For Nature. For History. For Life.
New York State Parks: Planting Fields
Purpose
- Building brands
- Shaping places
- Creating journeys
What we did
- Brand strategy
- Visual identity
- Verbal identity
- Experience
- Wayfinding
- Campaign
Collaborators
- Illustration: Christopher DeLorenzo
Planting Fields is an arboretum and historic state park in Long Island, New York. It's one of those places you visit and instantly fall in love with. The 400-acre estate has botanical gardens and greenhouses, historic buildings, landscapes designed by the Olmsted Brothers, woodlands, art and much more. But this richness of offer was an Achilles heel. Planting Fields Foundation had struggled to communicate what they're about in a way that was accessible and easy-to-understand. And this meant visitors were failing to experience the place in full bloom.
Transforming an organisation through VX
To deliver a great visitor experience, you first need to know what you as an organisation stand for. After an invigorating trip to Long Island, we distilled Planting Fields into three organisational pillars: 'For Nature. For History. For Life.' These were as much about their strategy and purpose as their offer. We created them to be intentionally simple – something that all staff and visitors could effortlessly get behind.
We adopted a VX strategy called 'Unfurl'. As visitors wander through the estate the story of Planting Fields opens up and draws them in. Our wayfinding system is borrowed from a familiar framework found in many gardens, the trellis. It allowed us to create a striking, modern and rhythmic structure system that stood out in its historic location while being in harmony with its surroundings.
Seeds of change
Planting Fields Foundation have deeply embraced 'For Nature. For History. For Life' as their pillars. These are informing how they work, how they programme and how they make decisions as a team. The new visitor experience launched in October 2024. While the impact is too early to report back on, it is now in sync with what they as an organisation stand for. And this lays the ground for a far more impactful visitor experience.
