SEGD 2010 No. 27 - 36

For the CFA, “The biggest issue is the danger of visual chaos,” says Thomas Luebke, AIA, secretary of the commission. “You want something that is digniﬁed and well designed that helps to unite the visitor experience, but doesn’t call a lot of attention to itself.” Hunt Design made numerous presentations to the CFA, NCPC, and other groups. A breakthrough might have come when Hunt’s team prepared full-sized mockups of proposed pylon signs, installed them at key locations on the site, and invited CFA and NCPC members to see how the signs simpliﬁed communications without visually intruding on the hallowed spaces. Following the rules NATIONAL MALL SIGNAGE AND WAYFINDING PROGRAM Client: National Park Service Location: Washington, D.C. Design: Hunt Design Design Team: Wayne Hunt (project director); Katie Varrati (project designer); Dinnis Lee (technical director); In Sung Kim, Steve Hernandez, Christina Allen, Kris Helmick, Eileen Hiraike (designers) Fabrication: Color-Ad Images: Hunt Design “For example, there were 20 or 30 regulatory signs posted around the Lincoln Memorial,” says Bob Clark, sign program manager for NPS’ 392 parks. “We were able to consolidate them down to just 10 or 15 that communicate much more clearly. We’ll actually end up with a better sign system with about 15% less signs.” Treading lightly While the NPS/Hunt team initially planned to implement a complete signage system in the Lincoln Memorial area, using it as a pilot site, the work soon divided itself into phases based on sign types: regulatory, wayﬁnding, and identiﬁcation. Regulatory signs were the most straightforward and could be guided by the NPS’ UniGuide signage manual, a comprehensive standard developed by Meeker & Associates and adopted by NPS in 2002. UniGuide provides templates, designs, and fabrication standards for a wide range of regulatory signs, allowing the team to simplify and declutter a cacophony of signs that had been added over the years as perceived needs arose. An inventory showed that of more than 300 signs on the site, half were regulatory signs, many of them redundant, outdated, or unclear. Right: Of the more than 300 existing signs on the National Mall, more than half are regulatory signs that are unnecessary, outdated, or unclear. Below: The NPS’ UniGuide signage standards (developed by Meeker & Associates) provide the foundation for unifying a wide range of regulatory signs. The project called for unique sensitivities and a design approach that could respond to the dignity and import of the individual monuments and sites. “Simply applying an NPS-style wayﬁnding sign would not have served the unique requirements dictated by the site, its history, its architecture, or its plan,” says Clark. “We elected for more ﬂexibility, although our standards do come through in the form of typography, symbols, cartography, and graphic layouts.” Wayﬁnding signage called for a “high-quantity” information approach that, at the same time, would create the least number of signs, the smallest footprint, and the fewest sight-line interruptions. In other words, a quiet system that would do its job but stay out of the way. Because visitors approach the site from 60 different places, the Hunt team devised a perimeter of 47 welcome maps that will improve pedestrian circulation and help visitors ﬁnd the sites they want to visit. Replacing the park’s existing 10-year-old ﬂat map was key. “The challenge is always ﬁnding the right balance of simplicity and detail,” says Hunt. The new map depicts the landscape in a birds-eye perspective that emphasizes major destinations. After viewing the maps, visitors encounter pedestrian pylons that guide them to their destinations. The compact, four-sided vertical pylon form was chosen because it provided the most area for wayﬁnding information while taking up the least amount of real estate. And with four sides, the pylons eliminate the need for two signs at typical four-way intersections. 36 segdDESIGN

SEGD 2010 No. 27

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEGD 2010 No. 27