When Harley-Davidson set out to host the global gala of the century to celebrate its 100th anniversary, it included an exhibition that was as ambitious as many major museums. Staged largely within three big-top tents, the Harley-Davidson Open Road Tour was an extravaganza that embodied the essence of the Harley mystique.

Creating a major exhibition for one of the most beloved icons of America was a challenge in itself, but designing it so it could travel to ten major cities around the globe and be set up and dismantled in just a few days was a test of logistics, fabrication and portability.

Such difficulties didn't faze Harley-Davidson. It wanted its centennial celebration to be more spectacular than its annual rallies which draw thousands of passionate Harley fans to Sturgis, South Dakota, and Daytona, Florida, for a week of festivities and biker bonding.

For Harley-Davidson, such events are more than good public relations. "Motorcycle rallies are a lot like tribal gatherings. They allow a community of people to share in a culture and celebrate it," writes Willie G. Davidson, grandson of the founder, in his book "100 Years of Harley-Davidson." The cultural phenomenon that has grown up around Harley-Davidson goes beyond the motorcycles themselves. Its brand identity is not just a product, but an attitude, a philosophy, a fantasy of adventure and the freedom of the open road that has been celebrated in popular culture and admired by people around the world. Although fewer than 2 percent of American households own a Harley-Davidson or any other brand of heavyweight motorcycle, many still want to share in the experience through buying Harleybranded apparel, gift items and collectibles.

For its 100th anniversary, Harley-Davidson decided that rather than invite fans over for a party, it would take the party to them. Joanne Bischmann, Vice President of Marketing, who spearheaded the project for Harley, says that in addition to providing great food and entertainment, "We wanted people to walk away having been dipped in the brand." To do that, the company asked Pentagram New York to design an exhibition that would be part of its global Open Road Tour. Harley also advised the design firm that the weekend events would be held at NASCAR racetracks in North America and at outdoor Olympic arenas overseas in order to maintain the authentic feel of a Harley gathering, support the large crowds arriving on motorcycles, and allow room for a music concert and food booths.

Pentagram partner Abbott Miller, who headed the design project, adds that Harley expected this event to draw a broader audience than its annual rallies. "In addition to catering to their core enthusiasts, Harley wanted to reach out to people who were intrigued but may not have had much contact with the brand."

Miller says it quickly became clear that they needed to convey three distinct parts of the Harley-Davidson story. "The story breaks down to the Machine, which is about the bike itself; the Journey, which is about the history of the company and the experience of the ride; and the Culture, which is about its impact on pop culture," Miller says. "We built out the contents from that initial impulse, knowing there would be people there to see amazing bikes from the Harley archive and others who may not be as crazy about motorcycles but interested in Harley's impact on movies, fashion and music or in the company's history."

Once these stories were defined, the design team concluded that the exhibition had to be presented in three 20,000-square-foot tents that could be quickly constructed on the open racetracks. In addition to securing valuable artifacts and sheltering them from uncertain weather, the tent venue offered the designers greater control over the size and shape of the exhibit area so they could plan how the displays would be laid out.

Working with FTL Happold, an engineering firm known for its lightweight fabric structures, Pentagram designed a circular tent to house the Machine exhibition of vintage motorcycles and gas tanks. Less expensive "off-the-shelf" rectangular tents were used for the Culture and Journey displays.

To visually connect these shapes and communicate Harley's internationalism, Pentagram decided to wrap type around the exterior edges of the three structures to create a cohesive identity. Rendered 12 feet high in Harley's distinctive black and orange-outlined letters and set in five different languages, the signage proved highly visible and easy to transport.

Typography became a graphic centerpiece in the Machine exhibit space as well. Pentagram turned the center support pole in the Machine tent into a monumental typographic tower that displayed the names of Harley-Davidson's famous engines in metallic letters.

Surrounding this tower were displays of 32 vintage motorcycles from the Harley-Davidson archive collection, along with 100 vintage teardrop-shaped gas tanks housed in their own teardrop-shaped orange tent. This separate "tent-room" gave added impact to this display and allowed the designers to build a cocoon-like inset with spotlights illuminating the gas tanks.

Transporting these precious machines to multiple locations presented its own set of problems and insurance restrictions. While most of the artifacts could be sent by ship to overseas event sites, the risk of rust and contamination from salt water required that all of the motorcycles had to be flown over the ocean. The Harley-Davidson archivists also demanded that the bikes be permanently mounted to their bases to avoid possible damage during handling. Pentagram came up with a solution that ultimately made installation easier.

Each bike was permanently mounted to a base that could be wheeled out of its moving crate and into its display position. There, the mounts could be bolted into place using a "collar" railing that also served to keep viewers a safe distance away.

Another consideration was the fact that the entire exhibition had to be erected and knocked down practically overnight. Miller explains, "When the show went to a particular site, the tents would go up first—that would take about two days. Then the exhibits would go up, another two days. The event opened on a Friday night and closed on Sunday night. Then the whole thing had to be struck down and loaded up in about a day and a half. Traveling between venues would take about a month to six weeks." The display structures and artifacts filled forty 48-foot trucks on land and 25 cargo containers when going overseas.

Still, Miller says, "It was remarkably clear what we were in for from the start. It was a charmed interlude of a project. It had just enough time, just enough money. It moved along quickly because it had to. Every meeting counted. Every meeting was only as long as it had to be to get it done. Decisions were made quickly. Everyone remembers the project as thrilling in its clarity."

With a year to pull it all together, Pentagram worked closely with other key consultants. "This was an assignment where design, conservation and touring issues all came into play," says Miller. "You had to have all three parts weighing in on decisions. We had a great lighting designer, Ted Mather, who was critical to the overall look. Dream Chaser created the content for the media pieces. What I learned in this project is that you have to establish a design intent. On the one hand, you have the client saying what their hopes are. But then there is the fabricator/touring company, Design & Production, Inc., who have to live with this thing for a year and be responsible for building it and traveling it. You have lots of support and lots of people telling you what you can't do and other people saying, 'If you want to do that—like a big wall covered with photographs—you are going to need to fabricate in this kind of material and you are going to need to bring this kind of power to it.' They were a reality check for our ideas. It was a great experience."

Miller adds that another reason that the process flowed smoothly was that Harley-Davidson made sure that decision-making on the client side did not get stuck in committees. "It had to happen that way," says Miller. "We first met with the client in July of the year before it opened. We had to be coming to the close of drawings and documentation by January/February, so building could start and materials could be moved in time for a late June opening in Atlanta. Harley empowered one person, Joanne Bischmann, to develop and control the project. If there was someone who was responsible for it happening, it was Joanne."

With ten venues covered in less than 13 months and the need to move tons of sometimes irreplaceable artifacts over thousands of miles, Harley-Davidson's 100th anniversary event was a road show that even Barnum & Bailey would have admired. Staged as a fund-raiser, it attracted an average of 60,000 people per venue and raised $7 million for Muscular Dystrophy. The company is not waiting another 100 years to throw a party; it is already thinking ahead to its 105th anniversary event.