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HISTORIC DOWNTOWN KISSIMMEE
KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA
Wayfinding Master Plan and Design Guidelines for a Historic Florida City.
Most people think of Kissimme as the gateway to Walt Disney World, but in truth the City has a rich and storied past. Incorporated in 1883, the City was a major shipping port in Florida’s early history, where steamships transported the first pioneers and their goods along the newly created waterways to the South. In the decades that followed, the City was home to the State’s cattle and citrus industry—and remained as such until the early 1970’s when Disney moved in next door and tourism became the area’s primary industry. We were honored to contribute our wayfinding and environmental graphic skills as part of a team hired to develop a new comprehensive master plan and design guidelines for the historic districts in the City’s downtown.
FLORIDA'S WILD WEST
Today’s downtown Kissimmee has a quaint, small town atmosphere with a bit of a western character that harks back to the City’s cattle rearing days. Their existing wayfinding capitalized on this theme and incorporated cowboys, cattle, spurs and western typefaces into the sign graphics and fixtures. Although the graphics were attractive, the system lacked cohesion and fell short in providing adequate direction and orientation for visitors. Our first steps were to analyze the existing conditions, establish the needs of the City and community, and create a plan that would improve the overall wayfinding in the area.
OUR APPROACH
We decided that it was appropriate for the sign program to have a historical character, and to tone down the western theme. The City had considerable money invested in existing gateway signs and we agreed that some of the existing system should remain. The signs we proposed are designed to complement the remaining graphics, while dramatically improving the overall system. We recommended new vehicular directional signage that would steer visitors to the most important cultural institutions and recreational areas. We designed new pedestrian signage that would both direct and orient visitors to the unique shops, restaurants and lively nightlife establishments that line City’s main street. We created new parking directional and identity signs to assist visitors in locating the many different public parking locations throughout the City, and designed an historical marker program to promote the City’s rich history at each of the many historical venues in town. Our final deliverables included detailed design intent documents for each of the recommended new sign types, as well as estimated fabrication and implementation costs that the City could use to plan and budget the work. The final guidelines gave the City the comprehensive plan that they needed to improve and expand the existing wayfinding system, and provide both locals and visitors with an improved downtown experience.
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