The Kinesiology, Wellness and Athletic Center (KWAC) will stand as a symbol of East Los Angeles College’s (ELAC's) commitment to holistic education and overall well-being. The architecture is designed to embody dynamism, movement, and growth and the environmental graphic design (EGD) team was challenged to support the design through wayfinding, signage, and architectural graphics. This vision lays the foundation for an identity that encapsulates vitality, excellence, and innovation by focusing on a few key moments around the site.
The KWAC building's approach features the Wellness Walk, Community Plaza, Promenade Plaza, and Avenue of the Champions. Organizational-wise, it's a nexus of users: students commuting to class, ELAC athletes, visiting student athletes, and community members. This intersection of access and users prompted the EGD team to craft a wayfinding system aligned with the architectural vision. The wayfinding podiums employ simplified pictograms and clear language to guide diverse users effectively, but these podiums were designed to mirror the mission of the KWAC through didactic or visual means. Within the Wellness Walk, podiums educate on movement and fitness systems, while select ones near the perimeter and inside capture dynamism through visual movement studies. The prototype employs translucent layers portraying a basketball player's shot, embodying movement through static imagery.
Inside the building at the lower level, the EGD strategies continue to build the Huskies and ELAC brand in the practice gym and main basketball court with imagery of players, the color palette of the team, and slogans on the court, bleachers, and walls. At the fan entrance of the basketball court, there is a moment for fans to take photos in front of a Huskies logo and #HuskiesLife. The location on the glass wall outside of the courts is ideal for social media campaigns and that “Instagram shot” without disrupting the game itself.
The north entrance to Main Street will mostly be used by students, so the graphic approach is focused on kinesiology. KWAC is represented through lit dimensional letters, as well as a backlit perforated panel. The plaza has a public art piece reminiscent of a lenticular graphic using an image of movement projected on angled surfaces to give a false sense of movement as it is walked past. The motif of movement is continued on the long wall of Main Street with a compositional abstraction of dance. All the kinesiology graphics are rendered in the color palette of the Huskies to suggest a blending of the dual nature of the building.
The KWAC building's approach features the Wellness Walk, Community Plaza, Promenade Plaza, and Avenue of the Champions. Organizational-wise, it's a nexus of users: students commuting to class, ELAC athletes, visiting student athletes, and community members. This intersection of access and users prompted the EGD team to craft a wayfinding system aligned with the architectural vision. The wayfinding podiums employ simplified pictograms and clear language to guide diverse users effectively, but these podiums were designed to mirror the mission of the KWAC through didactic or visual means. Within the Wellness Walk, podiums educate on movement and fitness systems, while select ones near the perimeter and inside capture dynamism through visual movement studies. The prototype employs translucent layers portraying a basketball player's shot, embodying movement through static imagery.
Inside the building at the lower level, the EGD strategies continue to build the Huskies and ELAC brand in the practice gym and main basketball court with imagery of players, the color palette of the team, and slogans on the court, bleachers, and walls. At the fan entrance of the basketball court, there is a moment for fans to take photos in front of a Huskies logo and #HuskiesLife. The location on the glass wall outside of the courts is ideal for social media campaigns and that “Instagram shot” without disrupting the game itself.
The north entrance to Main Street will mostly be used by students, so the graphic approach is focused on kinesiology. KWAC is represented through lit dimensional letters, as well as a backlit perforated panel. The plaza has a public art piece reminiscent of a lenticular graphic using an image of movement projected on angled surfaces to give a false sense of movement as it is walked past. The motif of movement is continued on the long wall of Main Street with a compositional abstraction of dance. All the kinesiology graphics are rendered in the color palette of the Huskies to suggest a blending of the dual nature of the building.
