Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, & Procreate

Large Map: 22”x28”, Trail Segment Signs: 8.5”x11”, Trail Navigation Signs: 4”x26”, Rooted Stop Signs: 22”x16”, Drop Ahead Sign: 8.5”x11”, Brochure: 4”x11” unfolded

Aimed at active, nature-loving adults, Rooted Routes helps bikers improve their skills while encouraging all users to explore, navigate, and appreciate the environment.

Rooted Routes is a large-scale environmental design project containing a design system that carries cohesion between various design spaces. Specifically, Rooted Routes is a wayfinding system for Ulrich Wildlife Preserve in Morton, IL that provides maps, informative signage, trail details, wildlife info, difficulty ratings, and more to mountain bikers and hikers.

After creating a logo for Rooted Routes, I moved on to create the navigation system and brochure. Using photos I took from these trails, I worked in Photoshop to create mockups for the signage to show how it would be applied. I chose the green, orange, and yellow color palette to nod to the natural environment, while still popping out of its surroundings. I didn’t want the colors to be invisible within their environment, so choosing colors that contrasted the setting was important to me. With the primary audience being male mountain bikers, I chose a style that is a little more masculine and worn by implementing textures and bold and tall sans serif typefaces.