Thought­ful­ly designed sig­nage on the cam­pus of April Samp­son Can­cer Center

April Samp­son Can­cer Cen­ter in Lin­coln, Nebras­ka, is a new can­cer facil­i­ty offer­ing advanced tech­nol­o­gy and treat­ment in a heal­ing, com­fort­able envi­ron­ment. Bryan Health and Can­cer Part­ners of Nebras­ka col­lab­o­rat­ed on the 140,000-square-foot build­ing, which unites near­ly every ele­ment of can­cer care and treat­ment under one roof.

We had part­nered with Bryan Health on sig­nage projects before, so we imme­di­ate­ly jumped on board when they reached out to us for a com­pre­hen­sive sig­nage plan for April Samp­son Can­cer Center.

From wayfind­ing to room iden­ti­fi­ca­tion to dimen­sion­al graph­ics and more, Bryan Health relied on us to pro­duce a com­plete sign fam­i­ly that would match the facil­i­ty’s func­tion. As we began our brain­storm­ing and design phase, the two words we kept in mind were calm­ing and heal­ing.

Bryan Health allowed the Lat­i­tude design team free reign over the cre­ative process. Every­thing from the mate­ri­als and col­ors to the fonts was hand-select­ed. Our design­ers work with our in-house man­u­fac­tur­ing experts to ensure designs can be built uti­liz­ing the best mate­ri­als for the look and envi­ron­ment. Four design con­cepts were pre­sent­ed to the Bryan Health and Can­cer Part­ners of Nebras­ka teams before one was chosen. 

Inte­ri­or sig­nage in a health­care facil­i­ty must meet ADA com­pli­ance stan­dards that allow peo­ple of all abil­i­ties to eas­i­ly nav­i­gate the cam­pus. Cre­at­ing clear sig­nage is cru­cial, espe­cial­ly with a large space like the April Samp­son Can­cer Center.

But those signs serve anoth­er pur­pose besides being func­tion­al. The Bryan Health team want­ed the signs to add to the ambiance they want­ed their patients and vis­i­tors to feel. The design team chose a nat­ur­al wood grain, soft col­ors, and fin­ish­es that per­fect­ly match the build­ing. The fin­ished signs help build a heal­ing, calm­ing atmos­phere for all who vis­it the April Samp­son Can­cer Center.

Mul­ti­ple stake­hold­er groups through­out the facil­i­ty had to be looped into design plans and the approval process. Ear­ly in the process, some groups had dif­fi­cul­ty read­ing stan­dard project doc­u­ments, such as mes­sag­ing sched­ules and loca­tion plans. While some edu­ca­tion was need­ed to make the approval process smoother, the project man­age­ment team was able to act as a guide for the var­i­ous stake­hold­ers to ensure each per­son felt involved, com­fort­able, and excit­ed about our plan.

“With such a large project, there are always going to be chal­lenges to keep things on track with the time­line and keep every­one in the loop,” said Katie Gunia, project man­ag­er. ​“We real­ly val­ue bring­ing peo­ple togeth­er in the process and mak­ing sure the right peo­ple are mak­ing the best deci­sions possible.”

The April Samp­son Can­cer Center’s sign fam­i­ly project extend­ed to exte­ri­or sig­nage, includ­ing a grand mon­u­ment at the facility’s entrance, wayfind­ing sig­nage of var­i­ous sizes through­out the park­ing lot, and a build­ing logo. The cam­pus has a rel­a­tive­ly sim­ple lay­out, and the sig­nage makes it clear the dif­fer­ent entrances and park­ing areas for vis­i­tors, both new and returning.

But per­haps the most reward­ing piece of the project was the out­door donor recog­ni­tion dis­play. The cen­ter is home to a beau­ti­ful gar­den for patients and vis­i­tors, called the Gar­den of Hope and Heal­ing. The gar­den is filled with native plant­i­ngs and a walk­ing path around a grove of trees. Com­mu­ni­ty jour­nals are avail­able to share writ­ten reflec­tions with future vis­i­tors.

Through­out the gar­den, dif­fer­ent styles of plaques pay trib­ute to donors. You can find signs every­where you look that sym­bol­ize fam­i­lies hon­or­ing their loved ones and pro­vid­ing a nur­tur­ing place of peace and com­fort. Learn more about the gar­dens here or watch the video below.