Thursday, July 31, 2008
CD Package Design
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Whole Foods World Headquarters
I created the way finding system and decor for the Whole Foods Market world headquarters parking garage from concept to completion. The job began with a sight survey and photo shoot to assess what was needed. It is a three story underground parking garage directly under the store and has an escalator that takes customers to and from the interior of the store. The problem was that it was dark and confusing. I created a package of concept art to propose a solution and to clearly show what the finished job would look like and how it would work. After the concept was approved I created all of the production art for the column wraps, maps etc. using Illustrator and pre pressed the files for large format print production. The graphics for the columns were printed on adhesive vinyl and the wall graphics and text were painted with stencils. The custom internally lit map boxes were fabricated and the large maps were printed on adhesive vinyl and installed on a hard board inside the glass.
I am proud of the end result of this job. I successfully created a visual system based on color and iconography that can be easily understood. I created this system so that from anywhere in the garage you can clearly see the parking markers on the columns and easily find your way back to your vehicle. The finished job brightened up the garage and makes it pop with lively color. All of the columns that are exposed to traffic were decorated with iconography, making them clearly visible to prevent drivers from accidently running in to them. The system also serves the purpose of continuing the Whole Foods branding ID from the time the customer enters until the time they leave.
When I was younger I used to hang out outside the original Whole Foods on the patio drinking smoothies while visiting with friends and family. There was an old cork board where I would hang up flyers and such, and I would wonder if people could see it clearly enough when they walked by to enter the store. Now days when I go to Whole Foods it is a real cool feeling to see what a huge visual impact I have made on this Austin icon.