Physical design | Graphic DesignWelcome Signage for Dyck Arboretum

I started this project by doing some sketching with pencil and paper. It helps me to get some some ideas out of my head and allows for quicker iteration.

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The first concept came from some inspiration photos from the Arboreutm staff - three sections supported by 6' x 6' wooden posts (sketch-1). While this concept could work, it didn't feel like it fit in at Dyck Arboretum and might be more at home at a trail head in Colorado. So, I played around with a couple other concepts in the sketches and visited the Arboretum to take some pictures/measurements of the site.

I liked the idea of using "pillars" of varying heights and widths for the different sections of the welcome sign. The spacing in between the pillars prevent it from becoming a wall or fence and instead is more inviting.

The pillars are clad in cedar boards for a natural look and and the cedar would be treated to prevent the wood from silvering and for additional weather resistance. The word "Welcome" is engraved in the cladding on the tallest pillar. The map, hours, fee information, and garden etiquette are printed on aluminum panels that will be attached directly to the cedar cladding with a small offset. I broke up the information into five separate panels. So, if information needs to be updated, we may avoid needing to replace each panel.

The hours and fees panels use a much larger font size that can be read from further away. The "Announcements" panel features a locking bulletin board for announcements that can be printed and swapped out frequently.

I didn't include limestone directly in the welcome sign concept, mainly for ease and cost of construction. However, I did include a design for a small curving retaining wall made from stacked limestone behind the welcome sign. From my site visit, it looked like there is already some limestone landscaping in that section and it might work well to continue it behind the welcome sign.

I've worked with Dyck Arboretum before, and have a good understanding of their design language. I didn't need to establish a new color palette or find fonts, so the design work really revolved around making the sign information as readable as possible and integrating an existing map of the grounds.

With the brown/orange color of the cedar planks, a dark gray or near-black background color would provide a great contrast between the pillar structure and the sign content. I used a consistent near-white text throughout the sign panels using size and indentations to establish heirarchy. I included their gold brand color sparingly to help emphasize things like the QR codes, points of interest on the map, and admission prices. There's certainly plenty of information on the sign, but spread across the three pillars makes it more easily digestible

The map was probably the most difficult part of the entire project. While a vector version of the map was provided to me, I did need to re-draw and adjust the artwork several times in order to match the current state of the grounds. However, the map graphic does accurately represent the paths visitors can take and provides a helpful guide on the many points of interest throughout the arboretum.

It felt a little too sterile to leave the text on a solid dark gray background, so I borrowed the grass and floating circle elements from the Dyck Arboretum logo and incorporated them throughout the panels - keeping the grass on the bottom with the circles floating towards the top. Because these elements have varying levels of opacity, the effect is subtle, but effective.

Overall, I'm very happy with the way the graphic panels turned out and how they look mounted on the pillars.

I accompanied the installation team to help answer questions, provide some measurements, and help dig holes.

We rented an 8" post hole digger which made the otherwise daunting task of digging six 24" deep holes fit into about an hour and a half. However, we did need to do some additional manual digging to get our final depth. The steel frame of the pillars connected both support posts, so we really only had three pieces to set. The frames are black powdercoated for durability. After a few test sets, the team connected the posts together with a few two by fours and poured the concrete.

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When the concrete had cured, the treated and stained cedar panels were installed. These panels were assembled prior to arriving on site, so we only needed to mount the assemblies instead of mounting each board individually. The front cedar panel is fastened from the back, so there aren't any screw heads or fasteners showing on the face. While visible screw heads aren't the end of the world by any means - and can sometimes add character in certain situations - an uninterrupted cedar face is a clean look!

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