Friendly Forms

Some art classes paint landscapes. We redesign tax forms. This is a start.. and will still undergo font, hierarchy, contrast and other aspects of accessibility rigor. I’m so grateful my students are as interested as I am in breathing life into some of the most challenging and information dense and yet common artifacts in our daily life.
What piles of dense information could we work on next?

The work of UW Madison students working on a simple experiment and exploration: Make the 1040 form more accessible and engaging.

Maps and Legends

I’ve been involved with how to apply information design to maps for facilities, events, transportation and museums since 2004. The approach is to create a map that is both branded to the client as well as functional to the visitor.

January 2023: For the new and completely restored Seven Acres Dairy in Paoli, Wisconsin

For the Minneapolis Institute of Art, in Minneapolis, Minnesota

For EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Even pilots Harrison Ford and John Travolta show up.

Mapping MSP (Minneapolis St. Paul airport)

MSP map, Terminal 1

For the Milwaukee Art Museum (campus map)

I love mapping places. As a kid, I loved the Six Flags theme park map. It’s so cool to do this sometimes for a living. Occasionally I will create a map for a client, I call this area of my practice, “Maps and Legends.”

One of my favorite research tools is to ask floor staff or volunteers what they think the problem areas are in their facility. They see issues everyday, like people not finding the exit or a bathroom, or just getting confused by the architecture or wayfinding, or lack of. Their insights are gold. Sometimes the client will ask where these brilliant subject matter experts are and I will tell them, “you know them, they are here everyday, they are your employees”.

Map for Ten Chimneys Estate in Wisconsin. Agency, Branding and Typography: Planet Propaganda

Interactive maps on a touchscreen for the Minneapolis Institute of Art interactive exhibit on Africa. MIA

Maps are copyright by various holders. None of the maps on this page are to be relied on for guidance as there may be more updated versions at the client sites.