New Iconic Signs
As part of Signal and Turn
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Blythe Mariano
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Gus Tafoya
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Aiko Jio
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Celine Gordon
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Dusty Deen
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Gael Luna
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Joseph Stacey
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Kori Wood
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Roberta Begaye
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Zahra Marwan
In 2023 we proposed to the City of Albuquerque Arts Board a series of design charrette workshops that would generate innovative methods for engaging with Albuquerque’s empty signs over the next 10 years. This initiative hoped to bring the community together to brainstorm a set of guiding principles for creating New Iconic Signage: road sign designs that can define our time.
10 artists were selected to participate in the charettes and design sigs that would be installed around Albuquerque. When more funding became available, we were able to bring in 5 additional artists to create designs for future signs.
Graphic recording by Téyo Saree
Design Charettes
“A charrette is a collaborative planning process that harnesses the talents and energies of all interested parties to create and support a master plan that represents transformative community change.” (Source: National Charrette Institute)
Artists were divided into three groups of five, each group attending one weekend of small-group brainstorming sessions to develop concepts that would inspire the future of road sign design in Albuquerque.
Artists responded to the discussions that came up in their charrettes by creating new artworks. Each group was given the same set of five sign structure templates, which represented five actual unique, empty signs found throughout Albuquerque. Using the templates as “frames” for their artwork, artists generated 15 prints per charrette, three versions of each of the five signs.
