Columbus’ Signs of Life

Known as the Arch City, Columbus, Ohio serves as the capital city and the Buckeye State. The Ohio State University, where more than 60,000 students matriculate, serves as a focal point – especially the school’s Buckeye football team, which captivates residents and attracts roughly 100,000 crazed fans to Ohio Stadium on autumn Saturdays.

However, city officials are embracing Columbus’ progress as well as its heritage. The Arena District, which envelops Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL’s Blue Jackets and numerous large events, has attracted an array of retail and entertainment-oriented establishments. In tandem, the downtown, in particular the high-traffic convergence of Broad and High Streets, has become an epicenter of innovative, grand-format graphics and electronic digital signage (see “Graphics Come Fast” under Signweb’s Grand Format channel, and “Times Square, Buckeye Style”, under the Electronic Digital Signage channel).

As the central city becomes a more attractive destination, Columbus leaders wisely understood the need for an improved wayfinding system. They enlisted the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District, a consortium of residential and commercial property owners that funds various Columbus services. In turn, Capital Crossroads hired Redirections Sign & Design (Indianapolis) to build the 97-sign wayfinding system. Columbus-based Sevell + Sevell Inc. handled their design.

According to Ryan Mackey, Redirections’ director of marketing, their project entailed installing new poles, applying a reflective coating to the panels, and changing the structures’ orientation to be more user-friendly. Redirections installed them in successions from those closest to an identified attraction to those farthest away. Depending upon the proximity to various destinations, such as the Arena District, the Statehouse and Civic Center, the signs provide directional arrows for one to five destinations.

The signs comprise 3M’s high-intensity, prismatic sheeting paired with Scotchlite™ 1170 electronic-cuttable film. The poles, which comprise Schedule 40 stainless steel, range in height from 10 ft. 8 in. to 21 ft. 4 in. tall, feature powdercoating for protection.

One of the wayfinding signs photographed juxtaposes nicely with the Columbus Dispatch headquarters’ handsome, classic rooftop sign. Dispatch management first had a rooftop sign installed in 1925 at its prior location, and had an updated version installed at its current digs in 1971. To keep up with the times – and Columbus’ new penchant for creative signage – the Dispatch added a news ticker in 2007, for which its digital-news department creates content.
 

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