Lance Wyman / Lance Wyman, Ltd.

New York

Lance Wyman specializes in branding and wayfinding systems for public environments and is credited with helping define the field of environmental graphics. His graphic system for the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico is cited as “one of the most successful in the evolution of visual identification.”¹² Other successful projects include branding and signage systems for the Minnesota Zoo, the cities of Detroit, Hoboken, and Albuquerque, and the LG Arts Center in Seoul, South Korea.

“I HAVE ALWAYS SKETCHED,” says Wyman. “Sometimes I use an empty space in the morning paper (if I can find one). Sometimes it’s on a lunchtime napkin or on a piece of the paper table cover. Sketching is a way of capturing an idea before it flits away, and a quick check to see if an idea has visual potential.

“Prior to the computer, I would take the sketching process on a refined path to a final solution. Now I rely more on the computer to do that.

“Sometimes the computer comes first. If a moment of inspiration occurs while I am on the computer, I’ll go straight to a drawing program, or I’ll go online for research, and get on with it. I find that sketches factor in more during the times I’m not on the computer.

The benefit from sketching or from working on the computer can be the same. One lesson I’ve carried over to the computer is to keep a linear process intact. It is so easy, on the computer, to work over something and lose what I’ve started with. I try to remember to save the steps as I go.”

’68 Olympics Identity/Wayfinding

Comite Organizador de los Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada

“Sketches were an important first step when I designed the postage stamps that represented the 19 sporting events for the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico. The idea of running silhouettes of athletes in motion through one stamp into an identical stamp was first visualized as rough sketches of runners and cyclists.

When designing the logo-type, I went pretty quickly to pure geometry once I realized the Olympic five rings could integrate with and influence the 68 number forms. It was like sketching with a compass.”

—Lance Wyman

National Zoo Identity/Wayfinding

“The sketch wall is a good way to keep in touch with the process of designing each individual symbol, and when designing a system of symbols, it keeps me in touch with how the different symbols relate to each other.

Prior to the computer, the walls were kept up throughout the development of a project. They became part of slide presentations and were often taken to conference room meetings. Each vertical strip of sketches is hung by two pieces of tape at the top so it can be easily taken down, folded up like an accordian, and rehung, one strip next to the other.

The wall constantly changed to tell the story of the project development. I still use a similar method, but on my computer screen and printed out when I need it.”

—Lance Wyman

Design: Wyman & Cannan, Ltd. (Lance Wyman, Bill Cannan, Brian Flahive, Tucker Viemeister, Ernesto Lehfeld)

Minnesota Zoo Identity/Wayfinding

“Sketching was very much a part of the Minnesota Zoo logo design. It helped explore the synthesis of an M and an animal.”

—Lance Wyman

Design: Lance Wyman, Ltd. (Lance Wyman, Stephen Schlott)