Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest indoor theme park and the first and only Ferrari themed park recently opened in November 2010. Located on Yas Island, only a few kilometres from Abu Dhabi city centre, the site hosted the UAE’s first Grand Prix at the Yas Island Marina Circuit in November 2009.

RSM was thrilled to be part of such a unique project. RSM’s passionate team of Ferrari enthusiasts completed the theme park’s identity signs, entry sequence, exterior wayfinding program, facility signage, and structured car park graphics.

In addition to being the world’s largest indoor theme park, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi has quite an impressive stack of statistics:

• The 86,000-square-metre enclosed area of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi can fit seven football fields in ‘head to toe’.

• The Ferrari logo on the roof, the largest ever created, measures 65-metres in length and covers an area of 3,000-square-metres, which could fit at least seven basketball courts.

• The volume of concrete in Hoover Dam could fit inside Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

• Ferrari World Abu Dhabi needed 12,370 tons of steel to create its structure; the Eiffel Tower only needed 7,000 tons.

• Ferrari World Abu Dhabi features restaurants staffed by four Michelin-starred Italian chefs.

During the commons expansion project, the students on the building committee had asked for a signature monument – a “Kodak moment” location, and now the large UCR sign at the bell tower will serve that purpose. “Given that the HUB is at the center of campus, the students who participated in its design wanted the building and this area of campus to instill a sense of pride in UCR,” said Susan Allen Ortega, dean of students. “The new signage was developed with this goal in mind.”

Solingen, called the “City of Blades,” renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors, and razors is the location for one of RSM’s international mixed-use projects.

Finding inspiration through the cultural landscape and industries of Solingen (heavy machinery, precision products, the colors of iron ore glow), RSM is scratching the surface to uncover the wealth of textures, patterns, and materials that make up this environment. This inspiration and research has strongly influenced a comprehensive sign program for this dynamic mixed use retail and entertainment center.

RSM has been selected as the architectural graphics consultant for the new Aztec Student Center on the San Diego State University campus. 

Projected to open in late 2013, this new student union building will feature many on campus amenities for the students including a market, fitness center, food court, theater, retail spaces, bowling alley, and individual meeting spaces for the many student clubs and organization. RSM will be working with the student organizations, administration, and facilities group at SDSU to create a comprehensive and state of the art digital wayfinding, identity, and specialty graphics program that will integrate with the historic Spanish Mission architecture and invite students campus wide to congregate, study, eat, and play. 

The graphics program to be designed by RSM will include exterior and interior identity and wayfinding signage, a unique flexible electronic signage program throughout, as well as specialty graphics for the entertainment venues.

Continuing their many projects on college campuses, the design team at RSM is creating an architectural signage and graphics package for the new conference center located on the University of California at Davis campus.  Situated adjacent to the cultural complex on campus and across from the renowned Mondavi Center, this new UC Davis Marketplace will be an exciting new destination for the students, faculty, and visitors.  RSM is designing the branding and graphics for such amenities as the bookstore, market, café bistro, private dining areas, and study area.

Dynamic original wall murals and integrated architectural signage are being woven into the architecture to define the different functional spaces and create a welcoming place unlike anything on campus, to linger after the theater, relax with a cup of coffee, sip a glass of wine, or browse the bookstore.

The South Berkeley Public Library is quite a unique environment – there aren’t too many places one can check out Jane Austen and a jackhammer in the same location. RSM is excited to be designing the wayfinding and identity program for this public library.  Tools from the lending library are used both literally and figuratively to create a whimsical yet functional approach to the sign family. Ladders, hammers, and Pride and Prejudice – all in one location.

RSM principals Harry Mark and Martin Schwartz have just returned from a two week trip to China, having visited six cities and meeting on five exciting on going graphics projects.  The meetings consisted of project presentations, coordination meetings, signage mock-up reviews, and marketing meetings, along with a bit of free time to take in the exciting sites of China.

Nanjing Taiwan Trade Mart: Construction of the project is progressing at super sonic speeds, with opening scheduled for mid September 2010. Harry and Martin were on site to review signage mock-ups and coordinate with the local sign fabricator to ensure the design intent is carried through all of the details of this comprehensive identity and wayfinding program.

Yantai One: Concept design presentations of the branding, logo, and wayfinding family were enthusiastically received by the group of stakeholders in this dynamic growing city in northern China.  Coordination with a local sign fabricator at this early stage was arranged to facilitate a seamless integration of the graphics with the architecture and marketing initiatives.

One City: The city of Ma’an Shan in central China is the site for this family focused urban retail and entertainment center.  The RSM designed graphics family was carefully crafted to work well within tight budget constraints and unique cultural and language parameters.

Check back soon for more project updates from China….

The sign family has been designed for maximum flexibility and clarity.  The signage uses a system of custom pictograms and icons to identify the many uses and create a clear messaging system, with a dual language system complementing this simple approach.  The material palette adds clarity to the system as well with different complementary materials being used to enhance each of the district’s characterstics.

The graphics family of signs is rapidly moving forward into schematics and design development and the RSM team continues to hone and refine the designs, while coordinating with the US and China based consultant team.

Working with the City of Rancho Cucamonga, RSM is enhancing the existing cultural plaza and public parking experience by designing a fun and energetic graphics program to engage the visitor and bring them to the many amenities of this Cultural Center – the events plaza, public library, theater, and conference facility.

The team at RSM designed a concept wayfinding program using over scaled silhouettes of local citizens becomes a fun way to engage the local community.  The designs serve many purposes:  sculptural elements are added to enliven the plaza, functional wayfinding to guide the visitor to the many uses, and a fund raising opportunity to have local citizens donate for the chance to be a part of this unique enhancement.