Wayfinding Signage RevisedMEMORANDUM
May 14, 2003
TO:The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM:Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT:Revised Design Recommendations for Wayfinding
Sign Program
At the April 21 meeting, the City Council approved the wayfinding sign designs for three
of the six tourism districts: Downtown, Eagle Point and South End. The City Council
asked for revisions to the College Grandview and Port of Dubuque district signs, and for
an additional design for the West End district sign.
The Wayfinding Sign Committee has worked with the graphic design consultant to
gather input from the CVB Signage Committee, the City Engineering Division, and the
Iowa Department of Transportation in developing a recommended design for the
Highway signs and revised designs for the Tourism District signs.
Highway Sign System
The design recommendation for the Highway signs must meet IDOT specifications. The
signs will be produced on the green background that is used by the IDOT for all other
highway directional signs. The six ToudSm Districts wit! be identified by the name of the
district and a square colored to match the district sign and outlined in white. An icon
sign with a half moon shape will be plan above the standard IDOT highway sign, as
shown in the enclosure.
The Wayfinding Sign Committee is recommending the icon shown, which includes the
name of the community with a fleur-de-lis behind it.
Toudsm District Sign System
The College Grandview district sign has been modified to include the University of
Dubuque's new library, as the City CounseI requested.
The Port of Dubuque distdct sign has been modified to eliminate the downtown skyline,
as the City Council requested. The Shot Tower has been added to the background as a
riverfront icon and for balance.
The West End district has been modified to include more features, as the City Council
requested. The design symbolizes major land uses found on the west side: office parks,
commercial/shopping centers, and farms.
Planning Services Manager Laura Carstens and the Wayfinding Sign Committee
recommend City Council approval of the:design for the Highway signs and the revised
designs for the College Grandview, Port of Dubuque and West End Tourism Districts
for the Wayfinding Sign Program.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
MCVM/jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
MEMORANDUM
May 12, 2003
To:Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
From:Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
Subject:Revised Design Recommendations for Wayfinding Sign Program
INTRODUCTION
At their April 21 meeting, the City Council approved the wayfinding sign designs for
three of the six tourism districts: Downtown Eagle Point and South End. The City
Council asked for revisions to the College Grandview and Port of Dubuque district
signs, and for an additional design for the West End district sign.
This memo provides design recommendations for the College Grandview Port of
Dubuque, and West End district signs for review and approval by the City Council at
their May 19 meeting. The revised design alternatives for these tourism district signs,
and the original design recommendations, are enclosed.
This memo also transmits the design recommendation for the Highway signs that the
Iowa Department of Transportation will produce and install at no cost to the City.
In addition, this memo discusses alterations in the approved and revised designs that
must be made to accommodate IDOT specifications.
BACKGROUND
From 1999-2001, the City of Dubuque worked with the Convention and Visitors Bureau
(CVB) of the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce and a community task force to
develop a directional sign system to hetp visitors find their way through out the
community. The City Council approved their recommendations in January 2002.
The City then solicited proposals from qualified consultants to provide graphic design
services for the Wayfinding Sign Program. Gary Olsen was selected in October 2002
as the graphic design consultant.
Wayfinding Sign Program
Page 2 of 3
To implement the wayfinding sign program, a Wayfinding Sign Committee was formed
to work with the consultant. The Committee members are: Sue Czeshinski, CVB
Director, Greg Malm, CVB Board Member, Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager,
Susan Gwiasda, Public Information Officer, Bill Schlickman, Engineering Assistant.
Tammy Gehling, Graphic Artist, and me.
DISCUSSION
The intent of the Wayfinding Sign Program is to enhance the visitor experience and to
compliment the existing highway and street signs throughout the community. The
Wayfinding Sign Program divides the community into the six districts: Downtown. Eagle
Point, South End, West End, College Grandview, and Port of Dubuque. The Wayfinding
Sign Program consists of two systems: a highway sign system and a tourism district
sign system.
Highway Sign System
The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) has identified the City of Dubuque as a
pilot project for urban wayfinding signs along the state highways within the community.
The tourism districts will be highlighted on the Highway Sign System through the use of
IDOT standard green signs with white lettering and a colored square outlined in white.
This is different from our original understanding, when we thought the signs would be
blue with the colored icon identifying each of the tourism district signs. These signs will
be designed to meet to IDOT specifications.
Tourism District Sign System
The Tourism District Sign System will be located on public streets within the six districts.
This secondary system will use colored icons that are specific to each of the six
districts. The colored icons are intended to address how the travelers know they are in
a specific tourism district and how to find their way to an attraction or a destination.
These signs will be designed to meet to City Engineering's specifications.
The district sign for the West End will actually be on Iowa 32 (Northwest Arterial), so
these signs will have to follow both IDOT and City standards. The West End district
signs wilt need to have the green background of other IDOT highway signs. As a result,
the odginal background color of the West End district sign has been changed from
orange to green. Since the odginal background color for the South End district sign was
green, this sign was given an orange background.
RECOMMENDATION
The Wayfinding Sign Committee has worked with the graphic design consultant to
gather input from the CVB Signage Committee, the City Engineering Division, and the
IDOT in developing a recommended design for the Highway signs and revised designs
for the Tourism District signs.
Wayfinding Sign Program
Page 3 of 3
The objective was to use analogous colors that will serve as a color key that the viewer
can distinguish and associate with each of the districts. Although these colors are
different, they are actually very close in value with each other so that the lettering can
stand out in reverse, it's important to maintain maximum contrast to enable visibility
from a distance for both the motoring public and the pedestrian and bicyclist.
Hiqhway Sign System
The design recommendation for the Highway signs must meet IDOT specifications. The
signs will be produced on the green background that is used by the IDOT for all other
highway directional signs. The six Tourism Districts will be identified by the name of the
district and a square colored to match the district sign and outlined in white. An icon
sign with a half moon shape will be placed above the standard IDOT highway sign, as
shown in the enclosure.
The Wayfinding Sign Committee is recommending the icon shown, which includes the
name of the community with a fleur-de-lis behind it.
Tourism District Sign System
The designs for the tourism district signs must meet City specifications. The West End
signs on the Northwest Artedat (iowa 32) must meet IDOT standards as well, as
discussed above. The Wayfinding Sign Committee is recommending the enclosed
designs for the College Grandview, Port of Dubuque, and West End districts.
The College Grandview district sign has been modified to include the University of
Dubuque's new library, as the City Council requested.
The Port of Dubuque district sign has been modified to eliminate the downtown skyline.
as the City Council requested. The Shot Tower has been added to the background as a
riverfront icon and for balance.
The West End district has been modified to include more features, as the City Council
requested. The design symbolizes major land uses found on the west side: office parks.
commercial/shopping centers, and farms.
REQUESTED ACTION
The requested action is for the City Councit to review and approve the design for the
Highway signs and the revised designs for the College Grandview, Port of Dubuque
and West End Tourism Districts for the Wayfinding Sign Program.
Attachments
CC Wayfinding Sign Committee, w/att.
Gary Olsen, graphic design consultant, w/att.
Design for Highway Sign recommended by Wayfinding Sign Committee
Revised Designs requested by the City Council on April 21, 2003:
· College Grandview District
· West End District
· Port of Dubuque District
Designs for Wayfinding Signs approved by the City Council on April 21, 2003:
· Downtown District
· Eagle Point District
· South End