Design study, Waterfront
Bayfront Footbridge Opening
A self-initiated design study: Celebrate the new walking and biking bridge and get nearby neighbors using it in its first week.
These are self-initiated studies, not client work. Each is a fictional campaign; none was commissioned by, produced for, or approved by any agency or organization.
The brief
- Line of business
- Waterfront
- Audience
- Neighbors on the far side of the rail tracks who have had no safe walking route to the bay.
- Objective
- Celebrate the new walking and biking bridge and get nearby neighbors using it in its first week.
- When and where
- Saturday, June 12 | 9 am to 1 pm, Footbridge at Bayfront Plaza
Concept A: The Bay, Closer 12
For neighbors cut off by the tracks, the bridge is about belonging, so the copy says the bay is finally theirs. Type style.
Concept B: Over, Not Around 12
Shows the safe, direct crossing in a simple route graphic, the clearest reason to change a daily habit. Scene style.
Concept C: Hello, Neighbor 12
Plays up two neighborhoods meeting for the first time, like a block party stretched across a bridge. Grid style.
Spanish adaptation of The Bay, Closer 12
The first direction adapted rather than translated: the headline, supporting line, and call to action rewritten in Spanish, with the layout reflowed for the longer text. Type style.
What was checked
Every one of the 48 pieces was checked as it was composed. The lowest text contrast measured anywhere in this study is 5.01 to 1, against a minimum of 4.5 to 1. Type sizes are in the units of each format: pixels for digital formats, and for print, units of the drawing at the sizes shown.
| Format | Minimum type size | Smallest set | Lowest contrast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poster, 18 by 24 inches | 11 | 13.2 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Flyer, letter | 11 | 13.5 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Social story, vertical | 13 | 13.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Retractable banner | 10 | 10.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Display ad, 160 by 600 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Social post, square | 13 | 13.2 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Display ad, 300 by 250 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Postcard, 6 by 4 inches | 13 | 13.2 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Event cover | 12 | 12.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Billboard | 12 | 12.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Email header | 11 | 11.0 | 5.01 to 1 |
| Display ad, 728 by 90 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.01 to 1 |