Creating place identity for the popular North Seattle park.
December 2021 – March 2022
11 Weeks
Illustrator
Photoshop
ProCreate
School Project
Solo
Environmental Designer
Illustrator
Iconographer
Concept Artist
As the city of Seattle continues to grow, Green Lake Park has essentially remained the same since it was first established in the early 1900s. The park receives thousands of guests each year who walk along the 2.8 mile trail that loops the lake.
Unfortunately, due to the dated and poorly maintained signage, park goers experience difficulty interpreting Green Lake’s intended path and park rules. The signage is often placed out of eye-sight away from the trail. After many years, it may be time for Green Lake to modernize its navigation system.
Update the Green Lake Park wayfinding system.
Upon observation, it was found that Green Lake Park hosts a wide audience. Families of all ages, couples, groups of friends, and individuals utilize the park for its views, trail loop, and park amenities. User experience shows that the signage was out of eyesight in relation to the park’s trail loop. This made it difficult for slower park goers to navigate around faster park goers on wheels and/or running.
The Green Lake park signage was redesigned to compliment the greenery and nature of the park. Using a mix of cooler and warmer tones helped the signs stick out in a way that is not overly bright and contrasting of the calm tone of the park.
Prior to development, I did a survey of Green Lake Park and it's current signage, public art, and attractions. Upon observation, I found that park patrons had experienced difficulty reading the maps and navigating the park loop. It was often unclear at times which direction patrons would go, which often caused faster walking people to move into the wheel only lane.
The park had various structures around such as the old Bath House Theatre, the Aqua Theatre, and the boat rental. These could be seen on the map. Additionally, there were some places to eat or have a picnic, and the park had lots of open space to play around in.
For typography and color, readability and contrast was the main concern. I kept the same font family throughout and used type that was not overly contrasting with a good x-height and open space.
For color, I used a color generator to calculate the contrast and visibility for signage.
Rain or shine, Samir gets his exercise by riding his bike around the Green Lake loop. As a frequenter of the park, he is apart of the Green Lake Cyclist group and enjoys connecting with others in the group. Samir tries to go at less popular times, but due to the popularity of the park, he often finds himself overly cautious of park goes misinterpreting the navigation signs. Occasionally, Samir has to weave through traffic, making his rides a little more dangerous and less fun.
"I love to cycle, but weaving past others in loops traffic is dangerous for me and others"
Geraldine (Gigi) loves to go to the park with her 9-year old daughter Naia. Gigi really enjoys having a spacious park for her daughter to explore all year round. Currently Gigi takes Naia to play on the local playground and watch the ducks swim across the lake everyday. However, as Naia grows older and more adventurous, Gigi would like the park signage to be improved so that she and others can practice safety with the wildlife and other park goers.
"We love to come to this park to play, swim in the water, and look at the trees!"
Locals Susan and Leroy have lived in the Green Lake neighborhood since they married in 1996. They often take their dogs on a morning and afternoon walk around the park to get exercise. However, after living in the neighborhood for over 26 years, they often wish the City of Seattle would do something to update the graffiti and tattered signage around the park.
"The park is lovely, but almost everything is feels like Seattle underground. It needs an update."
Taking from each of the tonal territories, the concept board helps to communicate the overall visual feeling and designs for the brand. These is where colors, photography styles, and graphic elements start to develop.
Working in Illustrator, I worked to keep the visual style of the icons cohesive. By picking and creating each icon from a set of shapes, I created an icon library that was easy to understand, accessible, and thoughtful for park patrons.
The idea would be be share the history of the Aqua Theatre through a retro style mural, including the Aqua Follies, divers, the orchestra, Led Zeppelin, and The Grateful Dead.
The illustration would also showcase the Green Lake Rowing Club, birders, fishermen, and others who utilize the steps today.The mural would tell a story and feature a the old stage that once stood for performers of all kinds to share.
Made from metal safe paints
Made from reclaimed wood and metals, the Resting Forest is designed to remind park visitors to stretch, rest, or even take time to meditate as they loop
around the trail.
The wooden structures will be placed around the park and will vary in use. These structures are designed look like a part of the tree, maybe even taken from a fallen tree and shaped to accommodate a need. The human use is intended to mimic wild animals and typical uses they have for trees, which reflects back to the point of interest sign on plants and wildlife.
The updated map is divided into activities and attractions for park goers. Icons were used for activities to let the user know the areas of the park where these activities are. For attractions, an alphabet system is used along with call outs on the map for each location.
Main streets outside of the park help with direction and understand where the user is.
A learning point for park patrons, one of the point of interest signs allows the park goer to observe the natural habitat at Green Lake. They can even participate in the infamous Tree Walk by scanning the QR code!
