Fort Mason requested an expanded site identity and wayfinding system that reflects its bold, contemporary cultural mission and helps visitors navigate the site’s somewhat confusing layout. Our conceptual approach centered on artful environmental graphic moments—strategic interventions that would bring the site to life and align it with Fort Mason’s raison d’être. These bold gestures were designed to transform navigation into discovery, layering contemporary expression over the historical foundation while celebrating what makes this place unique. Hunt Design took our design concept and completed the design development, refining and executing the vision. While not all of these compelling elements have yet been realized, the system built and installed to date is effective and functional, solving Fort Mason’s biggest problem: people getting lost.
Finding and navigating a center for arts and culture.
Once a military embarkation point for shipping soldiers across the Pacific, it now serves as a cultural destination that brings people and ideas together from around the world. The site’s DNA remains in its bones—the sense of departure and arrival, of gathering and dispersal—but its mission has fundamentally shifted. We honor the weight of its history while revering the vibrant present and limitless future of this center for arts and culture.
During the concepting phase, artful moments were developed that await their time—bold environmental graphics that would give Fort Mason a voice as distinctive as its mission. These strategic interventions are designed to emerge from the site’s character, creating moments of discovery that celebrate both the history and the creative energy that defines the place today. They represent the soul of what Fort Mason could express about itself, and may yet find their way into reality.
A series of functional wayfinding is found throughout the campus. Bathed in the bright and spirited orange of the Fort Mason identity, they are easy to spot in the muted environment. The system includes orientation monuments, directional signs, and interpretive panels, and can be used to create other signs as needed. The bold color choice ensures visibility while establishing a consistent visual language that unifies the sprawling site. The modular approach allows Fort Mason to expand the system organically as new programs and spaces are added.
Layers of stories are strategically distributed across the campus, enriching signage and providing people with an understanding of its history. These narrative elements weave Fort Mason’s past into the present experience, offering visitors glimpses into the site’s heritage while they navigate its contemporary cultural offerings. This approach transforms functional wayfinding into moments of discovery, where learning about the place becomes part of finding your way.
The design system was also extended to interior wayfinding across all the campus buildings.
