City of Iowa City, IA

As an integral part of the City of Iowa City downtown streetscape project ArtHouse Design led a wayfinding and placemaking effort centered on the City’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage City of Literature, made famous by the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. By creating a system of small-footprint, but high impact wayfinding and map kiosks, as well as banners, a new branded identity and gateways the ArtHouse team was able to reposition the aging pedestrian mall at the heart of the downtown district for a new era of students, visitors and locals to enjoy. Using translations of the word ‘welcome’ from all over the world (and every continent), the signage elements are imbued with the international flair that comes with the UNESCO designation.