SC YEAR IN REVIEW

It’s been a great year at Studio SC! As 2010 comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to look back at some of the projects that have wrapped up in the past year, from large-scale wayfinding programs to printed maps. Check back in early January for a preview of what we’ll be working on in the upcoming year. 

• Sorry freshmen, “I couldn’t find the building” isn’t a valid excuse anymore. Everett Community College now has a new wayfinding program that provides easy guidance around campus for everyone from first-time visitors to faculty.

• Last year, AIGA asked members “What does AIGA mean to you?” To us, it meant a floor-to-ceiling (literally!) transformation of the Bo Concept showroom into an AIGA-branded space for a membership party extravaganza. The space was great, the party was a blast, and our very own Faith Berry challenged Debbie Millman to an ambidextrous writing competition.

• We helped redesign Pioneer Square. OK, so we actually redesigned the way the neighborhood guides people around by revamping the map and visitors’ guide. We infused the personality of Pioneer Square - a combination of rich history and a modern hip vibe - into the design and reoriented the map to clarify wayfinding. Come on down to our neighborhood and check it out!

• Last year we created the environmental graphics for the Ballard Blocks multi-use complex. This year we gave them the building blocks to expand their reach by creating the graphics for their website.

• We didn’t get to meet Mario, but we did get to decorate his new home. We outfitted Nintendo of America’s new Redmond, Washington, headquarters with interior and exterior environmental graphics. Among our designs: a Mario Kart-themed parking garage and a character-based interior wayfinding program.

WAYFINDING AT EVERETT COMMUNITY COLLEGE

In 2009, we began working with Everett Community College to create a comprehensive wayfinding program for the campus. Our primary focus was to craft a system to provide students and faculty with clear navigation around campus, with an emphasis on guiding the first-time visitors and new students who arrive each quarter to important locations. We also sought to create a program that would reinforce the college’s identity, bringing together both traditional and modern elements.

We created a series of directories, identification signs, and directionals to be strategically located throughout the campus. Overall, we wanted to ensure the signs provided clear directions to key campus locations—such as the Admissions Office, the Bookstore, and classrooms.

To further assist with wayfinding, we integrated building abbreviations—which the school was already using on students’ schedules—into the wayfinding program. By incorporating the abbreviations into the building identification signage, we’re reinforcing the school’s system, says designer J.J. Beard, who worked on the project. “Now students are reassured they’re in the right place because the building abbreviation on their schedule also appears at the building entry.”

These changes will help improve wayfinding experiences on campus, which can have a great impact on people’s perceptions of the college, says Studio SC principal Mark Sanders. “If visitors can easily navigate a campus and find their destinations, they’re likely to have a better impression of the school,” he says.

As Everett’s campus has expanded over the years, new buildings have been built that combine traditional brick materials with modern architectural design. To create signs that feel like they reflect the image of the environment, we channeled the modern, industrial character of the campus into our program. The signs feature clear graphic layouts, and they express—rather than hide—the structural components by leaving exposed the I-beams and T-bars that support the information panels.

Because the design of campus is reflected in the design of the signs, they easily integrate into the landscape, giving the campus a professional, unified feel. Most importantly, the efficient signage provides clear navigation to and identification of destinations, which fosters a positive image of the college as an organization that’s professional, well organized, and cares about its students and its community.

This spring, Studio SC worked with the Alliance for Pioneer Square (formerly, the Pioneer Square Community Association) and the Downtown Seattle Association to revamp the Pioneer Square map and visitor’s guide.

The main goal of the new guide was to “simplify and clarify the map,” and also to convey the excitement of Pioneer Square, says SC designer Faith Berry, project manager for the guide. “The older maps didn’t really get across the feeling of Pioneer Square, which has this cool history, but is also very modern and vibrant. So we wanted to add a little bit more life to it.”

To illustrate the blend of the historical and the modern in Pioneer Square, the new map pairs two distinct typefaces: Rockwell, a block typeface, which evokes the classical aspects of the area, and Gotham, a clean, contemporary typeface that’s often associated with modern architecture.

The orientation of the map was a priority, because in previous versions the layout was confusing, especially for tourists arriving on cruise ships—the piers are to the west of Pioneer Square, but the old maps didn’t make that very clear. To make the piers a more obvious reference point, SC expanded the map and displayed it horizontally instead of vertically. SC also included an inset map of downtown Seattle to show how Pioneer Square connects to the rest of the area.

The new guide also features more than twice as many business listings as the last guide, as well as more detailed information about some of Pioneer Square’s landmarks.

Studio SC is among the many businesses on the map that call Pioneer Square home, and the designers enjoyed working on a product to help the area. “This is our neighborhood,” Faith says, “so on a daily basis we get to see the impact the map is having on the community and how it’s helping visitors enjoy the area.”

Stay on top of the happenings in Pioneer Square by following the Alliance (@pioneersquare) on Twitter.