Last year, we completed a massive overhaul of the signage and wayfinding system at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, a large facility serving southwest Dallas County and beyond.

The overhaul included renumbering the entire patient room and level identity systems, as well as renaming elevator banks, entrances and parking lots. The system centered around the strategy known as anchoring, wherein the elevator banks act as the central facilitator of user wayfinding.

In short, we developed an alpha letter for each public elevator bank. Each particular alpha identity was extended out to the entrance closest to that elevator as well as the nearest parking lot, if applicable.

Have a look at our Flickr slideshow to get a better idea for how the system works visually.

Good Luck.

The focusEGD Team.

Earlier this year focusEGD had the opportunity to work with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and the creation of the T. Boone Pickens Conference Center.

We implemented the graphics in a thoughtful and appropriate way. Here is an example of that subtle approach which has massive impact as you enter the building.Using an interesting, time intensive technique we were able to create large scale crayon marks that travel up the walls , creating movement and excitement. Instantly we recall the day we were caught trying to color the wall and break out of the lines.

*More After the Jump*

Imagine you are a small rural healthcare provider building a new flagship hospital. This greenfield hospital will replace two other aging hospitals in the area. The community is excited about gaining a new and improved facility that will bring a much needed medical technology to their area.

You have just been selected to program and design the hospitals wayfinding signage and other graphics. You begin working and attend planning meetings, the architecture is great and the project is becoming more interesting every minute.

The provider lets you know that he has a limited budget for the whole project to work with, but to your surprise the signage has a pretty healthy line item.

Do you:

A – Take advantage of the budget trying to spend every penny?

or

B – Do you work to keep costs down?

Too many times I have heard horror stories of designers taking the “A” approach. These designers lean on the use of art glasses, resin materials, and solid aluminum as a display of their design skills. (I kid you not, I have seen all three applied to one typical room sign. It had a curved metal piece, an acrylic with photopolymer face, and a large 3/4″ thick piece of artglass on the back.) Do not get me wrong, I like these materials, I use them when I feel it is appropriate, but the cost of these materials can raise prices beyond $200, $300, even $400 dollars per sign. You read that right – PER SIGN. Times that by 2500 signs in a typical facility and now you have sky rocketed costs… but its “below budget”! Who cares!? Right? Right….?

The impact of signage is not limited to the upfront cost. Facility managers will be ordering signs regularly to keep with requested nomenclature changes, damaged signs, and relocations for years to come.

Utilizing materials that dissimilar can cause attachment issues and contribute to fabrication failure at no fault to the fabricator. Furthermore, the weight of the sign might illicit the use of studded attachment instead of just silicone so replacing them now involves more.

Remember these signs are each made one by one. When a sign is ordered by facility manager a replacement will be built at most likely a higher cost. These costs are directly forwarded to both patients and insurance companies as operating expenses.

Sure signage maybe a small portion of that yearly budget and cost, but be the change you want to see. We might not all agree about how to reduce costs of healthcare, but let us, the EGD community, be inspired by responsible cost effective solutions.

We at focusEGD have been cranking through our latest batch of projects including a football stadium at the University of North Texas, the monstrous Washington Headquarters Services Building in Alexandria, VA , the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, Capital Health Hopewell Campus Hospital in New Jersey, the University of Texas at Arlington Special Events Center, Texas Christian University football stadium renovations, Arizona Diamondbacks & Colorado Rockies Spring Training Facility, Danat Al Emarat Hospital in Abu Dhabi and signage standards for the University of Connecticut Health Center among others I forgot to mention. Additionally, we have been working a great deal on our own marketing materials and hope to have a revamped website up 1Q of 2010.

Needless to say, there has been little time for blogging. However, we aim to keep you posted on us, our work and other cool stuff despite the schedules.

First off, here is a little history about the area. The Dallas Design District originated in the 1950s as a “Strictly To the Trade Only” collection of design showrooms and galleries. Low rent and prime warehouse space along the district’s Dragon Street, enabled a wave of art gallery owners to set up shop, thereby christening its spot as Dallas’ premier art locale. With all the movement, came attention.

Centrally located near Downtown Dallas, just opposite I-35 from Uptown’s Victory Park complex, the district oozed potential for redevelopment. Unfortunately, years of neglect had left streets filled with potholes, broken or non-existent sidewalks and medians covered with dead grass and mangled trees. To fix these problems and encourage new economic development, the city of Dallas stepped in to create a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Fund. Together with TBG Partners, Good Fulton & Farrell and developer PegasusAblon, focusEGD developed a plan to revitalize the Design District experience for a whole new set of users.

The direction was to create a gateway into the district, something sculptural that changes from every angle. Additionally it had to be easily replicated in other parts of the district.

Coming from downtown Dallas, users pass under two major highways and one set of train tracks. To break up the monotony of these stationary pillars, we envisioned a wave, gently leading the user into the heart of the district. In developing the form, we took inspirational cues from sculptural artists Mark Di Suvero and Richard Serra.

The wave eventually took the form of i-beams in order to reference the idea of foundation, a symbol of structural beginnings, the first piece put into place when something new develops. Aside from that, it is simply an interesting form.

Graphically, we drew from the classic Knoll posters of Massimo Vignelli, particularly with the integration of Pantone Warm Red C as the projects primary color.

The major influence however, was the discovery of Le Corbusier’s preferred stenciling typeface known as Charette. The stencils themselves became the link we needed to give the project a somewhat urban, yet very elegant edge.

From there, we created a distinguishing graphic identity that could be replicated throughout signage elements in the district.

Our hope is the gateway, identity and other signage elements help set the tone for development within the district. The Design District is destined to become Dallas’ next great neighborhood.

Tungsten by Hoefler & Frere-Jones

And you should too.

We’ll post more to our Flickr page soon!

Deep Ellum, still the creative heart and soul of the city, wins big time with the “The Traveling Man” series designed by local creatives Brandon Oldenburg and Brad Oldham. The duo’s piece is inspired and worthy of the site where it now sits. It acts as a beacon, a symbol of pride and a destination for an area that is so deeply ingrained in the hearts of natives (including yours truly). In addition to the “Traveling Man”, the station incorporates a number of other graphic elements to cleverly aide in wayfinding and placemaking. Have a look at some photos I took over the weekend:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42104265@N03/sets/72157622368045236/

Read the duo’s inspired creative rationale here: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/05/in_deep_ellum_meet_the_traveli.php

If so, be sure and check out this new gem from Josh Neufeld.

Obviously, Katrina was a devastating event and we all saw the damage that it caused: the pictures of the flooded streets, the “X”s on the dilipidated houses and of course the Superdome, packed with people whose homes were under water.

These images were all important, but I don’t think they effectively communicate the loss of human rights that these people suffered. “A.D.” attempts to connect us with the New Orleanian’s perspective.

It tells the stories of five individuals with five very different tales. Neufeld never loses focus of his aim and the frames he illustrates have a way of ingraining themselves in your mind and truly allowing you to step into the shoes of these people (all of whom are real).

As someone who has a deep affection for New Orleans (I got engaged there) it truly breaks my heart to know what some people went through, just to call it home. “A.D.” is an inspiration.