Span Graphics Support Bird-Safe Design Strategies

Chicago Architecture Center’s new exhibition aims to catalyze positive change on making cities safer and more welcoming for birds and diverse wildlife. Called Flyway City, the exhibit was designed and co-curated by architecture firm Studio Gang in collaboration with design studio Span. It features architectural models and mock-ups, original illustrations, photography, building materials, and interactive media, along with bird-related artifacts from local Chicago organizations and individuals, offering bird-safe design strategies.

Span’s Bud Rodecker and his team led the exhibition’s graphic design – working with Studio Gang and longtime collaborators at the CAC to establish the overall graphic look and feel. This included shepherding the graphic experience of every piece in the show — from the wall graphics to the exhibition panels – bringing the ecological themes of the exhibit to life in a way that was simple, accessible and well-designed.

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“Not only did we provide graphical guidance to bring humanity and emotion to the statistics and diagrams – including large-scale display typography to act as the voice of the exhibit’s mascot, the ovenbird,” adds Rodecker. “We also had to create order and hierarchy out of a lot of information, translating the ideas behind the exhibition concept into 3D space while telling a compelling story.”

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