The Let’sPlaySF! Initiative is a partnership between San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department and the San Francisco Parks Alliance (the Department’s fundraising organization) which seeks to inspire creativity and play for local children throughout the City. Let’sPlaySF has identified thirteen public playgrounds all around the city as priority projects for renovation and beautification.
The first playground targeted for renovation was Washington Square Playground in North Beach with construction launching in May 2018 by Treat Construction.
SF Parks Alliance funding is critical to the financing of the Let’sPlaySF! Initiative and the Alliance wanted to ensure that private donors to playground projects were appropriately recognized and honored as part of the overall design aesthetics.
Priority Architectural Graphics was invited to participate in this popular community initiative to develop design concepts, produce and install donor recognition signage for the Washington Square playground. Partnering with South Bend Design for graphic design, Priority Graphics and South Bend developed three unique concepts from more traditional plaque-based to innovative 3-D, drafting off the popular “hearts” project used for the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation’s 2004 donor recognition campaign.
The project team at SF Parks Alliance ultimately chose Priority Graphic’s “placemaking”, 3-dimensional block design, excited that this design could be successfully leveraged over the 13-playground renovation project.
The donor cubes display beautiful renditions of donor names, company logos with descriptive text and a vibrant color story which will be highly recognizable across all the Let’sPlaySF! Playgrounds. Created out of concrete blocks with porcelain-enamel faces, the blocks will also stand the test of time.
Priority Graphics is proud to be involved in this local, San Francisco community project and looks forward to continuing to fabricate and install the additional donor recognition signage for Let’sPlaySF!