Category: Visual information systems

Old Town Boulevard

Posted on by Bartosz Kędzierski

The area of the Old Town Boulevard follows the layout of Wrocław’s historic city fortifications. Today, the grounds along the former city moat form a green recreational belt marking the boundary of the Old Town. The Old Town Boulevard is the final section of this belt to be opened to the public. It is defined by the moat, the Oder River, and the buildings of the former hospital complex. Now, it’s a place where residential, recreational, commercial, and service functions meet.

The site once occupied by the All Saints Hospital had long remained a blank spot on the city map. During construction and excavation works, remnants of fortifications from the 16th to the 20th centuries were uncovered, along with traces of a castle, a bridge, and numerous historical artefacts. These discoveries naturally transformed the area into an open-air exhibition of Wrocław’s layered history.

Our task was to design the wayfinding and interpretive signage for the area, and to present its story in an accessible yet factual manner. We collaborated with researchers specializing in the site — Dr. Małgorzata Wójtowicz and Dr. Piotr Kmiecik. Our scope covered the full visual concept: place branding, signage design, and several graphic installations integrated into the complex’s architecture.

For the signage, we used steel I-beam structures in varying sizes: the largest ones carry maps, the medium-sized provide directional and historical information, and the smallest serve as carriers of short messages. The color system distinguishes functions — green elements support navigation and orientation, while those in an iron-red hue communicate historical context. The buildings of the former hospital are also marked with plaques containing historical notes.

In the graphic design, we chose the Di Grotesk typeface by Marian Misiak from THREEDOTSTYPE, a type designer originally from Wrocław. Based on this font, we developed a series of icons symbolizing both functions and key architectural landmarks. The arrow forms from Di Grotesk also inspired the logo mark of the Old Town Boulevard.

Allcon SIW Parking

Posted on by Bartosz Kędzierski

Our projects aren’t always about creating a bespoke design for a specific location. We’re increasingly tackling universal signage systems that will be used across multiple facilities. In such cases, the key is to create a clear, functional, adaptable, and cost-effective solution.

This solution is cost-effective and practical for investors conducting large-scale operations – utilizing an existing system instead of creating a new one each time speeds up work and allows for maintaining the high quality of the parking spaces. After all, the garage entrance is currently the main entrance for many users.

This was the nature of the SIW created for the underground garages of Allcon’s Tricity developments. We opted for black and white with a touch of gold, basing the linear graphics on simple, repetitive patterns – emphasizing the building entrances and the rhythms of the columns.

Millennium Bank Gdańsk

Posted on by Bartosz Kędzierski

Our project at two Millennium Bank branches in Gdańsk included signage and wall graphics. The graphic designs were inspired by the bank’s motto, “Inspired by people,” hence the numerous motifs of faces, human silhouettes, hands, mouths, and eyes. Stylistically, these graphics draw on the popular line art of recent years.
In the wall graphics, we also referenced values ​​related to the bank’s mission, such as security, dynamism, mobility, user-friendliness, and locality. The result is a diverse and wide range of wall art.

We also created frosted glass panels for the conference room windows.

DCS POLANA JAKUSZYCKA

Posted on by Bartosz Kędzierski

Polana Jakuszycka is an iconic place on the sports map of Poland, located in the Sudety Mountains on a mountain pass on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. The microclimate, picturesque location, natural beauty and numerous ski, cycle and hiking trails make it a hugely popular tourist and sports destination. The Bieg Piastów cross-country skiing competition, the most famous mass event of this discipline in Poland, has been held there since 1979.

Dolnośląskie Centrum Sportu Polana Jakuszycka (DCS), a multifunctional sports facility, began its operation on Polana Jakuszycka in the winter season of 2023, serving as a tourist and sports base, fully harnessing the potential of the destination. Competitions and training camps can now take place there all year round: cross-country skiing, biathlons, MTB, and running.

Our task was to prepare the signage for this multi-purpose facility used by hundreds of skiing, mountain biking and trekking enthusiasts. The building houses changing rooms for athletes, a hotel, a conference centre, restaurants, a bistro, a swimming pool, a sports hall, and an interactive centre, among others. An underground car park has also been built underneath the sports arena with the biathlon shooting range. Our aim was to subtly convey the sporty nature of the venue and incorporate the signage elements into the interiors and architecture of the building.

A distinctive feature of the signage are the vertically mounted yellow-painted steel profiles providing information about the main functions of the building. The inspiration for these elements came from the skis that athletes place on racks in between training or competitions. They form an interesting combination of vertical shapes in different colours, with elements of different sports brands’ typography and branding. We opted for a yellow differentiator in our DCS signage system – influenced by the branding of the facility, it effectively stands out in the interiors and provides a strong contrast, clearly legible for the visually impaired. Another important element of the building’s identity is the patterning, which we assigned to the four floors of the building. The designs are a synthesis of the footprints left on the ground by athletes of various disciplines: cross-country skiers (classic style and skate), MTB cyclists, as well as cross-country skiers and hikers conquering the mountains on foot.
In the graphic design, we referred to classic Olympic icons from the 1970s and created a typeface that we used for signage and numbering, and that can also be used in the venue’s marketing materials. We also prepared a database of synthetic graphic forms, which we used to create several simple murals complementing the graphic design of the building.

The facility has enjoyed considerable popularity since it was opened. It is not only the venue of major sporting events, but is also very popular with local communities. It can be reached directly by train from Wrocław or the Czech Republic – the train station is right in front of the entrance to the building.

CITY SPACE SIW MIDPOINT 71

Posted on by Bartosz Kędzierski

The City Space branch, located in the Midpoint 71 office building in Wrocław, needed a feature that would intrigue passersby and inform visitors to the building about what CitySpace is and what it offers.

The goal was to attract new customers – this network of flexible offices offers rental workspaces for both large companies and desks for individuals, such as sole proprietors.

We proposed a spatial installation that seamlessly flows from the lobby to the building’s exterior. It sometimes appears as a wall relief, sometimes as a “growth” on a column, and sometimes as a bench. We consistently used the colors and graphic elements found in the CitySpace interior design.