WELCOME TO THE WILDZOO PUBLIC TYPOGRAPHYJORDAN HILL

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

VISC 402: PATRICK DOOLEY

The Zoo is a wonderful and

magical place where kids,

families, and anyone really, can

come see exotic animals. There

are the big jungle cats, like

lions and tigers, long necked

giraffes and stalky rhinos.

Obviously, the animals and the

beautiful scenes are the main

reason people come around

to the Zoo. But, the text that

surrounds it is the backbone

of the whole operation. The

Kansas City Zoo is a big place,

and can be very intimidating to

find anything you’re looking for.

Luckily for everyone, the Zoo

provides way-finding signage

everywhere. There are big tall

signs telling you where to go to

find the zebras vs. the gorillas,

and smaller signs pointing you

in the right direction of the rest-

rooms or exhibit gift shop.

Hi There!

THE ZOO OPENED UP DECEMBER 13, 1909. THE FIRST ANIMALS TO

ARIVE WERE THE BEARS, FLAMINGOS, AND SEA LIONS.

Planning for the zoo started in

1907, and its gates opened on

December 13, 1909. The zoo

evolved slowly during its first

40 years, while it added exhibits

such as the Bear Grotto in 1912.

It gained more momentum when

it added a monkey island and a

children’s zoo in the 1940s. In

the 1950s, the Sea Lion pool,

African Veldt, giraffe house,

and flamingoes were all added;

and the zoo added an otter

pool, elephant house, and the

Great Ape House in the 1960s.

The early 1970s brought a dairy

barn, the Great Catwalk, and

gibbon islands. Approximately

twenty years later (in 1991),

after voting and financed from

a grant, the zoo expanded to the

current size of 202 acres, adding

Australia in 1993, International

Festival in 1994, and Africa in

1995. The opening of the Africa

section drew in approximately

40,000 visitors in first 2 days. A

new building was added for the

first IMAX in a zoo, the Sprint

IMAX Theater. The improve-

History

THE KANSAS CITY ZOO SIGN IS A MONUMENTAL 3D SCULPTURE. IT

HAS A SERIF FONT AND IS THE PERFECT WAY TO WELCOME THE KIDS

AND PARENTSS ALIKE

ments resulted in record at-

tendance of 700,000 zoo guests,

and 400,000 IMAX visitors, in

1998. The zoo has grown from a

small building and 60 acres to

a large, 202-acre zoo with over

1,300 animals. The Orangutan

Primadome opened in 2002

as a part of new management

when the zoo changed from a

city-operated organization to a

public-private partnership with

Friends of the Zoo.

The Discovery Barn opened in

2006 along with a short-cut

path to Africa. In 2007, an

endangered species carousel

was added to KidZone. The Zoo

closed the Sprint IMAX Theater

on September 4, 2007. New

admission gates to the zoo were

opened in May 2008 featuring

new parking and animals.

Extensive renovations of the

zoo began in late 2005. The

Discovery Barn opened in

2006, formerly the Red Barn.

It contains many exhibits, and

slides for children. Outside,

there is a Peek-a-Boo Tree,

that is fun for children to play

in and get a sky-high view at

the top of the tree, and like the

Discovery Barn, it also contains

a slide. The Promenade was

also added in 2006, which is

a wide path straight to the

African elephants exhibit, which

allows guests to reach Africa

much faster. The new entrance

admission gates opened in

May 2008, with an educational

center and a North American

river otter and trumpeter swan

exhibits. In early 2009, the

Tropics House opened behind

the Sea Lion pavilion in the 1909

Building, and the polar bear

exhibit opened in August 2010,

located near the entrance, in

the location formerly occupied

by stroller rental.

ITS ALWAYS NICE TO LOOK AT A BIG MAP LIKE THIS ONE BEFORE YOU START YOUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE

ZOO. WITH A PLACE THIS BIG, ITS EASY TO GET TURNED AROUND, AND WITH SO MUCH TO SEE, YOU DONT

WANT TO WASTE ANY TIME ON BEING LOST.

“THE POLAR BEARS ARE DEFINITELY THE MAIN ATTRACTION

THE POLAR BEARS DONT BELONG TO THEIR OWN CONTINENT, AT LEAST IN THE KANSAS CITY ZOO. BUT

THEIR NEW EXHIBIT WAS TOO GREAT TO PASS UP. AND THE POLAR BEARS ARE SO PLAYFUL!

