In regard to the NPS Unigrid System

Orinigally printed in The Corporate Design Foundation's @ISSUE Journal

(posted here without permission - yet)

Good design has legs. It lasts. For proof, one need look no further than a Braun coffee maker, a house designed by Hugh Jacobson, or a brochure from the National Park Service (NPS). Each is as fresh—and as functional—today as it was when originally designed.

It has now been more than 20 years since Vincent Gleason, then Chief of the Publications Division, asked Massimo Vignelli to work with the NPS design staff in developing the graphics program that revolutionized the NPS's entire approach to publications. How the Unigrid program, as it has come to be called has expanded and evolved is indeed the stuff of good design stories.

At the core is an exquisitely simple design concept:

• There is only one paper stock used in two sheet sizes, which not only simplifies the                    high-volume purchasing process, but allows the Park Service to purchase paper in carload lots for maximum discounts. In 1995 nearly 28 million copies of folders were printed.
•  There are 10 basic formats that can be cut from the two sheet sizes, allowing the maximum use of paper, as well as economy of presswork and folding.                                            
• All publications, whether brochures or handbooks, use a grid to organize the editorial, graphic,             and cartographic elements on the page.   
• Information is organized into generally horizontal sections reinforced by the use of displaytype, ruled lines, black title bands, divider bars, and blocks of color.
• Type specifications feature two house typefaces used within the structure of the grid, in point             sizes and column widths that reflect editorial emphasis and convey a clear hierarchy of  information, continuity of style, and correlation between text, map, and any graphic elements.

The beauty of the Unigrid system is that it provides a structural framework that leaves room for creativity on the part of the designers, both in-house and contract, who work with it. This makes particular sense for an organization as content-driven as the National Park Service. Its goal is to communicate not just superficial facts about a site, but to "excavate invisible truths."

With Unigrid, the Division's staff can focus on working with park interpreters to identify the essence of a site by recreating scenes from a prior time, or depicting lifeforms, concepts or rela-tionships not readily apparent to park visitors. It is information enriched by insight. The NPS wants people to understand why a site is special, where it fits in our natural, political, or social history, why it is worthy of preservation. This is the mission of every NPS employee, of every brochure, exhibit, video, wayside exhibit, and visitor center. That the Unigrid system fosters this has been of genuine importance and has demonstrated the role of design as an effective management tool for the Park Service.

What has happened to the program over two decades? Physical changes have been surprisingly limited. Point sizes have become larger to accommodate the growing number of senior citizens. And quality has improved, due in part to changes in production and print technology that permit better color reproduction and registration in maps, photos, and artwork. Beyond that, Unigrid has helped the Publications Division clarify its mission and focus on improving content, organization, and the quality of the text, graphic elements, and maps. Today's brochures may look much like their predecessors at first glance; closer examination uncovers a brochure that communicates more and communicates it in a more dynamic and compelling way.

Time and the Unigrid program have also allowed the NPS to bring unity to a large number of pieces produced at different times. Park Service publications have an incredibly long shelf life of 10-20 years, so only in the past few years has the full impact of the Unigrid program been real-ized. But, because of the standardization of both design and print production, aided tremendously by the computer and electronic publishing, revisions can be made much more quickly and eco-nomically than before. This has been crucial in light of recent budget cuts and staff reductions. From a peak of 272 employees at the Interpretive Design Center (IDC), where the media divi-sions are located, staff is down to 168, and will be reduced to 165 by the close of the century.

The Publications Division has approximately 400 official NPS folders, handbooks, and posters in print. However, each park has many other topics, issues, or short-term events that require smaller publications. A compatible system of site bulletins, based on Unigrid concepts but adapted to one- and two-color work on photocopiers or for quick-print production, was developed along with courses that taught park interpreters how to produce supplementary publications on their own and how to work with outside designers and printers. Instructors included Division designers, editors, and mapmakers, who worked to help raise design consciousness.

The past 20 years have also seen the expansion of the Unigrid concept to NPS Wayside Exhibits posted along trails and next to important sites of natural and cultural features. Unigrid principles regarding type, colors, materials, and content have again reduced production costs, while bringing a unified corporate identity to this signage. Recognition of NPS signage in remote areas may in turn raise awareness of and therefore help protect conservation and cultural heritage areas.

When he first talked to Massimo Vignelli about working with the Park Service in 1976, Vincent Gleason could have had little idea how far-reaching the program would be. Gleason, credited with spearheading and shepherding the Park Service's revolutionary design program, had come to the NPS in the 1960s; his first steps had focused on reducing the Service's massive print produc-tion budget by moving to single color covers and smaller sizes. He then turned to Vignelli for help in finding a way to allow designers to focus more on content, rather than reinventing the wheel each time. The result was Unigrid.

The impact was immediate. Standardization of sizes and production techniques cut per-unit folder costs while the new and highly distinctive look began to be recognized and applauded by park visitors and NPS employees. Originally focused on brochures, the program was soon expanded to encompass guide books. The NPS has 369 separate park sites as "customers," each with its own unique message to promote and, at times, an understandably chauvinistic desire to have its publi-cations be distinctive. Bringing unity, consistency, and a corporate identity to such a divergent base was, and remains today, no small achievement.

What was perhaps less noticeable was the impact on the NPS design group. As discussed above, this group had a mission long before mission statements became de rigueur. Gleason's original objective was to enable designers to focus on communication of content. Unigrid did just that.

The Unigrid program has received numerous design awards. It was among the honorees in the first Presidential Design Awards Program in 1984 and has been featured in publications and in-cluded in design and mapping exhibitions here and abroad. Statue of Liberty Centennial publica-tions won a Federal Design Achievement Award in 1988 and the Unigrid program won the AIGA Design Leadership Award in 1990.

In retrospect, these awards reflect the program's achievements that have continued and broadened over time. There is a message here: design can make an immediate impact, but don't discredit this by calling it a quick fix. The benefits of good design are ongoing and, in most cases, yield a return that outpaces the initial investment.

And good design at any level requires continued support. The NPS was fortunate that the core group of designers, editors, and cartographers remained on board through the program's early years; in fact a number of the IDC's leaders today are designers who have worked with the Unigrid program since its inception.

The NPS program brings another message to organizations with substantial communications programs. A good design system can bring down production costs and help keep them under control. It is also the only way to produce many pieces involving many designers and maintain any degree of consistency or adherence to design standards. At a time when staffs have been and continue to be reduced, good design indeed makes it possible to do more with less.

Today, as in 1976, the Unigrid program continues to generate both cost savings and the creative energy to imbue its communications with visual and intellectual appeal. It has enabled the NPS to focus on a story and tell it with impact. It has brought a recognized and respected look to the world's largest park system. It has allowed the Publications Division at the IDC to maintain quality in the face of downsizing. With the extension of the program to Wayside Exhibits, the Unigrid system has, through its emphasis on design as a communications and management tool, helped broaden awareness of conservation and cultural heritage areas. The design program begun a quarter century ago has obviously made a lasting impression on the NPS communications process, and on our own understanding and enjoyment of the natural and historic sites that are our heritage.