City of Manteca

Downtown Manteca's civic buildings are spread across several blocks, and on busy streets it is easy to miss a turn. The city wanted directional signs that would tell visitors heading to City Hall, the courthouse or the DMV which way to go before they reached the intersection, and that would fit the look of a downtown lined with decorative street lights, older storefronts and flowering trees.

We made directional panels for the city that mount on the black decorative street-light poles along the downtown sidewalks. Instead of a plain, standard street sign, the city chose a customized shape and color scheme: each panel has a curved navy cap with MANTECA in white, a maroon field with white arrows and destination names, City Hall & Police, DMV, Library, Post Office and Courthouse, and a navy wave with a white stripe along the bottom edge. The lettering is set large and simple so drivers can read it at a glance.

Wayfinding signs have one job before anything else: they need to be legible. But they do not have to be plain, and a custom panel in a city's own colors helps a downtown feel cared for while it gets people where they are going.