If you’ve been in downtown Seattle over the past few days, you’ve probably noticed some large, colorful pylons around town. These 25 markers—a trail from Pioneer Square to the Seattle Center—are part of the Seattle Design Festival’s Design Marks event.

The event’s goal is to tell the stories of the city’s landmarks. Studio SC’s marker, located on Jackson Street and 3^rd Avenue South, celebrates the King Street Station and its influence on Seattle’s culture and history.  

Historically, King Street served as Seattle’s social hub, playing a role in the life stories of thousands of people—each of whom left their mark on the train station. We wanted our marker to be a physical manifestation of that idea, a place where people could share the basic details of their life journeys. Inspired by the design of classic baggage tags, we created a mosaic of blank tags for passers-by to leave behind a piece of their story—from their destination to the reason they travel to the items they can’t live without. 

To complement the marker we created a short video about traveling and the many reasons people do it. Baggage tags appear throughout the video, creating a narrative connection among the participants, and also referencing the design of the physical marker.

The markers will be on display until September 25, so you only have a few more days to come down to King Street Station and share your story.  We can’t wait to hear about your journey!

You can find more information about Design Marks here, and be sure to check out the markers and the videos made by other participating firms.

The inaugural Seattle Design Festival starts this week! As part of the festival, AIGA Seattle is sponsoring Design Marks—a trail of location markers at important Seattle landmarks—and we’re one of 25 local design firms involved in the event. 

Each firm selected a landmark in downtown Seattle that has influenced the city’s culture—SC chose the historic King Street Station, which is right outside our office. Participants then designed 8-foot-tall markers exploring the impact their landmark has had on design. Each firm also created a short video to further highlight the connection between the landmark and the design culture of Seattle. 

The markers go up this week, and ours is interactive, so we need your help! Swing by King Street Station (you’ll see the marker on the corner of Jackson and 3^rd Avenue South) to check it out between September 15 and 25. And don’t forget to tour the rest of the markers, too!

You can find more on the festival here.