Final Chapter of the ACS Sign Design Project - Posted by Cady Staff

At Atherton Community School, two sessions before our scheduled field trips to the Bolton Design Centre and the new school construction site, we had students build individual cereal boxes with their personal logos and branding.  We wanted the students to think about the deeper meaning behind signage by creating a sign to represent themselves, first. They shared their personal cereal boxes with their peers before we broke them up in groups of four for their next challenge. In their groups, students developed logos for their school representing both their individual logos and a connection they shared. Students went through the design process to create strips for a display tube that would then house their individual cereal boxes in the school. It was truly a spirited day of design challenges and creativity!

On our last project day at school before our field trips, we divided students into three groups for three rotating challenges. Students worked on symbolic representations in one class, a design challenge focusing on budgeting limited resources in another class, and researching subject area topics and quotes in their last class. It was a calmer day having the students rotate in smaller groups, rather than working as a large team.

Field Trip Days       

Students were divided into two groups of 20 and 21 during our two field trip days. One of the groups went to the Bolton Design Centre to work on designing signs for the new school, along with creating sign samples on the laser printer. The other group worked on their exhibition presentation preparation and got to go on a walking field trip to the construction site of the new school building. I was really impressed by how well the Bolton Design Centre organized the day of team building and design challenges for the students. I also learned so much about Atherton on our walking field trip to the construction site of their new school building (which is rebuilding the old high school). Some of the teachers worked at the old school building and I learned about the history of the school. Atherton Community School is filling the gap left behind in the community when the old high school closed.

Presentations and Exhibition

The final step of the Sign Design project involved students presenting their learning to each other, their teachers, their parents and to a panel of school leaders and architects. In their Sign Design groups of four, students created PowerPoint presentations using these Roles and Guidelines. Students presented their laser cut sign prototypes and their top design idea to Chloe Andersen, an architect working on the signage for the new building. After formal presentations to their peers, teachers and architect (who completed a Rubric the students were given beforehand), students exhibited their work to parents and community members at a Friday exhibition and showcase of both the process and final work.  As one teacher described the communication exhibition by saying, “There was a real buzz about the place!”

For more details on this project, please visit the Sign Design Project Web Page.