Miami Parks

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

City of Miami public parks lacked any cohesive signage and wayfinding, and signs in the parks were old, mismatched, in disrepair, and lacked cohesive graphics, branding, and messaging. Before we could begin to plan and design a new wayfinding program for City parks, we first needed to understand the current conditions, issues, and opportunities that existed with the existing signage and wayfinding in parks. We conducted a survey of the existing sign conditions at over 100 of the City’s parks to review, evaluate, and document the existing signage within the parks. An important part of this survey was to review and note the physical conditions and attributes of each park, as they relate to wayfinding and signage. Our surveys revealed that City parks suffered from a number of issues including the lack of uniform park identity; mismatched signs, colors, and branding; worn and distressed signs; signs missing and in disrepair; confusing, inconsistent, and incoherent messaging; lack of consolidation of messages resulting in sign pollution; ineffective park rules signs; and more. We conducted meetings with the Parks & Recreation staff to discuss the findings, and participated in public workshops to understand the community’s concerns and needs.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

With a firm understanding of the issues, and the problems we needed to solve, we embarked on an extensive re-design of all park system signage. Our solutions include a new branded sign program for the park system that will: visually unify City parks; increase awareness of parks; improve the visitor experience; promote a safe environment; consolidate signage and messaging throughout the park system; reduce sign maintenance costs through durable materials; improve system wide sign management. In early 2024 the City began replacing existing signage with the new standards that we developed. We continue to assist the City with signage updates in specific City parks.