Animal Discovery Zones are yards within Philadelphia Zoo that allow our Ambassador animals space to explore and be enriched outside. There are 3 Zones throughout the Zoo, each having the potential
to hold a different ambassador animal at any time of day. The signage for these Zones needed to be modular, allowing staff to change out the animal ID based on which animal may be in the yard at any moment. They also needed to hold IDs for 0-2 animals.
to hold a different ambassador animal at any time of day. The signage for these Zones needed to be modular, allowing staff to change out the animal ID based on which animal may be in the yard at any moment. They also needed to hold IDs for 0-2 animals.
These title signs are meant to grab the attention of guests passing by, without giving them too much information as to what they are looking at. The idea behind these Zones is to surprise and delight guests with an animal experience in an unexpected place. We want to encourage guests to look closely and make discoveries throughout their experience at the Zoo. The animal IDs themselves are meant to be simple and to the point, telling guests who and what they are looking at, with the exception of the Macaw IDs and the Tortoise Hatching IDs. These two IDs were designed to give more information about these two species who tend to use the same Discovery Zone each day at the Zoo.
Additions to one of the Animal Discovery Zones include a call to action from staff, requesting guests to participate in a survey. This was an opportunity to tie in the theme of "discovery." Asking guests to discover skills instead of physical objects.
This sign was created by Holly Lanzaron, under art direction by me.
Throughout Philadelphia Zoo, there are experiences called Wildlife Chats. These chats are run by the animal team and last about 15 minutes. Guests have the opportunity to speak with keepers about the animals. They are run everyday on a scheduled. For the redesign of these chats, we wanted to keep the same feel as the Animal Discovery Zones, connecting the two experiences which both involve staff and animals. These chats are similar to the Zones because even if you don't see the scheduled, you can stumble upon one of the bright signs and join a chat at the listed time.