HERE WE GO, MATES

WE ARE HEADED DOWN UNDER TO EXPERIENCE THE ANIMALS, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE SIGNS AND DESIGN OF THE AUSTRALIA EXHIBIT.

THIS

WAY O

R TH

AT?

IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO ME HOW THEY ADVERTISED THE TIGER TRAIL SO MUCH, ALMOST MORE THAN

THE WHOLE AUSTRALIA EXHIBIT ITSELF. AGAIN, WITH THE WAY FINDING SIGNS, THEY ARE USING THEIR

NEW BRAND WITH THE GREEN AND NAVY ALL CAPS TYPE, WITH THE CORRESPONDING SIMPLISTIC IMAGES.

Lions, Bears, and OH YA, Tigers.

The tiger exhibit in Australia

is definitely one to check out.

When I went, it was just about

feeding time, and the tigers

were hungry. The tigers were

not the only ones wearing

orange though. Throughout the

entire exhibit, this fierce font

looks like it was written with

the sharp claws of the tiger. You

can see that it was done around

the same time as the way

finding signs though, because it

has a similar san serif type face

for the “trail” portion of the

sign. This font exaggerates the

roughness of the “tiger” font

before it.

The sinage for the tiger area

is not all consistant, though.

There are older signs, like

the bottom right picture. You

can obviously tell that sign is

an older set up that has been

faded and used a lot. As you

can tell, the Kansas City Zoo

has definitely updated some of

their signs. They would not have

the time or means to replace

everything, so if it is still us-

able, then why not keep it. Its

very interesting to look at the

older designs compared to the

new signs. The older signs were

a lot more natural. They used a

lot of earth tones and the idea

was the signs would blend into

the environment. With the new

signs, they are a lot flashier,

meant to stand out with their

bright colors and bold patterns.

I noticed it especially with the

fierce “tiger” type and tiger

stripes. The idea has definitely

changed, drawing more atten-

tion to the signs and making

people want to walk over and

see what they have to say.

Tiger Signs

The tigers at the Kan-

sas City Zoo are called

Sumatran Tigers. They are

a rare tiger subspecies

that inhabits the Indone-

sian island of Sumatra.

Unfortunately, these tigers

were classified as critically

endangered by IUCN in

2008 because the popula-

tion was estimated at 441

to 679 individuals.

I am up in the air about

whether animals should be

kept in cages, but with this

sort of situation, I think

it is a good idea. If this

is a way that we can save

an entire species from

becoming extinct, then I

think it is a decent idea.

Sumatran Tiger

This part of Australia was by

far my favorite. It was not

necessarily the beautiful type

that drew me into this exhibit,

but rather that they allowed the

kangaroos to hop around as they

pleased. As you can see in the

picture to the left, I even got up

close and personal with one!

The text and signs for this part

of the exhibit, though, left much

to be desired. Basically, I am

refering to the lovely use of

Comic Sans on the sign above,

talking about the difference

between kangaroos and wal-

labies. I understand that it is for

the children, and it is a fun type

to use for that age, but there

are plenty of fonts the Zoo could

have used and gotten the point

across. That point would have

looked a whole lot better in a

Univers, too.

The rest of this particular

exhibit had the regular San Serif

brown font on a cream back-

ground, which looks just fine!

Curious Kangaroos

THE ONLY THING KEEPING THE KANGAROOS FROM HOPPING ONTO THE WALK WAY IS A LINE OF LOGS CRISS

CROSSING ALONG THEIR AREA. APPARENTLY THAT DID NOT KEEP A COUPLE CURIOUS KANGAROOS FROM

COMING OUT TO EXPLORE.

“PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS”

The sinage for the camel rides

is not all consistant, though.

There are older signs, plus we

have the newer green signs that

match the style of the way-

finding signs. You can obviously

tell that sign is an older set up

that has been faded and used a

lot. As you can tell, the Kansas

City Zoo has definitely updated

Camel Rides

some of their signs. They would

not have the time or means to

replace everything, so if it is

still usable, then why not keep

it. Its very interesting to look at

the older designs compared to

the new signs. The older signs

were a lot more natural. They

used a lot of earth tones and

the idea was the signs would

blend into the environment.

With the new signs, they are a

lot flashier, meant to stand out

with their bright colors and bold

patterns. I noticed it especially

with the fierce “tiger” type

and tiger stripes. The idea has

definitely changed, drawing

more attention to the signs and

making people want to walk

over and see what they have

to say.

