Case Study: Oak Brook Park District

The OakBrook Park District, created in 1962 and located in Illinois, owns and maintains seven parks. Central Park, a 70+ acre public park, is home to the District’s Tennis Center, Family Recreation Center, Fitness Center, Aquatic Center, Gazebo, administration office and several outdoor athletic fields, playgrounds and a walking/bike path.

Wayfinding for a City Park

Oak Brook Park District desired a new building identification and wayfinding program that was both durable and flexible, but with a design to complement the park surroundings. The sign system was designed to display unique graphic images, a bold font for the park name, and focused on natural color tones and nature images that clearly defined the property.

A key feature of the sign design was use of a trapezoid shaped post. This feature was picked because of the design characteristic (interesting post shape and ability to mix/match post styles), the functionality (multiple stacked message panels for easy changeability) and print-on-panel graphics application technology for durability.

Latitude provided fabrication consultation as the challenge was in direct digitally printing onto a custom shaped post element, which was thicker than most digital print machines commonly used in the industry. The curved shape of the post also was a complication in the direct printing process.

The designer chose Modulex Compass for this project because of the design characteristics (interesting post shapes and ability to mix/match), the functionality (multiple stacked panels for easy changeability) and print-on-panel graphics application technology for durability.

Services provided:

• Value Engineering
• Fabrication Consultation
• Installation