Architects and signmakers are often at odds over a building’s appropriate sign package. However, the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) affirmed signs’ importance with an engaging entry statement for Building Connections, an exhibit of student-produced architectural models sponsored by the AIA’s Center for Architecture Foundation, which educates K-12 students about architectural principles and is housed at the Center for Architecture. The organization hired Design360, a NYC-based firm, to develop the theme and format for the exhibit’s entry sign. Jill Ayers, the firm’s creative director, said exhibit graphics represent approximately 10% of the 14-year-old firm’s work.
The display’s background panels were made from pegboard, and the interpretive panels and building blocks comprise digitally printed MDF, which was installed on stainless-steel pegboard connectors. Design360’s program implements Giant and Giant Layers typefaces for the headers and subheads, and variations of Tungsten within the body copy.
“We had to work within a very small budget, so we had to source very common materials while creating a unique entry statement,” Ayers said. “Also, the materials reinforce the exhibit’s theme. A home workshop in a basement or garage is a likely place where a child might learn to build something with his or her family. On a certain level, we also wanted to highlight the childrens’ art, so we wanted to maintain a sense of innocence and honesty.”
The Center for Architecture Foundation produced the pegboard, tables and plinth bases, and applied main tiles and blocks with Velcro®. Duggal, a NYC-based service provider, decorated the building-block panels on an EFI-VUTEk QS 2 Pro UV-cure-ink, flatbed printer.