Coming to this section of the

Australia exhibit was probably

one of my favorite parts. It

was in the middle of all of the

restaurants and gift shops and

it was just a wall of all the

quirky old signs. I have always

loved old signs and type faces

and would love to have some

of these signs hanging in my

room. I’m not actually sure why

they had these signs hanging

here, whether they designed by

Australian desingers or were

actual Australian products. In

any case, they are really fun!

Vintage Signs

AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS

JAMBO!IN THIS SECTION WE WILL LOOK AT ONE OF THE OLDER EXHIBITS. IT HAS SOME OF THE

COOLEST ANIMALS, MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENERY, AND THE TYPE IS PRETTY UNIFIED.

WHICH

WAY

DO

I GO?

THE ZOO HAS DONE A GREAT JOB ABOUT KEEPING THEIR WAYFINDING SIGNS CONSITENT. WHEN YOU SEE

THIS GREEN, CREAM AND NAVY COLOR SCHEME AND ALL CAPS, GEOMETRIC TYPEFACE, YOU KNOW RIGHT

AWAY THAT IT IS POINTING YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

THIS ELEPHANT MODEL WAS PRETTY AWESOME. IT SHOWED HALF OF AN ELEPHANT LIKE WE WOULD SEE

IT, AND THEN ON THE OTHER HALF, IT SHOWS ITS SKELETON. ALL THE PLAQUES IN THE FOREGROUND HAVE

GREAT FACTS ABOUT THE ELEPHANTS ANATOMY TOO.

The elephant exhibit was a great

time. It had all these stone

slabs with text on top that

looked great with its surround-

ings. Of course, the exhibit also

had to have the cream sign with

the burgandy lettering on it!

Unfortunately the elephants

were not out to play that day. I

was so bummed because they

are one of my favorite animals.

But there was this really cool

part of the elephant exhibit that

housed a life size model of an

elephant and talked about its

anatomy. So I guess that is the

next best thing.

Where are the elephants?

This hand written type is one of

the first things you see when

you walk into the main area of

the Africa exhibit. These signs

ae pretty warn, almost to the

point where you can not read

the sign unless you go right up

to the wall and try and read it.

It is a clever idea for the Zoo,

because it sets the light and

playful mood of Africa for the

people who come to see it.

There are fun facts about what

languages are spoken in Africa,

along with a large scale sign

with the word “Jambo” on it,

which means Hi.

The rest of the signs are talking

about what is in the shopping

center, including gift shops,

restaurants and a theatre.

Handy Hand Written Signs

“EASTERN BLACK RHINOCEROS”

THIS WAY TO THE RHINO ARENA. ONCE YOU SEE THIS FRISKY LITTLE FELLOW RUNNING AROUND HIS DIRT PIN, YOU CAN READ ALL ABOUT HIS

NATURAL HABITAT, HIS SCIENTIFIC NAME AND ABOUT THE SIZE OF HIS KIDS.

This sign to the left is

all around the African

exhibit. It is beige and

brown, very natural and

blends in with the forest

environment. The type

is very easy to read, and

even has the translation in

spanish. There are great

pictures and maps on all

of the signs that let people

visualize what they are

reading. These signs are

very educational, which is

perfect for the kids!

Signs

This hand written type is one of

the first things you see when

you walk into the main area of

the Africa exhibit. These signs

ae pretty warn, almost to the

point where you can not read

the sign unless you go right up

to the wall and try and read it.

It is a clever idea for the Zoo,

because it sets the light and

playful mood of Africa for the

people who come to see it.

There are fun facts about what

languages are spoken in Africa,

along with a large scale sign

with the word “Jambo” on it,

which means Hi.

The rest of the signs are talking

about what is in the shopping

center, including gift shops,

restaurants and a theatre.

Built for Speed

“LIONS ARE THE KING OF THE JUNGLE, SAME GOES FOR THE KC ZOO.”

AFRICAN ANIMALS

The Zoo can be a great place

and offers great opportunities

for kids and adults alike to

learn and see animals they

might not ever get another

chance to see. There are even

animals there that were

rescued from mothers that

abandoned them, like the

seals, or from extinction, like

the tigers. There are all types

of beautiful animals to see

there, and its a great place to

escape for a day.

http://www.kansascityzoo.org/

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/25/4577263/penguin-fans-flock-to-new-exhibit.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Zoological_Park

“The Value of the Narrative in the Education of a Typographer” by Chris Myers

Works Cited