Iconography: Guiding a Tour through a Landmark Building

During my last real job, I got to work in this lovely building in the Pearl district of Portland Oregon in the early 2000s, when building was booming there. My employer, the conservation nonprofit Ecotrust, purchased the old warehouse and renovated it to LEED Gold specifications. It was the first U.S. Green Building Council’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for a renovated building. And it is beautiful.

I had the pleasure of designing a self-guided tour for visitors to the landmark building. We started with a big welcome sign in the lobby that distributed “Field Guides.” Reclaimed wood, of course. The Field Guides were fun — they contained interesting facts and history about different aspects of the renovated building.

Sand blasted steel icons marked the various stopping points around the building. 10 stops in all.

And a final dropoff place for the field guides on the third floor.

Tags: corporate identity, design, environmental graphics, iconography, nonprofit, signage