Who is Corbin Design? We’re a nationally recognized environmental graphic design firm located in Traverse City, Michigan that works with clients around the country to improve the way people access places and information. Established in 1976, the firm has grown to become a national leader in wayfinding and environmental graphic design.

Corbin employs 18 people, including 11 designers. In 2002, Corbin became an employee-owned company, giving its employees an increased stake in the success of the firm and its clients. The firm is an active member of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, and our founder, Jeff Corbin, served as a founding member and national chairman for the organization.

Corbin has completed hundreds of projects across the nation in the fields of wayfinding analysis and signage system design, and the development of corporate identities, promotional materials, interactive media and Web design. Our clients include over 40 cities and towns, over 65 medical centers, 25 colleges and universities, 10 resorts and entertainment venues, corporate campuses and facilities, and retail outlets. Our city clients include seven of the nation’s 50 largest cities, and our corporate clients include six Fortune 500 firms. Through this experience, the firm has pioneered new concepts for wayfinding in the built environment and on the Web.

The firm has won numerous awards for its work, including an SEGD Merit Award for the “Direction Downtown” wayfinding program in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana; an SEGD Jury Award for Downtown LA Walks; VM&SD’s Store of the Year designation for the REI Flagship Store in Seattle, Washington; and Identity Magazine Awards of Honor and an American Corporate Identity Award of Excellence for the design of healthcare facility wayfinding systems.

Our work has been featured in such publications as Architectural Record, Communication Arts, American City & County, Healthcare Design Magazine, HOW Magazine, Identity, Nation’s Cities Weekly, Print Magazine, SEGDdesign Magazine, Step-By-Step Graphics and VM&SD.

Our work and wayfinding philosophy also appeared in “Environmental Graphics: Projects & Process,” a 192-page review of wayfinding projects around the country that was published by Collins Design in 2004, and in “Wayfinding: Designing and Implementing Graphic Navigational Systems,” a 176-page handbook for designing wayfinding systems published by RotoVision in 2005.

“Guide Sign Graphics: Case Studies of Wayfinding Signage from Around the World,” an international publication in both English and Japanese by the Tokyo-based PIE Books, showcased our wayfinding systems for Kansas City, Missouri and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Reviews of our work have also been published in special editions of the Japanese magazine Idea.