge amount of satisfaction.

For museums this can work in two main ways, the first is fairly natural with famous objects. This could be famed paintings like The Girl with a Pearl Earring or artefacts of particular note such as the Terracotta Warriors. These are things that people already know about either through films and television or otherwise a general cultural osmosis. People will flock to see these things.

More usefully however it is possible to create your own hero items, not everyone having access to world famous artworks and relics. And this is typically done through a mixture of marketing and storytelling. We can take an example from the British Museum’s Late 2024/Early 2025 exhibition on Hew Locke’s Work

Screenshot from ‘Hew Locke, What have we Here?’ Main Page on the British Museum Website

Immediately then we can see our hero item. A marble bust of Queen Victoria surrounded by a striking and very non-British golden headdress that prominently features skulls. It’s attention grabbing, beautiful, intriguing, and perfect for the centrepiece of an exhibition.

Throw out a few posters featuring it prominently, put it on the front of the exhibit pamphlets and maybe get a banner or two up and you have yourself a hero item that people want to see.

Using Hero Items

This is all very well and good, and doing something like this is fairly standard practice even if the used name is different. But why am I talking about this and how can you take advantage of the idea?

Well first of all I think formalising and standardising concepts is generally a good idea because it helps people to be able to discuss and work on things. But more than that I think this is an idea that is used by the big players but is under utilised by small-mid sized museums.

Finding that one artefact (or small handful or artefacts) that can really grab people’s interest is crucial not only as a way to draw people into a museum but can also provide a useful focal point of a museum visit itself.

I believe that regardless of the museum or exhibition a hero item or two should be identifiable and then can be leveraged to push interest. It doesn’t necessarily have to be splashed centrefold across magazines or to come to symbolise the museum itself (though If you can manage it that helps) but being able to encapsulate a museums themes and ideas in a single item is a useful exercise and also offers something more tangible for the public to grasp onto when they’re thinking about your museum.

As a focal point they can of course be used to sell mugs, t-shirts, posters, and replicas but they can also fit in as part of the design. A big payoff that the rest of your museum is working towards. A key part of the story you are telling, be it a turning point or a symbol of the pinnacle. In short, considering a hero item is a way of identifying the fallback answer to the perennial question “what was the best thing you saw?”

Find that thing, make a song and dance about it, and you’ll help people build better expectations about your museum that you can easily meet and raise their enjoyment. 

Just warn people if it’s going to be out for cleaning…