The market town of Boston has much more to it than meets the eye. Positioned on the River Haven, it has a rich nautical history, playing an important role in the passage of the Pilgrim Fathers to the United States.
The challenge in this two-phase project was to create a cohesive scheme across both phases that improved visitor connections not only within the town but in its environs to help visitors stay a little longer and explore a little further.
Phase One focused on Boston’s town centre. We identified existing finger posts to be updated and reprioritised, developed a new town centre map and installed new orientation and interpretation monoliths.
Five years on we were back to support the Experience Boston project, broadening the focus of the wayfinding to help visitors explore attractions beyond the town centre.
Our signage linked in with a number of public art installations not only around the town but further afield into the countryside, out to the coast and to the RSPB reserves at Frampton and Freiston Shore. Some art installations en route were inspired by navigation buoys. Our sign designs incorporated wildlife illustrations, enhancing connections with the nature reserves, and included a trail map to enhance connections for the art project.
In phase one, we used Boston’s role as a historic port as its defining theme to incorporate into the graphics. The colours we chose reflected the waterside character. And we drew up a design toolkit to inform future signage and interpretative schemes.
Working closely with the Experience Boston team in phase two, our signs helped to further enhance visitor experience, by introducing a new sign type with a continuous design aesthetic that strengthened Boston’s identity in the public realm.
Placemarque’s scheme delivered a unique solution, and the team was efficient and enjoyable to work with. They understood our requirements and were innovative in helping develop a cohesive scheme that was also complementary to the existing street scene and historic environment of Boston.
The design toolkit has been successfully adopted and used in a number of resources such as visitor materials and our website, and the scheme has been widely well received.
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