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BOWMAN DESIGN GROUP (Los Angeles) and Creative Director Ed Hackley have completed a new hands-on exhibit focused on the San Diego Bay and the impact of human activity on the bay's ecosystem for the Birch Aquarium, the public outreach arm of the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Birch Aquarium developed the exhibit content and commissioned the design for its Hall of Fishes gallery. The exhibit is part of a planned digital overhaul of Birch Aquarium's entire Hall of Fishes, which will eventually include content delivery via the Internet.

DAKTRONICS (Brookings, S.D.) lit up the façade of the historic Theatre Le Grand Rex in Paris, manufacturing two vertical displays, featuring the latest LED video technology, to replace fixed banners previously used for promotion. Three custom curved LED displays were also installed horizontally, mimicking the façade of the building. Not only are the displays relatively light, they also can be serviced from the front. Daktronics also installed a new 10,800 ft. LED display on the outside of Hangzhou Tower Shopping Center. Prior to Hangzhou Tower's order, a Daktronics PXS LED video display was installed on the side of the Hangzhou Tower Shopping Center as part of a demo shootout that involved three competing companies. With only one week to prepare, Daktronics was able to impress the customers with its ability to adapt to any location.

FD2S (Austin, Texas) completed the launch of a comprehensive wayfinding program for Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La. The wayfinding system, which is called "Pathfinder," includes interior and exterior wayfinding signage, printed materials, staff training tools, and a dedicated wayfinding web site, all utilizing a distinctive graphic style and consistent methodology for describing destinations and directions. The wayfinding web site  that fd2s created as part of the Pathfinder system is particularly innovative. It utilizes Google Maps as a base (which allows for point-to-point driving directions from any starting point), while also providing specific information about appropriate parking areas, entrances, and walking routes for destinations within the hospital. The content of this web site will be managed by OLOL staff using an administrative interface that was also developed by fd2s.

GNU GROUP (San Francisco) enjoyed a frenetic end to 2009. "We've been very busy in all of our key markets," explains Dickson Keyser, the firm's director of design. BlackRock tapped GNU to implement their new branding program at the Barclays Global Investors offices they acquired in 19 cities throughout the world. Avalon Bay Communities is opening their BART Transit Village in Walnut Creek, Calif. with a comprehensive sign program designed and implemented by the firm. Kaiser Permanente Health Care has engaged GNU to survey and rollout their THE (Total Health Environment) Multi-Lingual Wayfinding program for 72 medical facilities in Southern California.

HOLMES WOOD (London) recently published their first book, documenting and celebrating the firm's first 10 years and showcasing more than 30 projects.  Since coming together, Alexandra Wood and Lucy Holmes have made their mark working for England's leading galleries and museums including the V&A, Manchester Art Gallery, the National Gallery, and the Whitechapel Gallery.  Over the years, their work has grown to include books, magazines, identities, and large commercial projects including Virgin Atlantic's Terminal 3 facilities at Heathrow.

NEMETSCHEK NORTH AMERICA (Columbia, Md.) unveiled Planet Vectorworks®, a new community-focused component of their website that offers global news to English-speaking customers, prospects, and members of the press. In addition to weekly news posts-ranging from language-specific resources to kudos to award-winning firms from around the world to news from Nemetschek North America-Planet Vectorworks also includes links to Nemetschek North America's social networking sites such as Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Live delicious.com feeds from Vectorworks-focused news and fresh updates from Flickr stream into the site as well.  The firm also announced that its Vectorworks® Architect software has been tested by the National 3D-4D-BIM Program with the General Services Administration as complying with the requirements of the BIM Guide Series 02, Spatial Program Validation. Vectorworks Architect software (version 2010, SP2) may now be used on GSA projects that require BIM.  Also, A&A Co., Ltd., its distribution partner in Japan, has released its localized version of Vectorworks® 2010 line of software including Designer, Architect, Fundamentals, and Renderworks.

SQUARE PEG DESIGN (Oakland, Calif.) designed the signing and wayfinding for the site, car park, grand boulevard, and Armani Hotel at the new Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

STAR SIGNS (Lawrence, Kan.) recently completed the first phase of a contract with Metro St. Louis to provide main identification and wayfinding signage for multiple stations in the St. Louis area; the second phase of signage will be completed in early 2010.  

THOUGHTFORM (Pittsburgh) principals Reed Agnew and Don Moyer were invited to give a talk at TEDx Leadership Pittsburgh, a regional version of the famed TED Conference. Reed and Don explained an idea they call Writing Backwards, which is a fundamental principle that has guided much of ThoughtForm's unique approach to design, communication, and visual thinking for more than 25 years.