New Era Designs

Cases, Concepts & Spatial Systems

A working archive of wayfinding systems, campaign environments, 3D studies, and the decision logic behind the design.

How I Think

I design the system before the surface: the route, the decision, the material, the moment, and then the mark.

Read the site like a visitor, not just a floor plan.

Find where confusion starts and what decision needs support.

Prototype hierarchy, placement, materials, and visibility before fabrication.

Package the idea so owners, tenants, and fabricators can align faster.

Featured Work

Spatial systems, concept studies, and campaign work shaped around signage, wayfinding, architecture, tenant visibility, and the customer journey.

Interactive Model

Wayfinding System Concept

Auraria Retail Center

A coordinated retail wayfinding family connecting parking, arrival, amenities, tenant visibility, and exit clarity into one readable system.

How I Think

Instead of filling the environment with isolated signs, the concept gives each sign a role: arrival confirmation, directional guidance, level memory, amenity location, and exit confidence.

Focus

Entry identity, welcome confirmation, overhead directional blades, level markers, amenity pictograms, and exit messaging.

Output

Sign hierarchy, placement renderings, guidance annotations, and fabrication-ready files.

Interactive Model

360° Wayfinding Totem Concept

Reusable Column Wrap

A structural column at a corridor junction becomes a wrap-around wayfinding totem instead of an obstacle.

How I Think

The column is given a job. Each face handles a destination category, making direction visible from multiple approaches without adding walls or more clutter.

Focus

Central visibility, modular faces, eye-level bands, and update-friendly message zones.

Output

Reusable panel system, fewer wall signs, lower replacement scope, and clearer room-to-room movement.

Interactive Model

Public Art + Navigation Concept

Experimental Landmark Wayfinding

A landmark object that combines civic identity, movement cues, and photo-worthy placemaking.

How I Think

Wayfinding can become place memory. Visitors may forget a street name, but they remember the landmark that helped them orient themselves.

Focus

Landmark effect, narrative branding, civic pride, material contrast, and social sharing value.

Output

Sculptural signage concept, technical fabrication logic, and location-placement strategy.

Interactive Model

Accessible Sign Logic Concept

ADA Color-Blocked Totem

A wayfinding totem based on legibility, reach range, cognitive load, and fast decision-making.

How I Think

The system separates level, wing, and tenant information so people receive a visual breadcrumb trail instead of a wall of text.

Focus

48–60 inch tactile zone, 54 inch common reach logic, contrast, and progressive disclosure.

Output

Accessible hierarchy, ADA-informed placement, and three-second glance-test thinking.

Strategy

Every concept starts with a reason: who needs this, where they are, and what decision the design needs to make easier.

Visualization

3D models turn abstract signage ideas into something a client can inspect, rotate, question, and approve with confidence.

Delivery

The final direction has to look sharp, explain itself clearly, and survive the handoff into fabrication, permitting, or presentation.