Learning to See, the permanent exhibit in the new Science Pyramid space at the Denver Botanic Gardens, brings to life the stories hidden within Colorado's landscape. By helping visitors of all ages and backgrounds to recognize the complexity of the scenes that surround them and understand their interconnectedness with the environment, the exhibit provokes exploration and inspires wonder. It also highlights, for the first time, the important research work conducted at the Gardens and the ways in which citizens can become involved in plant conservation research themselves.
New Territory. Betting on its reputation for quality and its customers’ passion for the outdoors, Swiss brand Wenger launches a new product line and a new U.S. flagship. In the process, it highlights a regional environmental dilemma.
In the interest of sustainable practice, we’re all compelled to do more with less. Value engineering can help, if all the stakeholders are on the same page.
Both palette and canvas, glass is infinitely mutable and eloquently transmissive. The seduction is powerful.
It is impossible to separate glass from light. It simply does not exist without light behind, below, before, above, or through it. It is that intrinsic relationship that draws designers and artists to choose glass as their medium. And as technology continually refines manufacturing techniques and lighting options, the possibilities inherent in glass are virtually limitless.
Two McDonald's restaurants in two states received a new design treatment integrating architecture, graphics and space. The corporate identity is expressed through both as part of the interior and exterior architecture. At Colorado Springs, the giant box of French fries beckons customers; larger than the golden arches sign outside, it is both sign and sculpture. Inside the store, menu graphics become part of the décor. Instead of squinting to see one giant menu board over the clerks' heads, patrons can look at the small menu board posted by each cash register.
The Mountain Monorail project is a proposed solution to a high-speed, mass transit system along the I-70 corridor, which winds through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The design concept for the identity utilizes qualities that reflect the pristine, dynamic, and unique nature of the mountain environment. Other suggestive elements in the identity help illustrate the idea of the monorail: the abstract shape of the monorail in the logo, the dynamic curved shapes that emphasize how the monorail wraps around its guideway beam, and the oblique type implying speed.
While the function of this exhibit was to showcase Italian tiles, a fabrication requirement was that tiles be used sparingly to keep the shipping weight down. Each overhead pyramid lights a single tile, each weighing less than fifty pounds.
Minimalist elements allow the tiles to be displayed much like art objects. The entire exhibit is dipped in Ferrari red, as most Italian tile manufacturers are located near Modena.
ECOS Communications was contracted by the Denver Zoo to develop the environmental graphic design, cultural thematic context, and exhibit content master plan for a new 10-acre, $50 million exhibit on zoo grounds. ECOS began the 12-month planning phase by developing a project mission around the core of the planned exhibit: Asian elephants' danger of extinction and how their survival depends on resolving human/animal conflicts. All design was developed to support that mission.
