Alberta Avenue Park
Attended Public Facility
Illustration, Signage & Experience Design for Accessibility
Alberta Avenue's history, strong community and athletic heritage, inspired the illustrations for this accessible public facility. CLD’s design resembles a vast children's storybook, committed to abilities at play, rest, work, and travel. Clay designed the signage and accessible operating labels to highlight needs and functions, and significantly approve accessibility for visitors and service providers.
The Alberta Avenue Park Washroom amenity plays an essential role in the community. An attendant is available on-site during operating hours, providing access and help to connect those in need to community and emergency services.
Art Director & Designer, Environmental & Accessible Design
Services: Art direction and creative illustration, experience, accessibility and signage design.
Client: City of Edmonton (Public infrastructure, parks & facilities). Architectural Lead: City of Edmonton.
Prime Consultant: ISL Engineering. Prime Contractor: Delnor Construction. Edmonton, AB.
Community: Central Edmonton community parks (Alberta Avenue and Boyle Street McCauley)
CLD’s human-centred and user experience design supported accessibility, uncontracted braille at the doors, and (UX) labels to assist with safety. CLD designed the facility signage and interior operating labels to highlight functions for visitors and service providers.
Clay’s illustration, information and experience design for this facility demonstrates the intersections of research, community, and accessible design for social-purpose they believe in.
Alberta Avenue Park
Constructed in 1976, the park and community centre are known for diverse and inclusive programming, festival events, large garden, bee yard, recreation areas, and connective pedestrian paths in a central mature neighbourhood that dates back to 1894—a time when Edmonton had about 1,000 residents. The City’s population is now over a million.
Located across from an arts centre serving artists with developmental differences and adjacent to the main Avenue of Champions, the amenity serves the community, park and pedestrian traffic.
Art & Design Direction
Our inner and outer lives are dynamic and diverse, and the artwork explores this guiding theme through geometric figures, expressive forms, changing perspectives, colours, patterns, and luminosity—in contrast and harmony.
Wayfinding & Accessibility
Art and information are vital parts of the CLD design process. Clay’s research and design processes inform the following approach:
Art As Landmark
Memorable, visually interesting and relevant
Directional Cues
Considered visual information related to needs
Descriptive Signage
Clarifies purpose, safety and procedures
Central Creative Ideas
Aspiring to animate the building surfaces and celebrate common and impactful daily connections with one another and ourselves, Clay chose to anchor central ideas into the art direction represented by key words and images. This concept sketch and these central ideas formed the thesis for his approach, inspired by the boundless imagination and creativity of children’s books.
Diverse Compassionate Connective
Committed Vivid Thoughtful
Illustration & Process
To illustrate and design at scale, Clay measured the building features and drew detailed elevation diagrams for a series of pencil-sketches on each aspect of the building exterior—then recreated detailed digital art at full scale.
These time-lapses are condensed recordings of the drawing process.
Concepts & Content
A children's book metaphor as approach to the illustrations, communicates a safe, inclusive space for activity and rest
Apply a cohesive visual in a reductive illustration style and controlled colour palette
Large-scale geometric forms illustrate a cohesive poetic visual expression
Design accessibility signage, including braille at the doors and operation labels that support a human-centred experience.
Visitors will find Alberta roses, braille readers, hand-tattoos, honey bees, patio lights, soccer clears, sudden weather changes, winter boots in early June, pickup basketball and ball hockey games—among the many things Clay loves about Edmonton.
Central Creative Themes
Through design research methods and in person observations, the visual content was guided by creative themes:
Animate the surfaces with illustration celebrating our diverse experiences, activities and connections.
Visualize geometry that converses with the landscape, figures that reflect healthy activity, and visual cues that support accessibility.
Illustrate the artwork in a contemporary style with an inclusive approach and feel.
