One of the benefits of working in our industry is the opportunity to collaborate with other designers and fabricators. We learn a great deal from each project and always look forward to sharing our knowledge. We recently worked with co-members of the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) Nashville Chapter to create a cool custom exhibit for Nashville PARK(ing) Day. This project brought a walk-through interactive map display of Nashville's parks and iconic locations to a small downtown parking space.

Check out the fun walk-through SEGD display we helped create for Nashville PARK(ing) Day! Photo Credit: Laura McCoy, TollesonMcCoy

National PARK(ing) Day is a nationwide initiative that began in 2005 in San Francisco. It started as an opportunity to reclaim green space in urban parking spaces and to create social interactions where they otherwise wouldn’t happen. The idea quickly spread into other cities, including Nashville, where it now takes place every year along Broadway & 2nd Avenue, The Gulch, and along 5th Avenue North. In these downtown areas, parking spaces are temporarily converted into fun, creative mini parks or "parklets" for one day.  

Nashville PARK(ing) Day 2018, which took place on Sept. 21, was organized by the Nashville Civic Design Center. More than 50 teams made up of businesses and organizations created 80+ mini parks, many of which were designed to support a cause. The Nashville Civic Design Center will announce this year's "Golden Traffic Cone" winner for best mini park on Oct. 4.

For this year’s event, we collaborated with members of SEGD to create an interactive custom exhibit of Nashville’s park system as if you’re standing in a map. We fabricated four standing structures made out of recyclable material that people could walk through. As visitors glanced to the sides, they could look at maps which showed the locations of local parks and other iconic Nashville venues.  The image below shows a close up version of one of the maps.

Similar to the game I-Spy, visitors could view maps like these up close and try to identify the locations of Nashville parks and iconic venues. Photo Credit: Laura McCoy

Each structure was 7.5’ tall x 30” wide. The outside walls of the structures contained one large letter on one side, with all four spelling out “SEGD” when placed together. The other sides contained arrow graphics in SEGD’s brand colors. We also printed four circular shaped, red “You Are Here” graphics on banner material which was placed on the ground under the structures. We installed the temporary exhibit in a downtown parking space along Broadway near the Ernest Tubb Record Shop.

We assembled the standing structures on site in downtown Nashville. Check out the cool van in the background! :-) Photo Credit: Laura McCoy

Here's a view of the SEGD mini park from the street side. Photo Credit: Laura McCoy

SEGD’s mini park was eye-catching, engaging and created a fun “I Spy” game for visitors as they looked for various parks and venues inside the structures. We enjoyed working with members of SEGD on this exhibit. It was a fun experience, and we look forward to telling you more about our collaborative projects with SEGD members in the future!

Does your business or organization need ideas or help designing and fabricating a custom project or exhibit? We can help! Our designers have the talent and experience to create something truly unique for you.

We also specialize in vehicle advertising wraps, environmental branding, wall murals, window graphics, architectural signage, and trade show displays. We serve Middle Tennessee, including Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Lebanon, La Vergne, and Hendersonville, but our custom products can be shipped nearly anywhere in the US or Canada.

Give us a call at (615) 595-6564 or click on the button below when you’re ready to get started!

We're proud to be a member of the SEGD. This non-profit organization is a global, multi-disciplinary group of professionals who plan, design, and build experiences that connect people to place. To learn more about SEGD, click here.