Noë & Associates was commissioned to design the brand and signage for Domino Park, a new 5-acre park in Williamsburg, on the site of the former Domino Sugar refinery. The park, developed by Two Trees and designed by James Corner Field Operations, restores access to the waterfront, and features a new Danny Meyer taco stand ‘Tacocina’, a volleyball court, dog run, and playground. The backdrop of the park nods to the history of the refinery by incorporating its industrial remnants, including a syrup collection tank and 80-foot high gantry cranes.
The Domino name, retained from the site’s heritage, was used as inspiration for the park’s symbol and visual language. A tree icon, often used in municipal park branding, was made from the dot grid seen in domino tiles. A supporting typographic palette and wordmark were informed by stencil lettered signage found in the factory. The typeface, Ano Stencil, is a contemporary take on of this style of typography and was chosen to have synergy and balance with the Domino tree symbol as well as reinforce the symbol’s utilitarian, industrial quality. Both symbol and typography can be hand stenciled or punched out of materials.
Scope: Identity, Guidelines, Signage, Film.
Architectural DigestDomino Park Will Redefine the Williamsburg, Brooklyn Waterfront
It was important that the signage scheme had a synergy with the park’s design, material palette, and unique setting. As part of the design strategy, Noë & Associates created an industrial language of ‘H beams’ used at varying sizes to unify the many sign types.
Threshold signs were precast and inset into the ground to signal the official entries into the park, repeating throughout the length of the 5-acre site, referencing the repeat of a domino tile.
The opportunity to create a brand in parallel with the signage design enabled a very tailored approach, resulting in a dynamic, engaging signage scheme which takes advantage of every element of the identity to continue Domino Park’s unique story.