Collingwood Yards arts precinct is populated by more than 50 separate tenancies, including 17 artist studios, a radio station, a performance space and a large public courtyard. This evolving community of artists and creatives is located on the site of the former Collingwood Technical School in Melbourne, Australia – a site of historic and artistic significance. As an independent not-for-profit, Collingwood Yards protects the emerging artists and arts organisations that are central to Melbourne’s creative future.

Design studio The Company You Keep worked with Collingwood Yards over an 18-month period on brand positioning, naming consultation, brand concepting, visual identity, collateral, wayfinding strategy and a signage package. Collingwood Yards required a brand and wayfinding system that could be easily adopted and adapted to suit the needs of the individual tenants, and engage a diverse visitor community.

The response is a civic approach that embeds intuitive wayfinding and signage outcomes into an urban context. The destination signage aligns to new architectural links through the outer buildings, encouraging visitors to explore the precinct.

The wayfinding and graphic applications are designed to be highly legible and accessible to a broad audience, utilising tactile maps and lift directories, while also being easily updatable, allowing for the signs to be ever-changing and direct visitors to key events in the precinct.

The overall execution also reflects the immediate needs of a not-for-profit, with each sign being highly durable and easy to maintain, with low fabrication costs, allowing Collingwood Yards to respond to the evolving nature of the precinct and its tenants.

Design: The Company You Keep; Tim Rob Don Dow
Director: Luke Brown
Client Service: Monica Laskowska
Wayfinding Strategist: Tim Dow
Signage and Wayfinding Designer: Jordan Rowe, JRCD
Type Designer: Vincent Chan, Matter of Sorts
Signage Production: Micio
Architect: Fieldwork
Builder: McCorkell Constructions