Los Angeles Selects Team Approach for Downtown Wayfinding Program
Nation's second most populous city joins dozens of others that have turned to design experts to provide better navigational cues for their drivers and pedestrians
Corbin News Release
October 8, 2000
Los Angeles, CA — The City of Angels has enlisted two of the nation's leading design firms to help Angelinos and tourists better navigate its streets and sidewalks, and make more efficient use of its public transit system. The project, known as Downtown LA Walks, involves developing a system of pedestrian and vehicular signage for the city's bustling downtown core — an area that encompasses 350 city blocks, 50 streets, over 300 intersections, 30 freeway off ramps and eight subway stops.
Corbin Design of Traverse City, Michigan is partnering with Hunt Design Associates of Pasadena on the extensive project. "The design team of Corbin and Hunt was chosen because it brings the talent and nationwide experience of two experts in the field of urban wayfinding design, while also providing local, Los Angeles experience and knowledge," said project manager Steve Gibson of the Main Street Group, a consulting firm specializing in urban revitalization efforts.
The non-profit Confederation of Downtown Associations, an alliance of nine business improvement districts, is spearheading the project and overseeing its implementation. "It's hard for people to find their way around downtown LA," explained Darryl Holter, confederation chairman. "We want to make it easier for drivers and pedestrians to get around."
The confederation is working with the city to improve access to downtown bus and subway systems and reduce traffic congestion on and around area freeways. Project funding comes from the Metropolitan Transit Authority, City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Community Redevelopment Agency and the nine business improvement districts.
Los Angeles is one of many major U.S. cities that have called on Corbin Design for wayfinding assistance in recent years, including Kansas City, Missouri; Tucson, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Dayton, Ohio. Hunt Design Associates is the resident expert on the project, having recently completed wayfinding programs for local cities including Pasadena, Oxnard and Culver City.
"It is in our cities that we celebrate the diversity of this nation," said Jeffry Corbin, president of Corbin Design. "Our downtowns bring together people of all walks of life, ethnicity and interests. Effective wayfinding is one way to increase visitors' sense of security. Knowing where you want to go and how to get there builds confidence and increases one's willingness to explore the many opportunities that our nation's downtowns have to offer."
"Downtown Los Angeles is on the verge of a major renaissance," added Wayne Hunt, principal of Hunt Design Associates. "Thousands of tourists and locals will be discovering our great city in the next few years, and this wayfinding program will help identify and give directions to the city's unique districts and hundreds of specific destinations."
Jeffry Corbin's vision of a changing urban landscape led him to found Corbin Design, an environmental graphic design firm based in Traverse City, Michigan, in 1976. Since then, the firm has completed hundreds of signage, print and digital design projects for governmental, medical, educational and business clients nationwide — all of them based on the philosophy of "helping people access places and information." Corbin Design's civic wayfinding clients include Madison, Wisconsin; Columbus, Indiana; Vail, Colorado; and both Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Other wayfinding clients include Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Clarian Health in Indianapolis, Penn State University, and Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI). Additional information about the firm can be found at www.corbindesign.com.
Founded in 1977, Hunt Design Associates works with recreation and sporting venues, themed environments, civic, retail and multi-use developments to create dramatic and effective environmental graphic design solutions. Its clients include Samsung Electronics, New Jersey Aquarium, McCarran International Airport/Las Vegas, MGM Grand, Mall of America, Los Angeles Children's Court, MCA and Disney. Principal Wayne Hunt, past president of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design, is the author of two books and several articles on theming and environmental graphics. Hunt is also on the faculty of Art Center College of Design, and teaches environmental graphic design at USC and UCLA. More information on the firm is available at www.huntdesign.com.