landmarks Archives | MERJE DESIGN

Asheville River Arts District

The River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina is an area of former industrial buildings located near the French Broad River. Visitors can experience working studios and galleries of hundreds of artists, showcasing painting, pottery, jewelry, glass, metal, wood and much more.

MERJE has been working with the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau for over 10 years on a variety of wayfinding programs. The CVB, along with the River Arts District (RAD), approached MERJE to help extend the Citywide program to a more detailed RAD wayfinding program.

Working with the existing RAD identity, MERJE designed wayfinding signs, kiosks and landmarks to help promote the district and make it easier for visitors to locate the various artist studios. The design utilizes components of the citywide wayfinding program, also designed by MERJE, but incorporates unique elements that capture the eclectic and authentic environment of the creative district.

Princeton Public Library

Located in the heart of downtown, Princeton Public Library is a community asset and gathering place. MERJE developed a branding and signage program that looks to compete with the popularity of the combination bookstore/cafe retail spaces.

The brand includes an icon of a person reading a book, emphasizing the “public” in public library, while the simple typography depicts the library as a friendly and approachable environment. The icon portion of the logo has been adapted for use in the identification of the library store and on merchandise for sale in the store. To identify the different sections of the library, the interior signage incorporates photographs of people reading, listening and engaging in other activities related to the library’s resources.

Ocala

The charming city of Ocala, Florida was constantly being tied to Marion County – the “Horse Capital of the World”, in which Ocala resides. The City wanted an identity of its own that focused on family, diversity, their central location in Florida, and provided a feeling of connectivity across the city.

MERJE created a new identity and brand for Ocala that wove together the unique aspects of the city. The new city logo is friendly, colorful and the ring around the “O” is a nod to the central location of Ocala in the state. The tagline: “Find Your Place” speaks to the fact that there is much more to Ocala than horses, and challenges visitors and residents alike to become involved in all the city has to offer. This new brand is being carried through in new wayfinding signs, exciting gateways, and other marketing materials that connect and promote the city in a fresh, open way.

Miami Beach

Follow the fashionistas and you’ll find Miami Beach’s white sandy shores and round-the-clock South Beach dance clubs, but you may miss the art museums, botanical garden and galleries. Tourism is big business in Miami Beach and a new signage system designed by MERJE will help you find your way on your next visit.

Working with City officials, stakeholders and the community, MERJE created a wayfinding program and brand identity influenced by Miami Beach style. The polished, ellipse-shaped post provides a modern elegance to the spine of the sign structure. The guide sign face is simple, meeting Florida Department of Transportation criteria, but the back of the sign, the panel shape and brackets take on curved forms that turn a seemingly simple sign into a distinctive element on the street. Every aspect of this inspired design helps it to integrate into an environment that has an overwhelming architectural context and visual presence.

Johnson City

Downtown Johnson City in Northeastern Tennessee is a place of uniqueness shaped by a sense of history, but not bound by the past. It offers a mixture of arts, cultures and faiths; education, entertainment, and tastes; business, government and emerging technologies; and opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.

MERJE is developing a signage plan, which will provide unified gateways that welcome visitors, directional signs that lead to downtown, assist navigation to parking opportunities and create landmarks that provide orientation and express the character and culture of Johnson City. The project fosters a greater sense of connectivity, publicizes information about downtown amenities and events, and provides direction to attractions and activities throughout the community.

Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach California offers 10 miles of uninterrupted beach, the most consistent waves on the West Coast, exceptional shopping and dining and a culture that is the quintessential SOCAL lifestyle.

MERJE has been hired by the HB Convention and Visitors Bureau to develop a comprehensive citywide wayfinding program. In addition to signage, MERJE recommendations include a mobile app for self-guided walking tours, landmark public art murals, and custom crosswalks, all of which reinforce the Surf City USA brand experience.

Design options for the wayfinding system are inspired by the classic surf culture, the natural environment and the soul and creative forces that enliven your HB experience. Translucency, light reflection, bold graphic patterns, natural materials and digital structures all have a place in the design concepts.

Helen Hayes Exhibits

As one of the country’s first physical rehabilitation facilities, Helen Hayes Hospital is widely recognized as a leader in rehabilitation medicine and research. MERJE worked with the hospital to create a series of landmark exhibits throughout the 105-acre campus. The exhibits reinforce the hospital’s brand message (“The Power of Rehabilitation”), highlight patient achievements and tell the history of the facility. The exhibits utilize images and words to offer encouragement and positive reinforcement, a historic timeline illustrates the progress of the facility and its patients over the years, and the hospital’s main lobby features an exhibit dedicated to Helen Hayes MacArthur. Mrs MacArthur was known as the First Lady of the American Theater and endowed the hospital with not only her name, but her enduring spirit and legacy of hope.

Episcopal Academy

The Episcopal Academy’s 123-acre campus is home to academic buildings for grades pre-K through 12, a chapel, campus center, athletic center and fields for 1,100 students. Working with the Academy and multiple architectural teams, MERJE developed interior, exterior, and donor signage programs for the entire campus.

The design of the exterior signage includes the Episcopal Academy seal and “Episcopal blue” as primary graphic elements. Stone bases on ID signs and kiosks reflect building materials used thoughout the campus. The wayfinding program is coordinated with the landscape architecture and overall campus plan to provide a seamless and easy-to-navigate journey.

For interior spaces, a cohesive wayfinding system was developed to unify all of the buildings on campus. The system was developed to adapt to and complement each interior environment.

Camp Rehoboth

CAMP Rehoboth is a nonprofit community service organization dedicated to creating a more positive environment in Rehoboth Beach and its related communities. The organization promotes cooperation and understanding among all people as they work to build safe inclusive communities with room for all. In 2002 CAMP Rehoboth kicked off their Founders’ Circle Capital Campaign in an effort to raise $1 million to fund the expansion and renovation of the existing community center.

MERJE was commissioned, to create a Founders’ Circle Donor Wall to celebrate the 607 donors who helped CAMP Rehoboth exceed their goal. To showcase CAMP Rehoboth’s celebration of diversity, MERJE designed a multi-colored donor wall using a rod suspension system positioned to hug the multi-purpose room’s curved glass wall. The name of every donor and their donation level, from Member to Founder is engraved onto a colored plaque. From the interior, the translucent colored material allows light to transmit though and illuminate the donor plaques. When viewed from the courtyard, the wall serves as an abstract piece of art, adding color to the exterior space.