U.S. DOT’s Volpe Center Wins Wayfinding and Signage Awards

At the U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, our Graphics + Brand studio developed a comprehensive signage and wayfinding strategy that not only makes the building easy to navigate, but also reflects the institution’s identity as a transportation research center. And for it, the project won two awards, the 365: American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA Design) Year in Design Award and a Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) Merit Award, two programs that honor excellence in communication and experience design.

As the U.S. DOT’s primary research division, the center’s work encompasses all forms of transit, from land to air to sea. We expressed a sense of movement through typography—with each character styled to echo across the walls, as if moving through space. Numbers and department labels stretch horizontally, akin to a car or train speeding by, while numbers in the stairwells and elevator bays stretch vertically, mirroring the direction of travel. A series of images from the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s archive add color to the office floors—creating memorable spaces for the center’s staff. To create that same sense of motion, a group of pixels in each image was isolated and pulled across the walls to create a mural.

The SEGD jury writes that the project is “a successful example of a restrained approach that transcends utility, complementing the aspirations of the architecture. The subtle variations in kinetic graphics and typography successfully unifies and accentuates the environment, imbued with the space with a sense of place and purpose.”