Olympic Sculpture Park

Part of the Seattle Art Museum, the nine-acre Olympic Sculpture Park has welcomed visitors for nearly two decades. While its original signage was elegant and understated, it was not serving visitors well. Features were easy to miss, and the many rich stories of the landscape itself were absent. Our brief was to completely rethink the park’s signage, wayfinding, and storytelling while aligning it with SAM’s evolved brand. We built on that bolder, brighter identity, developed a new and vibrant illustration style, and folded in the iconic red of Alexander Calder’s Eagle sculpture — crafting a new system that is accessible, welcoming, and unmistakably part of the park.

Bold arrivals, intuitive wayfinding
New information points clearly announce each of the park’s three entrances, and feature a completely overhauled, more intuitive map design. Signature red wayfinding is folded neatly into the park’s architecture, designed to feel as though it has always belonged.

Fresh art interpretation
Accessible raised and angled displays feature original illustrations to help visitors easily identify sculptures. Artist quotations and QR codes encourage deeper exploration. Built with exceptionally durable materials and printing methods, the new signage is designed to last for years to come.

Revealing connections between art and nature
One of the park’s greatest untold stories was the landscape itself. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi on a former industrial waterfront, the park zigzags over roads and railway tracks before connecting to a restored natural shoreline. Working closely with the museum team, we developed a fresh and engaging interpretive program that reveals how art and nature intersect across this remarkable site.

“We continue to get FANTASTIC feedback about the signs at OSP and see significant increased engagement with the park and the art! It is so gratifying to see proof of concept in action.”  — Anita Shah, Chief Strategic Projects Officer & Chief Operating Officer, Seattle Art Museum