Project Description

• Design Structure

Clarkdale's Water Journey: A visual timeline narrates the transition from reliance on the Verde River to the current groundwater system.

Sustainable Water Solutions: Actionable tips for water conservation, paired with icons for easy understanding, provide practical value to the community.

• Target Audience

Local families, parents, children, and eco-conscious visitors. The sign connects them to Clarkdale's water history, promoting sustainability and community pride.

• Color Palette

The sign's color palette incorporates shades inspired by Clarkdale’s natural surroundings. The background features light, calming tones of teal, complemented by white accents to enhance readability in outdoor environments. This approach aligns with Clarkdale's town branding and creates a clean, approachable design.

• Typography

Primary Font: Rolate is the primary font for the brand mark. It evokes a nostalgic, historic essence that aligns with Clarkdale’s rich heritage.

Tagline and Secondary Text: Abuget's adventurous spirit, a script font, adds a creative touch to the tagline and supporting text.

Body Text: All additional text is set in Nexa, a modern sans-serif font chosen for its clarity and readability. This ensures that the information is accessible to a wide audience.

• Material Selection (Polycarbonate Material)

The sign is crafted using durable polycarbonate sheets. These waterproof sheets are ideal for outdoor settings, even in extreme weather conditions. Their excellent thermal stability prevents warping or cracking, making them especially suitable for the desert climate of Clarkdale.

• Additional Features

A QR code is included, allowing visitors to access additional resources, furthering the educational value of the sign.

Park Sign

Project Process

The design process for this park sign was a journey of iterative improvement and community collaboration. Through research, design refinements, and user testing, the final signage effectively connects visitors to Clarkdale’s water history and promotes sustainability.

Research

The project began with in-depth research on Clarkdale’s water history, sustainability efforts, and local values. Resources such as town archives, government reports, and expert presentations were analyzed to ensure the sign’s content was informative and relevant. This phase helped shape the storytelling aspect of the design, making the information engaging and accessible to the target audience.

Design

Using insights from the research phase, the sign was designed to be visually compelling and durable for outdoor use. Polycarbonate material was selected for its weather resistance and long-term durability, ensuring the sign could withstand extreme temperatures and heavy rain. The typography was carefully chosen to enhance readability and convey the right tone:

• Rolate for the title, reflecting Clarkdale’s historic character.

• Abuget for the tagline, adding an adventurous and engaging touch.

• Nexa for body text, ensuring clarity and legibility.

The color palette was inspired by Clarkdale’s natural landscape and town colors, helping the sign blend harmoniously with its environment while maintaining high contrast for readability.

Feedback

Community involvement played a crucial role in refining the design. Initial feedback indicated that the layout felt disjointed, the images needed to be more locally relevant, and the overall brightness needed improvement for outdoor visibility. Based on this input, images were replaced with those from Clarkdale’s press kit, layout transitions were smoothed, and the background was lightened to enhance clarity.

Iteration

Multiple design iterations were made to refine the balance between text, images, and white space. The visual hierarchy was adjusted to ensure key messages stood out, icons were resized to reduce clutter, and elements were repositioned to guide the reader naturally through the sign’s information. This process ensured the final design was engaging, informative, and easy to follow.

Presentation

After successfully designing the signage, it was presented to the Clarkdale city managers for review. The presentation highlighted the sign’s educational purpose, material durability, and design improvements made through community feedback.

User Testing

To evaluate the effectiveness of the signage, real-time eye-tracking tests were conducted in Clarkdale using an eye-tracking device. The device generated heat maps that revealed which areas of the sign attracted the most attention. This data provided valuable insights into how viewers interacted with the design, ensuring that the most important information was effectively communicated.

This thorough and iterative design process resulted in a final sign that successfully blends education, community values, and sustainability, creating a meaningful and engaging experience for visitors to Selna Mongini Park.

Clarkdale Through Our Lens: Post-Testing Snapshot

Impact and Personal Growth

Creating this park sign was both challenging and rewarding, pushing me to think critically and creatively. It reinforced the importance of community engagement and the role of design in shaping behavior and fostering connections.

This project marked a significant milestone in my growth as a designer. It has deepened my appreciation for how design can influence public awareness, promote education, and create lasting connections between people and their environment.

The final product not only tells the story of Clarkdale’s water journey but also serves as a tool for inspiring sustainable practices and community pride.

I am proud of how this design brings together history, community, and sustainability, leaving a meaningful impact on both visitors and residents of Clarkdale.

A quick shot from after wrapping up the design presentation for the Clarkdale team.