Infozone Museum installed in the Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library in Pueblo, CO

Dyck Arboretum, Hesston, KS

Dyck Arboretum Welcome Signage

Dyck Arboretum located in Hesston, Kansas has been operating since 1981. It's known in the Hesston community as a well-managed green space featuring native prairie flora, as well as a venue for weddings and the Arboretum's Prairie Concert Series performances. The Arboretum was in need of welcome signage to inform the public about the grounds and events, and serve as a clear landing place for visitors to begin their experience.

Outdoor signage isn't typically the kind of work we do, but it's a project that shares many aspects of our typical exhibit design. Dyck Arboretum has been a client of ours for many years, and we were happy to take on this project with them.

A Shared Space

The signage needed to display a range of information including a map of the grounds, operating hours, entrance fees, and upcoming events. Most of this information is permanent, but the Arboretum also wanted a locking bulletin board to display more timely flyers and posters. The project began like most do - with pencil sketches on graph paper.

Fitting in

Early aspirations and examples showed a sign structure built from larger, round timbers bolted together to create a frame. While this approach would provide an adequate sign structure, it didn't fit visually into the natural prairie environment at the arboretum. Instead we designed a series of vertical columns that draw a stark geometry to the landscape surrounding it. The sign frames are black powder-coated steel set in the ground and the frames are clad in stained cedar boards. The cedar provides a more natural surface while affording the ability for the sign to age gracefully.

Incorporating Obstacles

We even wrapped one of these displays around an existing structural column. What would otherwise be an awkwardly placed obstacle has now been incorporated into the exhibit itself.

Custom designed exhibit columns for the InfoZone Museum in Pueblo, Colorado.

Newsprint Sculpture

The main feature of the exhibit is the large sculpture featuring long runs of "newsprint" weaving in and around a series of rollers intended to simulate a modern newspaper printing press. The display gives a sense of movement to the space, even though it's stationary. Robert Hoag Rawlings—the namesake of the library building—was a newspaper man, so anchoring the exhibit with this display creates a strong connection between the exhibit and the history of Pueblo.

A collage of early sketches for various exhibit components. — Early sketches and renderings of potential exhibit elements for the InfoZone Museum.

Digital Interactives

The rich history of news includes the methods and technology that were invented to spread the word.

To display the various supplementary videos, audio samples, and pictures we added large vertical touchscreens that were mounted to the display columns. The touchscreen user interface was custom designed and built to match the rest of the exhibit and we took care to ensure that the interactive zones fell within accessible height ranges.