WASHINGTON, DC – The new wayfinding and signage system for the National Mall & Memorial Parks was recognized in the 2012 SEGD Design Global Awards, the international program honoring the best in communication design for the built environment.

The wayfinding and signage system—designed by Hunt Design (Pasadena, Calif.)—was one of 18 projects honored in the 2012 SEGD Global Design Awards program. Winning entries represent a broad range of projects that use environmental and graphic design to create a sense of place, engage visitors in content, support brand identity, or provide wayfinding through public spaces. SEGD—the Society for Environmental Graphic Design—is the global organization for professionals who create visual communications in the built environment.

Hunt Design created a “respectful and organized” wayfinding program for the National Mall that welcomes visitors and directs them to the more than 50 museums, monuments, and memorials on the 400-acre site. Opened in June 2011, the system is comprised of 500 signs and directory maps that guide the more than 25 million people who visit the memorials each year. More than 60 languages are spoken on the Mall daily, increasing the need for clear signage that includes symbols to help non-English speakers navigate the site.

“Our charge was to create a system that would be permanent and reflective of the stature of the site, but not intrusive or distracting from the monuments themselves,” says Wayne Hunt, Hunt Design founder and partner.

An SEGD juror commented on how the system helps visitors, but does not overwhelm the site. “The system itself seems nearly invisible—letting visitors focus on the various monuments—yet it provides exactly the right information when needed. The beauty of this system is its purity and simplicity, shown through incredible attention to detail, perfect pylon placement, superb execution, and clarity of iconography.”

The system also needed to be updatable and incorporate a system of pictograms that illustrate and reinforce destinations. The review process for the project was extensive, including the National Park Service, the Trust for the National Mall, the Architect of the Capitol, the Downtown DC Business Improvement District, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery, the National Capitol Planning Commission, and the presidential-appointed Commission on Fine Arts.  

The system features pylon sign towers in two sizes: 9- by 6-foot and 5-foot, both made of porcelain enamel panels over granite bases, as well as 60 all-new visitor-friendly maps in three sizes. Color-Ad Signs and Exhibits (Manassas, Va.) fabricated the pylons and maps.

SEGD’s multidisciplinary design jury selected six Honor, 10 Merit, and two Jury awards (including the National Mall project) in the 2012 program. The winners were recognized in a June 9 presentation during SEGD’s 2012 Conference, June 7-9 in New York.  

For more information on the award-winning projects, including a video, photos, project descriptions, and jury comments, visit the SEGD Global Design Awards archive at www.segd.org/design-awards/index.html or contact pat@segd.org.

About SEGD
Founded in 1973, SEGD (the Society for Environmental Graphic Design) is the global community of people working at the intersection of communication design and the built environment. Through educational programs, research, and publications, SEGD’s mission is to provide learning opportunities and resources for professionals involved in EGD, promote the importance of the discipline in establishing place, and continue to refine standards of practice for the field.