Design

2009 SEGD Design Awards: The Vet Is In

A Baltimore design firm devises inventive animal-clinic graphics.

Published

15 years ago

October 14, 2009

Steve Aust Signs of the Times October 2009 Issue

For 22 years, the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) has conducted its Design Awards program, which solicits entries from the EGD community. Judges from the industry’s top firms designate outstanding projects with Honor Awards (consensus winners among all judges) and Merit Awards (those submissions that at least one judge deems worthy of accolades), as well as a handful of Lot with a Little – a designation that honors distinctive projects achieved on a shoestring budget – and Student Awards.

Limited editorial space precludes ST from featuring all 40 honorees (and many of the projects trend more toward architecture than signage), but here are several winners whose innovative interpretation of an environment’s need for a graphic identity underscores the importance and vitality of unique signage.

Shaw Jelveh Design (Baltimore and New York) earned a Merit Award – and a special “Lot With a Little” commendation for creative such distinctive graphics on a $4,000 budget – for creating this wall-graphic program for the Pikesville (MD) Animal Hospital. The firm also handled art direction of animal photography for Baltimore photographer John Dean.

Marybeth Shaw, the firm’s co-principal, convinced Carey Zumpano, the facility’s vet, to invest in high-quality environmental graphics when he opened his own practice. She said, “Dr. Zumpano gave us free reign with the color palette and imagery, but was very involved in helping design an efficient, functional facility.”

To maximize impact and keep costs in line, Shaw Jelveh focused the design on areas that would be most prominent to patients: the reception area and exam rooms. The firm executed the design using AutoCAD drafting software, and used Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator to hone the environmental graphics. Shaw said, “We wanted to convey an upbeat, state-of-the-art, veterinary practice with bright colors and dog and cat parts in motion.”

To fabricate the wall graphics, Shaw Jelveh specified a 54-in.-wide, Type II, heavy-duty, vinyl wallcovering from Wolf-Gordon (NYC).

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