Heritage, Community, and Inspiration Come to Life through the New Arie Crown Hebrew Day School Signage

Sign Design Challenges

Latitude Signage + Design collaborated to create a full Design-Build signage program. This included planning, design, manufacturing, and installation of donor and history displays, wall graphics, ADA room signs, and specialty pieces. The creative vision aimed to infuse the school's environment with vibrant and inspiring elements, making it a place where students feel a sense of belonging and inspiration.

The design phase faced several challenges, including an electrical fire at the new site. The fire shut down the building and all construction for more than six months. During that time, the Latitude team and Arie Crown stakeholders began the planning phase, which included identifying signage locations and creating messaging schedules from plans. From there, design began with coordinating the colors they would use to color code the school based on classroom or grade level.

Seven colors were chosen to coordinate with the architect’s vision and the furnishings selected by the interior designer. While it may sound easy, that process included several rounds of prototypes and samples as the team decided where and how each color would be used.

Bilingual Signs: Customization Is Key

A unique aspect of this project turned into a fascinating learning opportunity for the Latitude team. In keeping with Arie Crown’s heritage, all room identification signs needed to feature both English and Hebrew text. The Hebrew language carries deep cultural and spiritual significance and plays a vital role in preserving Jewish tradition, so getting the text right was imperative.

Latitude never shies away from a custom project, so the team got a deep-dive on the language, which is written right to left, has no capital letters, and incorporates intricate symbols. Arie Crown’s team provided invaluable guidance and expertise, proofreading and explaining corrections every step of the way.

Donor Wall: Honoring Donors and Community

The school’s new facility was made possible in large part by donor contributions. In fact, donors were heavily involved with the design and construction process, helping to review plans and provide their feedback throughout the project. The Arie Crown committee stressed the importance of paying tribute to their donors’ generosity to help build a sense of community and shared achievement.

What started as a 6-foot-tall x 18-foot-wide donor wall in the entryway evolved into 20 different donor signs that can be found throughout the Arie Crown campus. The sign types mark the category and level of donation. Many patrons donated funds for classrooms, entrances, and playgrounds. General donors are honored in the main donor recognition display, which can be expanded as needed.

Other displays include an Arie Crown history wall, a 3-foot by 8-foot "Thank you" to previous homes of the school in the community, and an alumni display wall. The school is a meaningful institution for many families in the Chicago area, and as they relocated, they wanted to preserve the history and traditions intact.

Building a History Wall

The history wall tells the story of Arie Crown from the 1940's to present. The school’s long history required close collaboration with subject matter experts. Materials were submitted, then organized and designed into a highly visual display that spans two walls. The entire piece was over 35 feet long, about six feet high, and turned the corner beautifully.

Because the display walls are in high-traffic areas, durable materials and mounting methods were chosen so that the elements will withstand generations of kids touching or leaning on them.
Materials included:

• 3M white control-tac wall graphics
• Flat-cut clear acrylic letters and numbers
• VHB mounting tape

The Grand Reveal

The project culminated in March 2025 when Arie Crown hosted their first event in the new facility for donors and community members. The exterior signage that welcomed them included aluminum lettering on the building that align with the clean exterior facade. In addition, monument signs keep the natural feel with faux-corten and white for the large main monument and the corner/address monument sign. The donor-specific monument signage, however, complemented well with the interior donor signage colors.
While many construction projects had been delayed due to the fire and other unforeseen challenges, all signage elements were in place and ready to be viewed. The event showcased the space’s transformation from a lackluster office building to fun and inspiring school.

This project would not have been possible without the close collaboration with Arie Crown’s team, which treated Latitude like true partners. Working together and staying positive through every challenge allowed everyone to deliver the best work possible.

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