On The Boards: Gladstone Library

New Library

Situated in a wooded setting with a Mt. Hood view, the new Gladstone Library is a stunning, John Yeon-inspired design by THA Architecture. When completed in 2014, it will replace two small, dark and outdated community libraries.

In kicking off our design work for exterior and interior signage in any new library, our first burning question is always "How do they currently identify their collections?" Because collection ID signs are typically the most prominent and numerous in any library, they are not only critical design elements but are also the most important signs for users - visitors and staff alike. They also require frequent message changes as the collection shifts and grows. In order to begin a new design, we must first understand the current approach. Karen and Mike took a field trip last week to find out.

Our research proved invaluable: we learned that the current libraries use Dewey decimal numbers rather than detailed listings to identify collections on the shelf end panels, informing our design and shaping the overall view within the new library. We're now ready to move forward with design!

New Library: stacks and view

What we saw:  collection ID and range finders at existing library

On the Boards: Lane Community College Downtown Campus

After 30 years in downtown Eugene, Lane Community College's Downtown Campus will have a new state of the art facility combining academic programs and student housing with community spaces. We met with SRG Architects yesterday to kick off our participation in the design process for "the building that teaches." Targeted for LEED platinum, the building design is intended to both demonstrate and teach sustainable building strategies.

Karen, Mike and Elizabeth met with Kent Duffy, Louise Foster, Tim Grinstead and Jon Wiener at SRG to review drawings, renderings and floorplans as we brainstormed wayfinding and interpretive graphics for the new building.

We also brought lots of sign samples and a slide show of relevant projects to stimulate discussion.

Tim is demonstrating the metal cladding panels for the building exterior. We spent a lot of time visualizing building identification signage and its relationship to street trees and sight lines.

We were especially taken with the stainless cabling for the stair railings - surely it could be jewelry for more than a building!

On the Boards: Chemeketa Specialty Recognition

Scott Myers of Center Pointe Signs stopped by our office with proofs of digitally printed headers for specialty recognition signage at Chemeketa Community College's new Health Sciences Building in Salem. Printed on clear vinyl, the graphics are subsurface laminated to acrylic and then backed with opaque vinyl. We had specified white opaque backers for photographic clarity but when we saw the proofs, the images were not "singing" to us. We asked Scott to peel off the white vinyl (photo below) so we could try some different backing materials. Pulling materials from our resource room, Mike, Karen and Abby began experimenting immediately (above).


Silver vinyl, shown on the left half of samples above and below, provided the needed sparkle to the images.

On the Boards: University of California San Diego

We met with ZGF this week to kick off our work on UC San Diego's School of Medicine. Above, ZGF project designer John Carhart shares building exterior details with Mike and Abby. The new Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility is a brilliant composition of terracotta, glass and metal in a light palette of sand and silver.

Abby and John review materials and finishes as we visualize how graphics and signage will support the project vision and at the same time, provide clear wayfinding and information for users and visitors.

On the Boards: UO Lewis Integrative Science Building - Eugene, OR

Lewis Integrative Science Building will conjoin three adjacent buildings into an integrated complex beautifully expressing the very paradigm of Integrative Science: bringing together content experts from varied fields to study complex problems in collaborative ways. The results are multifaceted, complex and beautiful, as is THA & HDR Architecture's collaborative design for the new building.

We were onsite last week for a design workshop and site walk with Amanda Petretti and Laurie Canup of THA Architects, shown above with Abby Alway from AK. It's always exciting to be in the building after knowing it only from architectural drawings!

With construction in full swing, we were able to visualize locations and sight lines for signage and graphics and then study adjacencies within the volume of the newly conjoined buildings.

On the Boards: OHSU Student Center

In 2009 we began collaborating with Opsis Architecture on graphics for the OHSU Student Center, currently undergoing renovation. It's been a long time coming, but today we received
this photo from Center Pointe Signs:

The signs in fabrication!

These powder coated steel panels will wrap the corners of three columns in the Student Center lounge. Combined with graphics integrated into the information desk and glass storefront, these column wraps will add identity and rhythm to a very lively space!

Design concept photo simulation

Out & About and On the Boards: University of Idaho

Abby travelled to Moscow, Idaho on Wednesday to present our 85% CD submittal for the University of Idaho's sports arena, Kibbie Dome. Scale is everything in a big arena, as you can see from our mock-ups of 24" and 36" letters (see inset) inside the dome.

We go a long way back with the Vandals. The guy on the right is Chace Anderson (EA's dad) on the field with his football buddies in the late 40s.

On the Boards: Chemeketa Yamhill Valley campus

A beautiful sample arrived in our office today: a section of aluminum mounting channel we specifically designed to capture glass panels without penetrations. Digitally printed graphics will be subsurface laminated to glass and recess mounted in Chemeketa Community College's new classroom building at the Yamhill Valley campus in McMinnville, OR. Above, Cherry and our intern, Mike Sauer, break into smiles as they review the sample.

Above, the yellow arrow points to the 2.5" mounting channel in drawing. At bottom, the channel is 4", to align with baseboards throughout the building.

