Tactical wayfinding in the heart of San Francisco
Project goals:
1. Function: Connecting the city's most highly visited destinations: the Powell St Cable Car, Moscone Convention Center, SFMOMA and Union Square's Maiden Lane in locations where it is needed most: at eye level along a tenuous path-of-travel
2. Aggressive Timeline: Fully installed in time for the Super Bowl, within 8 weeks of project start date.
3. Approvals: Design, location and material by multiple stakeholders and overlapping jurisdictions, includes MUNI.
The sign program is “always on," integrated neatly into the public realm for everyone’s benefit. Over time, the goal is to reduce the number of pedestrians looking at their phones for directions. Instead, the urban environment guides people, keeping their eyes up and alert, fully embracing the city as a place to explore.
Landscape Design: Bionic
- Sector:
- Civic
- Service:
- Wayfinding & Signage
- Client:
- Yerba Buena Partnership
"Design is the Sum of All Constraints"
- Charles Eames, 1972
In the heart of San Francisco, old and new parts of the city converge. Massive tech conferences dominate the schedule at the Convention Center, bringing visitors from around the world. Many are eager to see the historic Powell Street Cable Car turnaround from 1873.
This sign system threads the needle, crossing Market Street, a dividing line in the city where the street grid changes orientation and intersections meet at odd angles.
Signs wrap existing light poles and civic infrastructure, carefully coordinated to appear as effortless as possible. The city of San Francisco acts as a host to its visitors, showing the way and fostering exploration of the best the city has to offer.
Design Collaboration Serving the Public Realm
The client team bridged the pathway from Union Square to the North and the Moscone Convention Center and Yerba Buena Neighborhood to the south.
The design vocabulary includes each of these separate locations in a color-coded wrap at the top. The effect is eye-catching with strong continuity across all three neighborhood footprints.
Most importantly, the destinations are clearly marked with white type on a black background, for maximum efficacy in 1. Contrast for legibility and 2. Trustworthy aesthetics, echoing the familiar look of many city sign programs.
Work completed while at RSM Design. Photography by Studio Montgomery