The College of Davidson and Davie Counties serves 6,000 students annually with more than 50 curriculum programs and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013. The 97-acre, 15-building Davidson campus required signage design standards to accommodate its growth, and carry the DCCC brand in the built environment.
The campus is located along an Interstate highway and has three primary entrances with parking available near each building. Given the geography of the site, visitors need to know in advance which entrance and parking are closest to their destination.
We worked with DCCC to rename their entrances, parking, and buildings. Since a long donor name identified each building, they were shortened to match the abbreviations that people generally use on campus.
The exterior wayfinding signs help people navigate roundabouts throughout the campus and indicate which buildings/parking are located in a given direction. Once parked, pedestrian maps help orient people on foot. Interior signage standards mimic the design of the exterior in their materials, color, and typography.
- Pedestrian kiosks orient visitors to campus once they’ve parked. These maps are designed for weather and vandal resistance and can be inexpensively changed as the campus grows.
- Vehicular directional signs clarify where to turn for primary campus destinations and are designed to be easily read and understood from a moving vehicle.
- Parking lots are clearly named, visible from a distance and indicate which destinations are served by each lot.
- Vinyl graphics on building entrances list departments inside each building and can be easily changed.
- Interior maps help orient visitors to their location in each building.
- Interior guide information is designed to match the exterior program.
- On both the exterior and interior, space is available for student postings, such as events or announcements.
The Corbin team designed the entire program for maximum flexibility and cost savings: using common signage components, DCCC staff can direct any fabricator to build and maintain the signs.