Out & About: AK Intern finds his way through Chemeketa Community College's skybridges

We have a new intern at AK and he seems to be a natural when it comes to wayfinding. Mike Sauer, a senior in the interiors program at Marylhurst University, discovered Environmental Graphic Design when Abby and Karen made a presentation to his class earlier this year. His first assignment at AK: improve wayfinding through the skybridges of Chemeketa's Salem campus. Abby took these photos while Mike made notes during his first visit to the campus.

On the Boards: Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, WA

Karen traveled to Seattle Wednesday to review exterior signs-in-progress for Providence Regional Medical Center campus in Everett, WA. Illustration shows placement of a vehicular directional sign at campus perimeter. In background, the new medical tower slated for completion May 1 of this year.

Trade-Marx Signs & Display is fabricating the signs. Photos above and below: housings and illuminated cabinets for parking signs.



Housings for illuminated cabinets reference the medical tower's modulated forms. Above, a study for vehicular wayfinding signs.

Also on the floor at Trade-Marx, a 12' wide x 15'-3" tall cross - part of the Providence logo to be mounted atop the towers.

On the Boards: Blanchfield Army Community Hospital - Fort Campbell Kentucky

Early collaboration makes all the difference when integrating environmental graphics with architecture. Elizabeth and Karen met Tuesday with ZGF Architects David Staczek and Mark Booth in their Portland office to review floor plans and elevations and discuss sign locations within the new additions to Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell, KY.

We all noted that side-by-side patient room entries, while efficient in terms of sink and utility placement, made for confusing wayfinding when patient information stacks in close proximity. Especially so when nurses depend on colored flags in corridors to signal patient issues and room conditions.

We were able to include ZGF architects and planners Dena Cook and Dave Fisk in the conversation and within minutes, all agreed that the sinks could move.

A happy win for legibility, clarity and patient safety through early collaboration and wayfinding!

Another issue arose when we looked at placement of changeable insert holders on framed panels next to entry doors. With protruding frames, recessed panels do not accommodate both a sign and someone's fingers to insert a changeable message. Voila! Frames are flush with the panel and insert holder will sit proud of the surface.

In coordinating locations for ceiling mounted signs, we saw that sprinklers sometimes occurred at decision points for wayfinding. Thanks to our early collaboration, the sprinkler plan will be adjusted for signage.

Always of interest to the project, we also looked at how sign background colors might coordinate with the building palette.

On the Boards: University of Oregon - Ford Alumni Center

"Getting it right" with color palette is often a multi-tiered process at AK. Jay Cole of Center Pointe Signs has just stopped by our studio with yet another set of color options - each subtly different - for donor recognition panels at UO's Ford Alumni Center.

Donor panels will mount above room ID signs of 3form made with ecoresin and sporting raised numbers and braille. Digitally printed colors should echo the room ID palette in a more subtle, timeless fashion. It took another visit from Jay and a series of 8 more options before settling on just the right hue and value for the donor panels.

Out & About & On the Boards: Shriners Hospitals for Children - Portland

Just in time for the dedication on Sunday, TubeArt Signs is unrolling and installing the temporary version of a wall graphic for the hospital's new cafe. Showcasing the Oregon East-West All-Star Football game, the mural has been produced in short order on digitally printed vinyl. The permanent installation in July will be of durable, graffiti resistant high pressure phenolic laminate.

Cherry is with the installers, making sure everything is copacetic.

Shriners staff, board members and SRG Architects stop by to check progress and find lots of familiar faces in the photos on the mural. Ready for Sunday!!

On the Boards & Out & About: Chemeketa Community College & OBP Digital

Chemeketa Community College's new campus in McMinnville, Oregon rests in beautiful Yamhill Valley, home to rolling hills and world class vineyards. Working with Yost Grube Hall Architecture to promote "sense of place" within a new classroom building, we designed specialty graphics to punctuate major corridors. Featuring photographs by Janis Miglavs, these full wall graphics appear as windows to nearby valley views.

The wall graphics will be digitally printed and subsurface laminated to glass. We joined Rich and Julie Anderson of Architectural Metalcrafters, sign contractors for the project, at OBP Digital to review OBP's printing capabilities. Above, Cherry unwraps samples from similar projects.

Chris Underwood gives a tour of his shop and chats about our project. Started by Chris's grandfather and formerly called Oregon Blueprint, OBP Digital is a great example of keeping up with technology and changing to meet the needs of our evolving industry.

Our projects succeed with collaboration, from project kick-off with owners and architects to the last details of fabrication and installation. We relish it all.

On the Boards: Bay Area Hospital - Coos Bay, OR

A site visit and project kick-off for our work on the expansion of Bay Area Hospital provided a great excuse for a road trip to Oregon's south coast on April Fool's Day. We felt anything but foolish upon leaving cold, wet Portland for this warmer, sunnier climate zone.

ZGF Architect Paul Evans joined us for a site walk and documentation of existing conditions. Above, Abby snaps a photo of an existing sign while Paul correctly identifies its typeface: Helvetica - for which we now have so many alternatives!

Traversing the site with the sun on our backs.

Inside, we took on the role of visitor to understand how existing signs and other means help patients and visitors find their way. Here, Paul asks a volunteer what happens when no one is present.

Our friendly volunteer turned around the counter top sign to show the following message:

Following the site walk, we met our clients for a lively discussion of signage and wayfinding not only for the new addition, but for the entire hospital as it responds to the new construction.