Shannon Leigh Associates (Agency) – Print, Environmental, Coordination with Fabrication, Site Surveys, Wayfinding, and Identification Assessments
1440 Multiversity is a campus in Scott’s Valley that defies the usual definitions of both a healing center and an educational institution. The approach to holistic care, the bonds they embrace with nature, and the way they see healthy living express a different vision of higher learning.
From a biophilic approach to the arrival experience to the ways they integrated the plants and culture of the surrounding into their infrastructure, the task of building out environmental graphics took us in directions that have inspired other projects for years to come.
“Everybody raves about the entry signs; people have stopped at night just to look at the patterns.”
Gateway ID
There’s making a good first impression; then there’s making a better lasting impression. The client was interested in the former, but what we delivered was the latter.
Going through a long back and forth with the client, we tried many schematic passes with the design of the entry sign before settling on two principles, a natural woodgrain (or tree rings as the final product developed, and a multisectional design to reflect on the multi-faceted aspect of the organization we introduced.
Constructed out of corten cut with a water jet, illuminated with LEDs, and allowed to age naturally.
Campus Signage
The architecture of the buildings, the beauty of nature, we wanted that to be the focus of the traveler, the signs, therefore, had to blend and complement, not challenge or stick out.
The greatest challenge of this project was creating signs that were meant to be seen, yet stayed out of the prominence of the scene. To blend well enough not to be intrusive yet provide much-needed branding, identity, and wayfinding throughout the campus and the hiking trails on the adjacent land.
A less is more, simple and clean design that melts into the environment, only to show itself when needed.
Interior Graphics
Like the exterior of the structures, the interior signage needed to fit in. After several iterations of polymers and metallic materials, we realized that nothing would work in this environment that was not natural.
We then tried different types of wood species and settled on a medium tone that took to pyrography. The laser-scorched sections of the signs created wonderful positive and negative space while preserving the texture and grain.
Topped off with raised tactile and braille for code and a protective coating, these signs faithfully represent everything the multiversity intended to communicate.
