Merit Award, Wayfinding
Nortel Networks Calgary Campus
Calgary, AB, Canada
HOK Visual Communications, Houston, TX
Hal Kantner (Principal in Charge), Hal Kantner, Craig Hein, Diana Gonzalez, Amber Felts
Chinook Plastics, Ltd.
Nortel Networks
Nortel Networks, a wireless telecommunications company, asked for an innovative atmosphere in their R&D facility in Calgary. Located in the Canadian Rockies, the environmental graphics combined wireless imagery and wordplay with a site contextual "outdoorism" that dominated the location's culture, especially the younger tech industry workers employed at this campus.
The "big outdoor life" theme extended to the graphics, which included large muralistic art, quote walls, and 3-dimensional artifacts. A constrained budget in a failing tech sector drove the design to lean on found objects such as geographic survey maps for the floor directory, books for the library marker, and the client's very own circuit boards for restroom markers.
"This signing program is clever, with a strong sense of humor showing in the large quotes from famous people. The use of bold colors and large easy-to-use type adds a dimension of energy and fun while the stacked book display announcing the library section is clever and eye-catching."