Tyler Arboretum Signage

Agency

Cloud Gehshan Associates

Practice Area

Client

Tyler Arboretum

Industry

Project Vision

The client was interested in creating a unified visitor experience that included a comprehensive signage and interpretive system for the Tyler Arboretum, a 700-acre outdoor living museum located just west of Philadelphia. The design team conducted planning workshops from which several major themes emerged, including botany, history, and conservation. The resulting comprehensive signage and interpretive system includes 40 interpretive panels of different sizes. The panels are layered with headlines, messages, photos, and playful illustrations. The interpretive development included testing both the content and design of full-size panels to ensure visitor comprehension. Sign supports are rolled aluminum; frames and legs are powder-coated in a warm neutral color. The phenolic resin panels are flexible, allowing the faces to be gently curved. The sign frame is detailed to allow panels to be changed.

Project Details
This outstanding example of an artful, elegant interpretive signage system expresses its natural setting in its design. Information is communicated clearly, and the characters of each sign respond subtly to changes in plant communities and the scale of the interpretive element it is describing. Directional signs are clear and simply executed with color coding to identify trails.
Juror 1
Design Team

Jerome Cloud (Design Director), Virginia Gehshan (Design Director), Dorothy Funderwhite (Illustrator), Paxton Barnes (Writer), Tom Corlett & Peter Kelly (Design Team)

Design Firm

Cloud Gehshan Associates

Fabricators

Design Communications Ltd.