Mayor Rawlings-Blake Announces Finalists For Design of New City Gateway Signage

Project will develop a set of design solutions and improvements that will ensure Baltimore’s gateways reflect the diversity and creativity found throughout the City

BALTIMORE, Md. (Friday, September 25, 2015)—Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced the selection of five finalists in the competition to design new city gateway signage.  In collaboration with Department of Transportation (DOT), Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), Baltimore Public Art Commission and an independent design professional, a jury chose the five finalists to proceed to the second round of the competition.

"This competition will allow the artistic community to offer creative input that will showcase Baltimore as the inclusive and welcoming City that it is," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "Designing new gateway signs for Baltimore will add to the beautification of the City and effectively navigate visitors through Baltimore's neighborhoods and charming communities."

The first round consisted of a national request for qualifications where groups submitted their resumes, past work samples and statements about working on designing new gateway signs for Baltimore. For the second round, each finalist team will be provided a $1,500 stipend to develop a proposal describing the conceptual and visual approach they will take to designing the signage and a projected budget and timeline for their proposed solutions.

The five finalists represent creative professionals with backgrounds in architectural and artistic uses of typography, fun and attractive outdoor sculpture, corporate and civic commissions, creative and unique environmental design solutions and high quality fabrication.

The finalists are:

• Ashton Design (Baltimore) – a Baltimore based, multidisciplinary design firm with clients ranging from sports arenas to school campuses and large retail centers.  Ashton Design’s work can be recognized locally at Camden Yards, the MICA campus and Canton Crossing.
• Krivanek +Breaux/ Art + Design (Chicago) - a team comprised of public artists and designers with a vision to create and implement comprehensive, multifaceted public design-art programs for urban environments.  In their own works they hope to enhance public navigation and sense of place by developing a system of progressive public design-art elements for Baltimore.
• Jillian + M Design Design (Baltimore) - a team of two Baltimore-based designers Jillian Erhardt and Emily Goldstein with backgrounds in typography, signage and environmental design. The team describes themselves as “experience and youth, combined to create stunning solutions that withstand time and trend.”
• Post Typography (Baltimore) - a Baltimore-based creative studio that specializes in graphic design, illustration, custom lettering and conceptual typography with occasional forays into art, apparel and design theory. The studio states that this project is “a perfect intersection of the studio’s interests: lettering, typography, signs, community engagement and Baltimore.”
• R& R Studios (Miami) - the collaborative office of Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt, a self-described “multidisciplinary practice of visual art, exhibition, architectural, and urban design.” Their works propose stories and spaces that alternate between intimate and monumental. They have been called “Architects of Hope” by the curator of the Miami Art Museum.

The finalists’ proposals are due by the end of October 2015, and then the selection process will follow.