Washington Grove Information Kiosk

Task/Objective

Washington Grove is a forest in Rochester, NY that is part of Cobbs Hill Park. Working with the Friends of Washington Grove, we designed a concept for an informational kiosk near the entrance to Washington Grove.

This was a group project with Jackie Drozd and Christian Keka. For this project, our objective was to create a colorful kiosk that tells visitors about the park, the history, and wildlife. Our other objective is to have the entrance to the grove from the Reservoir more visible.

My Role/Work

My role for this project besides figuring out the overall design and looks of the kiosk was doing research on Native American History in the area, and then creating related graphics that would be put onto the kiosks.

I would end up research, and then creating a copy of text about the history of the Senecas, and create maps that can help visualize the history of them. The first map would be Native American trails around Cobbs Hill overlayed on modern day roads, and the other showing a map of the Oliver Phelps Purchaser of 1788, a purchase that has significant Rochester history.

Map of Native American Trails around Cobbs Hill and Washington Grove overlayed the present day roads. Some trails back then are part of modern day Highland Dr., Merchants Rd., N. Landing Rd., and East Ave. — The final trail map that I created. It shows the trails with an modern overlay of current major streets, highways, rivers, and railroads in the area. I thought adding this map would be an interest to people, especially to people around here finding out one of their streets was formally a trail.

Map image of Oliver Philips Purchase of 1788, with the purchase are affecting Rochester and Corning. The cities of Buffalo and Syracuse are also pinned, with portion of Canada visible as well. — The final map that I created that shows Oliver Philip’s Purchase of 1788. While I included the purchase in the copy text, I thought adding a visual would be helpful to the person reading the sign.

Final Designs and Mockups

Graphic image of a welcome poster to Washington Grove featuring a graphic image of a woods, with text showcasing facts, about the Rochester City Parks Department, and Friends of Washington Grove. — Finalized Welcome Panel. This is supposed to welcome visitors to the park and tell a bit about the park, the Friends of Washington Grove, and some basic rules to follow. The forest illustration was done by Jackie.

Graphic image of a History panel about Washington Grove with maps and text explaining the Seneca Nation and a timeline from the 1700s to 2000s. — Finalized History Panel. This tells about history of the Seneca Nation, and a timeline from 1788 to 2013.

Graphic images of the Geology panel for Washington Grove with lots of text explaining the Glacial Legacy, and Forest Changes. There are also snippets of text about Forest Growth, Grazing, Mowing, Plowing, and Recruitment Cohorts. — Finalized Geology Panel. This tells about the glaciers that came through that shaped the area, and about the forest.

Graphic image of the Wildlife panel for Washington Grove, telling about Migration Mysteries, and things you can find such as birds, animals, trees, shrubs, and herbs. There is also a list of park rules on this panel as well. — Finalized Wildlife Panel. This tells about wildlife that you can find in the grove.

Mockup of the Washington Grove Kiosk with a figure showing the size of the kiosk. The kiosk is a cube with a panel on each side. — Mockup of what the kiosk is supposed to look like with our finalized designs. This mockup was created by Christian.

3D Mockup of the Washington Grove Kiosk in a park environment. Figures are present to give the scale of the kiosk, and is surrounded by two benches. The kiosk is in the shape of a cube. — Mock up of what the kiosk would look life if placed in the park and near the entrance to the grove. This mockup was created by Christian.

Click here to learn more about the Friends of Washington Grove and their mission.