The City of Angels turned to Corbin to help Angelenos and tourists better navigate its streets, sidewalks and public transit system. The result, according to the city’s Confederation of Downtown Associations, is the nation’s largest urban wayfinding program.

Corbin worked with Hunt Design Associates of Pasadena and Urban Place Consulting Group of Long Beach on the $2 million project, known as Downtown LA Walks. The work involved developing pedestrian and vehicular signage to direct people to hundreds of destinations in the city’s bustling downtown core—an area that encompasses 350 city blocks, 50 streets, more than 300 intersections, 30 freeway off-ramps and eight transit stops.

The Confederation of Downtown Associations, the group of nine business improvement districts that spearheaded the project, sought to improve access to bus and subway systems and reduce traffic on crowded area freeways.

Meeting with community and business leaders, Corbin and Hunt helped build consensus on the names of districts that were recognized by the public. Thirteen districts were identified, and color-coded icons were developed to represent each one. The icons became key elements in the resulting signage program—featured on the more than 1,300 vehicular and pedestrian directional signs and street corner maps that make up the system, and freely provided to local hotels, transit services and parking operators to encourage their use.

The Society for Environmental Graphic Design honored the project with a 2007 Jury Award.