Hatzerim
A Signage System Throughout Kibbutz Hatzerim
Collaboration: Sharon Danzig Studio, Marva Mor
October 7, 2023, was an incredibly painful and difficult date for every Israeli. Some citizens experienced the horrors from afar, while others experienced them much closer to home. The members of Kibbutz Be'eri experienced these tragic events firsthand and were forced to relocate from their geographical home to a new one: Kibbutz Hatzerim. In Kibbutz Hatzerim, a new neighborhood expansion was built to accommodate them.
This project focuses on wayfinding and signage throughout the new neighborhood while preserving the character of the desert environment.
Ideation
To find the most appropriate visual language, our first step (following research and identifying the client's needs) was to create numerous sketches exploring the forms and colors that would best express the needs of both the client and the environment. During this phase, we used the desert and agricultural surroundings as a significant source of inspiration for the shapes of the signage. The challenge here was to find forms that coherently convey their origin (the inspiration) while abstracting and adapting them to the functional needs of the signage.
Materiality
After selecting the relevant shapes and design directions from the sketches, we moved on to choosing materials and creating photorealistic renderings of the final products. This allowed both us and the client to get the best possible feel for the new objects destined for the space, presented in the most realistic and true-to-life manner possible.
Design System
Once the design aspects were established, working alongside Sharon Danzig and Marva Mor, a comprehensive signage system was developed for various uses throughout the space. The unified visual and material language was applied to each prototype, customized to the specific needs of the terrain and the client.
Planning, Engineering, and Implementation
After defining exactly how we wanted the signage to look in terms of form, materiality, and the overall system product files (engineering drawings) were generated. These were created to guide the manufacturer in achieving the most accurate production of the signage, carefully adhering to safety standards and utilizing recognized engineering practices.
