Way cool

[Erik Sine]

Way cool

Wayfinding signage meant to be easy to use, easy on eye

By DARRIN STINEMAN

Salina Journal

Its purpose is to direct people to key destinations around the city -- but the wayfinding signage project being developed for the city of Salina is intended to do a lot more than that.

After a nine-member committee agonized for months over the look of the wayfinding signs, the Salina City Commission settled on a general concept Monday after receiving a presentation from the project consultant.

Richard Goelber of Guidance Pathways Systems, Indian Orchard, Mass., showed commissioners the designs the committee settled on, then loaded the commissioners up in a van and gave them a street-level view of sample signs set up along Seventh Street next to the City-County Building.

"We really wanted to create a signage program that would be a long-term community asset -- one that would enhance the overall look of the streetscape and make it beautiful and user-friendly," Goelber said during a 45-minute study session. "We want to do a lot of things with this project."

All five commissioners gave a thumbs-up after viewing the sample signs but agreed with Goelber that the artistic design at the bottom of the signs needed to be toned down a bit.

During the study session, Commissioner John Vanier asked Goelber if the final design would be unique to Salina.

"Yes," Goelber said. "Those graphics are yours and should be yours, and nobody (else) should own those graphics. As a matter of fact, you should copyright those graphics."

The design was developed by Ann Arkebauer, a local artist and interior designer, and her son, Chris Wilson, a graphic designer in Kansas City, Mo.

A press release Arkebauer and Wilson released through the Salina Arts & Humanities Commission indicated the design represents "the influences that have remained constant in the Salina community for a long time: The Smoky Hill River, the Interstate crossroads, our agricultural and rural setting, the community's artistic and cultural focus, our landscape and geography and the Art Deco design that influences our core architecture."

In May, the committee announced that it had narrowed its choices to two designs, both which included a skyline and the silhouette of a cottonwood tree.

Those eventually were thrown out, said City Manager Jason Gage, a committee member.

"When they were finished with the outcome, we really didn't care much for it," Gage said of the original concepts, which came from Guidance Pathways Systems. "We decided to use some of our regional talent."

Arts and Humanities solicited interest for the project, Gage said, and Arkebauer and Wilson were chosen.

The designs Arkebauer and Wilson created included one with a blue background and one with a gold-yellow background. The yellow signs will be used in downtown Salina, and the blue signs will be used in the rest of the city, Gage told the commission during their inspection of the sample signs.

"The downtown folks indicated a desire to have something that sets them apart," Gage said.

Mayor Donnie Marrs thanked the committee.

"We've got a good process under way, and we've got a good product to look at, and I think it's exciting to see that," Marrs said.

It will be the state's first wayfinding project to receive funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation. The city will receive about $413,000 for improvements to the Crawford and Ninth Street corridors -- the focus of the first phase of the wayfinding project -- and about $100,000 of that is for wayfinding.

"Salina is actually out on the leading edge of this type of project, which is kind of exciting," Gage said. "We think we can do something here that really lifts and elevates our community."