Civil War Defenses of Washington

The Civil War Defenses of Washington, also known as Fort Circle Parks, is the initial seven mile long segment of a hiking and biking trail located in Washington D.C., linking several civil war era fortifications. When completed, the trail system will extend to more than 30 miles, essentially encircling the entire City. Over the seven miles, a complete survey of existing conditions was conducted and a full report was provided recommending needed signs for the project. As an inner city project, conditions include major street crossings, many of which were not directly linked and the wayfinding provided mitigation to dangerous situations. Signage types for this initial segment set the standards and included three NPS standards: trailhead, directional and mileage markers. Over 50 different sign panel layouts were created to orient the user to specific locations on the trail and to other destinations and distances to and from all crossings.

Client: National Parks Service / Location: Washington D.C.

Scottsdale Urban Wayfinding

Known for its art and artists involvement with the community, the challenge was management of collaborative process. The project was scrutinized by traffic, engineering, and planning departments, city council members and the mayor, and downtown merchants and property owner groups of the seven unique districts. The project was initiated by an evaluation study and wayfinding report outlining the City’s needs and existing challenges regarding the directional system. Following acceptance of the report's findings and recommendations, a complete system of gateways, vehicular directionals (both freestanding and pole mounted options), parking trailblazers, parking locators, and pedestrian directionals were designed. The final product for the city was the signage and graphics standards manual for complete documentation of all designs, sign locations and mapping, and sign layouts.

Client: City of Scottsdale / Location: Scottsdale, Arizona / See the final installations

Estrella Master Plan

Estrella is a 20,000-acre master planned community with many large individually developed residential areas, mixed-use, municipal and community related parcels. Begun in the early 90's, it had been developed over multiple phases by various owners with little regard for consistency and cohesiveness in the brand and wayfinding from phase to phase. Tasked with a comprehensive photo survey, signage audit and wayfinding analysis of the current 10,000 acres in place, we developed recommendations and design guidelines for the various signage and graphic uses throughout the community for now and into the future with a master plan. This included the planning, design and implementation of a sustainable semi-permanent marketing directional system that could be reused throughout future community expansion. The final design was applicable to any and all areas of the growing community, from traditional neighborhood settings, to more contemporary, regional and urban-style areas.

Client: Newland Communities / Location: Goodyear, Arizona / See the final installations

Morristown National Historical Park, NPS

Morristown National Historical Park is located in New Jersey, and is composed of four individual units and over 1200 acres. The largest and mostly utilized is Jockey Hollow. These units provide a variety of activities from historic destinations and buildings, to vehicular tour roads and hiking/biking trails. JRC Design conducted an overall signage and existing conditions survey for over 38 unique signs, vehicular oriented types and provided recommendations for improvements in both message and placement/orientation. A system of identification and motorist guidance signs that were tailored to the site while maintaining consistency with current NPS standards was also provided for their future use and implementation when funds would be available.

Client: National Parks Service / Location: New Jersey

Flagstaff Urban Trail System and City Park Standards

The Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) signage program was developed for the more than 60 miles of public trails throughout the city. Hierarchial needs were extensive to accommodate all wayfinding conditions along trails, city streets, public and private lands and the number of connections and trail intersections. This system consists of trail heads, pathfinders, directionals, regulatory, boundary markers and historic interpretives. With the completion of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System graphic standards, the City Parks initiated a city wide park assessment of all signagetypes, their physical conditions and inconsistencies and new design program with JRC Design. The system encompasses 25 parks ranging in size from less than a 1/4 acre to over two hundred acres – many connected via the FUTS. Through complete documentation of each site, evaluation and recommendations for standardization in design and nomenclature, a hierarchy from monumentation through the smallest regulatory sign in the system was designed and developed. The final package for both projects were graphic standards, a catalogue of working drawings for all signs, with specific fabrication and installation details, easily accessible for future implementation.

Client: City of Flagstaff / Location: Flagstaff, Arizona / See the final installations

ASU Campus Signage Standards

JRC Design provided a thorough review of both exterior and interior graphics and identity signs currently being used on all four, and vary different looks, uses and student mixed campuses for recommendations of a complete master sign program and documentation. An earlier designed system of custom components was proving to be too expensive to implement, was too inflexible for changes, and typically illegible for the intended user. JRC Design provided new design options using standard extrusions that would maintain the look of the systems while reducing the costs more than 50%. The final product for ASU was a standards catalogue of sign families for campus identity, freestanding and wall mounted building identity, parking lot identity and regulatory signs, pedestrian and vehicular wayfinding and directional signs and all interior identification and wayfinding needs. The system also includes placement standards so the signs would not be obscured by planting and other environmental obstructions.

Client: Arizona State University / Location: Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa Arizona

Rosie The Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historical Park

JRC Design worked closely with local community leaders, Park Rangers, historians and historic-site location owners to make sure we understood and captured its goal - to pique the interest of future park guests and to intrigue them to learn her story, Richmond's story and ultimately our nation’s historic story. Another portion of the project was the creation of a wayfinding system and identification standards for the Visitor Center and other major sites. The system included vehicular directionals ranging from highway guides, location specific trailblazers, standards for visitor information, and historic interpretation panels.

Client: National Parks Service / Location: Richmond, California

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, near Kennesaw and Marietta, Georgia, is the site of some of the most significant battles in the Atlanta Campaign of the Civil War. While contiguous, the park may not always seem so as it is often intertwined with residential areas and well-travelled city streets. The park also includes a very popular hiking trail system, totaling approximately 19 miles extending and traversing its entire length. In conjunction with the National Park Service, JRC Design developed a complete identification and wayfinding plan for the park. The team created identification standards for the major interior destinations, then provided the design and messaging for vehicular directionals to get visitors to their intended destinations. A full trail sign system was developed, including trail-heads, directionals, and regulatory signage.

Client: National Parks Service / Location: Kennesaw, Georgia