The design team worked closely with the Children’s Museum staff to develop an elegant , yet playful system of signage and wayfinding to integrate the new expansion with the remaining wings of the original museum. Through extensive research and concept development, the design team came up with the idea of using the lines of an Etch-A-Sketch, the ubiquitous childhood toy, as a wayfinding motif that allows users to follow arrows and lines from one exhibit to another. In an effort to include the honest, natural materials that The Children’s Museum used in designing their new exhibits, the design team incorporated wood, mirrored finishes and natural metals to add a timeless, authentic quality to the design, adding pops of color here and there from the museum’s new brand. One of the most eye-catching pieces designed for the new museum expansion is a dimensional origami bird perched on the exterior façade of the building. This bird, based on the museum’s logo is an embodiment of the idea of learning and imagination coming to life, something the museum strives to provide for its guests every day. The project team also designed custom wall graphics to recognize donors, changeable content signage for the new workshop spaces, decorative banners for the parking lot and custom regulatory signage that can be found throughout the site.
The project scope included one 5'7" x 5'0" multi-color, metal, origami bird installed on the building's exterior above the north-facing entrance, 12 restroom graphics with male and female robots, 1 stenciled donor recognition wall supergraphic, 10 wayfinding wall graphics to help visitors get around the Museum, a branded parking lot/street banner program, branded regulatory parking signage, exterior building signage and window vinyl, 3 flat-cut-out aluminum blade signs, 1 mirrored blade sign, 8 hanging wood wayfinding signs, 1 wall-mounted map directory, 35 rules and regulations signs, 1 wall-mounted museum rates sign, 9 changeable content signs for rotating program spaces and 11 stenciled wall graphics. The design team designed and developed the signage and wayfinding program and oversaw the fabrication, implementation and installation of the plan. Part of the services provided were donated to the museum as an in-kind donation.