Today, more and more designers are hearing clients request that sustainable products and processes be used in their projects. These clients spend extra time, effort, and funds creating a “green” or LEED certified building, not only because of the environmental benefits, but also for the community and long-term economic benefits.

Join me for a walking tour around Boise, Idaho and see some of the best examples of environmental graphic design in the city.

The AIGA Symbol Signs collection was designed in the late 70s as system of universal symbols to be used on signage in public transportation systems, airports and other international hubs. As a collaboration between AIGA, the professional association for design, and the United States Department of Transportation, this collection of symbols was designed to communicate complex messages to people of different ages and cultures throughout national and international transit centers.

The typeface Frutiger was designed by Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger, completed in 1975. Due to the success of Frutiger’s recently designed Univers variant for use by the Paris Metro a few years earlier, he was commissioned by the French airport authority to design a new alphabet to be used in signage for the new Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris.

The concept of wayfinding is an important part of any well designed environment. When visiting a strange new place, viewers need to be able to find their way to their destination. A good wayfinding system will allow them to reach their destination easily, quickly and (hopefully) with as few headaches as possible. So what things make a wayfinding system successful?

New Jersey is the most densely populated and most culturally diverse state in the nation with more roadways per square mile than any other state. Because of the diversity of people, cultures, geography and tourist destinations, New Jersey is the perfect candidate for a statewide wayfinding plan.

As environmental designers, many of the projects we take on involve lots of information, and it’s our duty to organize, simplify and make it functional. One way to do so is by using grid systems to layout information in a clear and concise structure.

Color is one of those things that takes time and experience to really be good at. There are many nuances to choosing the right color palette — making sure the colors work well together, provide enough contrast, convey the right meaning and emotion, the list goes on. Probably the hardest part, for me anyways, is developing a solid color palette from scratch.

Now that you hopefully understand what environmental design is all about, you might be interested in pursuing it as your next career path. “How do I get started?” you ask. Well we’ve done some digging and come up with a number of ways to help you get started (or continue) in your career as an environmental graphic designer.

Environmental design is a field without borders, and is therefore commonly misunderstood. As a multidisciplinary profession merging so many different fields, it’s easy to understand how anyone not directly involved would get confused. That lack of clear definition, however, is arguably one of the profession’s strengths. As we go through its history and spectrum of design disciplines, we’ll try to plainly answer the question on most people’s minds: “What is it?”