Nature Centers

An immersion in crafting the visual experience for visitors from the start of the process through the ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Ideation ➤ Being on the team from the first kickoff call, I had stake in the project from conception, providing creative input while identifying key themes and subject matter, experience takeaways and interactives, furniture forms and accessibility practices

Styles and Concepting ➤ Each center was designed to stand on its own as a memorable, unique location, and while key colors from the DNR brand guide were maintained in the palette, every location received special treatment to foster a memorable experience. I created multiple style board concepts for each site, reflecting on thematic approach, defining styles for text and callouts, photography and illustration styles, color palette variations, relevant shapes and photo frames, etc.

Collaboration ➤ While some locations were renovations to existing buildings, some were new builds, and for those spaces, my team collaborated with the architecture teams from the beginning, allowing design intentions to influence building materials and the exhibit space at large, and vise versa, allowing the architecture and physicality of the space to effect display approach. I led reviews of style boards with the client teams to identify what resonated and reflected the location and staff the most. I contributed to discussions with our fabrication teams on best-practices for furniture and interactives, influencing initial concepts and final output

Design Systems ➤ Once style boards were locked in and approved, and our copywriters finalized display content, I began creating design systems with feedback from the Creative Director. We developed a batch approach, submitting groups of graphics for review to streamline review process with the DNR teams. For most locations, the first batch consisted of initial styles for different types of graphics (large-scale panels, text-heavy informational panels, directional callouts with user prompts, etc.) to lock in the approach, look and feel, and identify any pain points early in the process

Pre-press Production ➤ Printing requirements were a priority from the beginning for all assets, and all designed materials were built with appropriate layers, bleed, die-lines, and color considerations to optimize file sizes and minimize exporting for our production partners

Installation ➤ For all sites possible, I traveled to be on-site for exhibit installation, supporting the team with application of wall graphics, mounting interactives, and general support of an extra set of eyes and hands