After five years the City of SLO has finished erecting “Phase 1” of its “Wayfinding Program” signage.
It seems that in an era of GPS, residents still like to look up once in awhile and find out where they’re going, or a least supposed to be going. Now 30 directional pointers around the “Downtown Core” and the main entrance points to the city direct travelers to what the designers think are the “highest priority destinations,” around Downtown, to the Mission, Cal Poly, the Amtrak station and out to the County operated Regional Airport.
Pierre Rademaker, a local designer who’s other notable recent work includes a redesign of the City Seal and emblems, as well as a revamp of all the patches worn by emergency personnel, worked with RRM Design Group and City staffers on the project.
The SLO City Council adopted the Wayfinding Program in 2011.
Other elements of the plan include, “you-are-here” signs and mall-style maps of the Downtown, erected near parking structures.
It was also important to the planners to have a unified and attractive style of placard to mark public buildings and site markers across the city.
A large monument at the City’s Highland Drive entry point was also planned with funds from a National Scenic Byways Grant. – Camas Frank
