SDGE (Freelance) – Environmental Graphic Design, Wall Murals, Specialized Fabrication Design, Wayfinding Assessment
The Experience Center in San Diego serves the community in many ways. This is not only an outreach center to the community but a control center for disaster response and the hub of operations for decision-making and media relations during an emergency.
Building a Dynamic Experience
Usually, a designer in my position is concerned with the entry experience and tying in a few graphic elements on small signs here and there.
For the SDGE Experience Center, the look and feel needed to not only translate to the entire facility but also needed to grow and develop as you enter deeper into the behind-the-scenes areas.
We started with something iconic to any power company, a circuit board diagram that could be repurposed throughout the structure.
As the pattern moved from the entry area to the far reaches of the building, the circuitry changed to larger and larger versions of the pattern, providing the sensation of progress through the facility.
Beginning in the lobby, the pattern welcomes visitors to the Experience Center, where tours are conducted on a regular basis.
This section of the lived environment introduces the design language that will be carried throughout, connecting different aspects of the facility with a cohesive pattern.
After the development of this graphic, electrical engineers working for SDGE inspected and verified that the circuits we set in the artwork would be coherent as actual diagrams.
The entryway also introduced the color palette that would define the look and feel of our background on the walls. Everything from branding and logo treatments to gradient color fades along the walls to cityscape images in matching tones was employed.
Moving deeper into the facility, the displays become more functional as the purpose of the back-of-house areas are more for official business than public consumption. All aspects of the environment are augmented with the designs, including windows, doorways, walls, and the donor board.
