Swamp Shop Sign Refresh
Gift Shop Sign Refresh
calacademy.org
March to May 2024
Creative Director: Rhonda Rubinstein
Design Oversight: Sterling Larrimore
Designer: Valentin Nguyen
The California Academy of Sciences is a research and science museum with an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and a natural history museum—all under one living roof. When the Academy reopened in 2008 after the 1989 earthquake, the new building maintained pieces from the old building as an homeage to the Academy’s legacy.
In 2024, the Academy renovated one of their gift shops to better reflect the Academy’s brand. I helped refresh the entry sign for the Swamp Shop. The main inspiration for the design are the mosaics built into the shop’s interior made by artist Guillermo Wagner Granizo, which were once at the old Academy’s swamp. Only a few of Granizo’s mosaic pieces remained at the Academy after the 1989 earthquake.
BEFORE — Shop was called “Lab Junior”AFTER — Shop with its newly renamed and installed “Swamp Shop” sign
inspirationThe refreshed Swamp Shop sign is inspired by the scale pattern on Granizo’s gila monster mosaic. The “confetti” scale pattern celebrates the mosaic and reflects the scaly creatures that generally live in swamps.
Gila Monster by Guillermo Wagner Granizo, which has been repurposed as a decorative part of the Swamp Shop.
processUsing Granizo’s mosaics as inspiration, I sketched different variations for the sign’s patterned background. The goal is for the refreshed sign to feel more modern, themed to a core part of the museum (in this case, the swamp), and branded.
STEP 1 — SKETCHES. Preliminary sketches of pattern studies for the mosaic tiles. I explored different variations of tiles — from large vs. small, straight vs. scattered, and connected vs. spaced out.
STEP 2 — PATTERN STUDIES. For the overall pattern direction, I explored different pattern and style variations such as small vs. big dots, and outlined vs. unoutlined dots.
STEP 3 — COLOR STUDIES. For the color of the blocks, I explored different themes inspired by the colors of the swamp. We decided to go with option 2 for its modern take on swamp/reptile colors.
STEP 4 — TYPE STUDIES. Type studies for the letters of each block tile. We decided to go with option 1 for its modern and simple design.
resultsThe final sign includes 22 blocks with alternating green-blue colors inspired by the swamp ecosystem. A colorful, guila monster-scale pattern runs down each block like celebratory confetti.
The letters that spell out “SWAMP SHOP” have classic striped details reminiscent of the nature of shopping (i.e. barcodes).
forever under construction