Atlanta City Planners Have a New Way to Talk to Residents

Inside the redesign of public notice signs.

(Credit: Matchstic.com)

This is your first of three free stories this month. Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles, webinars and ebooks.

Become A Member

Public notice signs aren’t typically award-winning examples of sharp design, or titans of type. But a new partnership between Atlanta’s planning department and branding firm Matchstic aims to change that, with a rebrand emphasizing bright colors, simplicity and clarity.

“In Atlanta, the Department of Planning isn’t exactly known for being customer-oriented,” Blake Howard of Matchstic recently told Fast Company. “It’s like the equivalent of the DMV at times. We wanted to make it customer-focused and intuitive, and overhaul the visual branding to re-assert the department’s priorities.”

The city department’s new signs adhere to a consistent visual hierarchy, with bright colors and single letters given to each kind of public notice (“T” for tree removal, “B” for bike-share). Notices are often written in legalese, and many of those jargon-filled, technical phrases can’t be changed. But Matchstic designers decided to break up the text, place the most important phrases front and center, and cluster legal details off to the side, much like footnotes.

“It’s an exceedingly simple approach, but a brilliant example of how design can cut through bureaucratic systems to convey information clearly to the public,” according to Fast Company.

City halls from New York to St. Paul have been getting more creative with connecting art and artists to everyday municipal governing, especially when it comes to efforts around community-engaged design.

Designers have been tapped to visualize historic flood patterns. They’ve also given their energy to projects important to public agencies even if they’re not working directly with them, such as the mapping of the cost of mass incarceration. Mary Miss, the first artist-in-residence for New York City’s Department of Design and Construction has been working on a framework for what designers and artists can accomplish within city agencies.

Like what you’re reading? Get a browser notification whenever we post a new story. You’re signed-up for browser notifications of new stories. No longer want to be notified? Unsubscribe.

Rachel Dovey is an award-winning freelance writer and former USC Annenberg fellow living at the northern tip of California’s Bay Area. She writes about infrastructure, water and climate change and has been published by Bust, Wired, Paste, SF Weekly, the East Bay Express and the North Bay Bohemian

Follow Rachel .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Tags: urban planningcity hallatlantacommunity-engaged design

×
Next City App Never Miss A StoryDownload our app ×
×

You've reached your monthly limit of three free stories.

This is not a paywall. Become a free or sustaining member to continue reading.

  • Read unlimited stories each month
  • Our email newsletter
  • Webinars and ebooks in one click
  • Our Solutions of the Year magazine
  • Support solutions journalism and preserve access to all readers who work to liberate cities

Join 1085 other sustainers such as:

  • Lynn at $25/Month
  • Nat at $120/Year
  • Anonymous at $25/Month

Already a member? Log in here. U.S. donations are tax-deductible minus the value of thank-you gifts. Questions? Learn more about our membership options.

or pay by credit card:

All members are automatically signed-up to our email newsletter. You can unsubscribe with one-click at any time.

  • Donate $20 or $5/Month

    20th Anniversary Solutions of the Year magazine

has donated ! Thank you 🎉
Donate
×