Signs

The real kind, not the metaphorical ones.

Durham Parks and Rec decided a while back that the current mishmash of signage at Durham's parks needed to be updated and unified. Laudable.

Durham voters approved a bond in 2005 that included three quarters of a million dollars for the new signage. Also laudable.

Here's how DPR describe the process of developing the new signage system:

In developing the three final designs for our new signage system, the design consultants toured our parks and met with City staff from multiple departments to determine what was needed at our current facilities and parks.

City staff agreed that the signs needed to be highly visible and made of materials that are both affordable and easy to maintain. City staff also agreed that the signs should utilize component pieces, so we could mix-and-match information as needed for different parks and so that repairs would be easier. Finally, City staff wanted signs that were easy to understand and included graphic icons.

You can see the results here. Click on the link that says "finalists." That will download a 700K pdf file to your computer.

My first reaction was that i couldn't stand any of the proposals, but after spending some time with them, i think that response was just a reaction to the stunning awfulness of the first proposal.


Designs 2 and 3 actually have some viability to them, and with some tweaking, i think #2 could be effective, and retain its usefulness for a couple of decades.


Don't forget, we're going to be living with this design for at least 30 years. Trendiness is a much less desirable attribute than functionality. I'm much more interested in seeing working bathrooms that are reasonably safe and clean, and signs pointing towards them, to be completely honest.

My favorite part of the project, though, is reading the addresses of the firms involved:


I guess that the creative class hasn't yet unpacked from its move to Durham.