JTC Monument Header Option1

Cus­tom Signs Help Build A New Town Center

Dig­i­tal mon­u­ment sign, wayfind­ing sig­nage, inte­ri­or ADA sig­nage, graph­ics, and a his­to­ry wall for a new indoor-out­door com­mu­ni­ty space in John­ston, Iowa.

Team­ing up with OPN Archi­tects and Con­flu­ence Land­scape Archi­tec­ture to cre­ate a dig­i­tal mon­u­ment sign, wayfind­ing sig­nage, inte­ri­or ADA sig­nage, and a his­to­ry wall for a new indoor-out­door com­mu­ni­ty space in John­ston, Iowa.

Latitude was very helpful in letting us understand how the site would flow, and how we can aid that in terms of signage. I also appreciated Latitude’s effort to show their process, much of which is custom built.

Thomas Thatcher, WELL AP, OPN Architects

A Quick His­to­ry Lesson

JTC Interior Graphics Portrait500

Just out­side of Des Moines, Iowa, a set­tle­ment that would lat­er become the city of John­ston was estab­lished in the mid-1800s. The area grew in the ear­ly 1900s with the devel­op­ment of a rail­road sta­tion and Camp Dodge, a mil­i­tary train­ing site. Lat­er Hen­ry A. Wal­lace found­ed the Pio­neer Hi-bred Corn Com­pa­ny (now known as Corte­va) in the area, boost­ing employ­ment and housing. 

Despite all of its growth, the city of John­ston nev­er estab­lished a tra­di­tion­al town square and wasn’t offi­cial­ly incor­po­rat­ed until 1969. In hon­or of the town’s 50th anniver­sary, the city began to con­struct the John­ston Town Cen­ter.

The new town cen­ter is a com­bi­na­tion of gov­ern­ment offices, such as City Hall, space for future retail shops and restau­rants, as well as out­door spaces for the com­mu­ni­ty to gather. 

Exte­ri­or & Future Ten­ant Wayfind­ing Signage

To direct res­i­dents and vis­i­tors to the new splash pad, park area, and office spaces, Lat­i­tude Latimer Group cre­at­ed a dig­i­tal mon­u­ment sign and wayfind­ing sig­nage. We worked close­ly with OPN, the archi­tect, and Con­flu­ence | Land­scape Archi­tec­ture, to cre­ate sig­nage for both the out­door gath­er­ing spaces and inside the John­ston Town Center. 

“The team want­ed the sig­nage to seam­less­ly match the lime­stone and met­al details used on the build­ing,” says Tony Squire, Cen­tral Iowa Sign Expert. ​“It was essen­tial to cre­ate a cohe­sive design between the indoor and out­door ele­ments of the Town Center.”

A large mon­u­ment sign with a two-sided dig­i­tal mes­sage board greets guests turn­ing into the complex.

It was important to the city of Johnston that the monument sign make a notable first impression to those entering the site. The use of high-quality materials and a relatively large scale would convey the quality of the overall development

Denise Hurt, Project Manager, Confluence Landscape Architecture
JTC Exterior Collage wide

As you dri­ve into the area, a long, low wayfind­ing sign directs pedes­tri­an and vehi­cle traf­fic. This illu­mi­nat­ed alu­minum sign has pan­els that can eas­i­ly be updat­ed with busi­ness names as the Town Cen­ter con­tin­ues to grow with retail busi­ness­es being added in future con­struc­tion phas­es. ​“Lat­i­tude was very help­ful in let­ting us under­stand how the site would flow, and how we can aid wayfind­ing in terms of sig­nage,” says Thomas Thatch­er of OPN Architects.

Cus­tom Exte­ri­or Dimen­sion­al Let­ter Signage

Inno­v­a­tive sig­nage solu­tions con­tin­ued with cus­tom exte­ri­or sig­nage installed on the build­ing. The city of Johnston’s logo is a thin script font that required cus­tom fab­ri­ca­tion to cre­ate a dimen­sion­al logo sign for the build­ing. ​“As soon as you see it, you notice how nar­row the stroke width is on the let­ters. Our pro­duc­tion team was able to craft these beau­ti­ful­ly del­i­cate-look­ing let­ters that are durable enough to stand up to Iowa’s dra­mat­ic weath­er,” says Squire.

Inte­ri­or Sig­nage & His­to­ry Wall Signage

Inside City Hall, you’ll see anoth­er thin-let­tered John­ston logo sign. It is installed on a hand­some wood wall craft­ed from the trees cut down to make space for the John­ston Town Center. 

This sig­na­ture wood wall also fea­tures a his­to­ry wall sign and acrylic logo. It has dig­i­tal­ly print­ed images and copy that walks vis­i­tors through the time­line of Johnston’s his­to­ry. In the lob­by, vis­i­tors will also see a detailed map of the City of John­ston dig­i­tal­ly print­ed on wood pan­els. ​“Dig­i­tal­ly print­ing on wood can be a chal­lenge because wood can absorb the ink if not done prop­er­ly and you only get one shot at the print. The grain and col­or of the wood also affect the design/​colors used,” says Squire. ​“The end result here is a high-impact wall that is such a unique fea­ture for this com­mu­ni­ty center.” 

Lat­i­tude also pro­vid­ed a full suite of inte­ri­or sig­nage includ­ing dis­trac­tion dots on glass walls and doors, ADA sig­nage, wayfind­ing sig­nage, and room iden­ti­fiers that blend seam­less­ly with the wall color. 

Digitally printing on wood can be a challenge because wood can absorb the ink if not done properly and you only get one shot at the print. The grain and color of the wood also affect the design/colors used.

Tony Squire, Central Iowa Sign Expert

Project Part­ners

With a com­plex project that includes so many inte­ri­or and out­door pub­lic spaces, it was essen­tial that Lat­i­tude work well with all the design­ers and archi­tects on the con­struc­tion team. ​“Lat­i­tude pro­vid­ed con­tin­ued guid­ance through­out the design and con­struc­tion of the signs. We had test­ed a few ideas, and with their help, we land­ed on the most strate­gic and suc­cess­ful option for the final design. Their under­stand­ing of the needs of the sign itself helped both the design team and the city find the best design for their use. It was a tru­ly hands-on approach to solv­ing a prob­lem,” says Thatch­er of OPN Architects. 

If you’re look­ing for a sig­nage part­ner that can eas­i­ly ​“fit” with your con­struc­tion team, reach out to Tony or any of our sig­nage experts. 

Related Case Studies