Berkeley Public Library South Branch

The Tarea Hall Pittman Library has a long history in the city of Berkeley. Originally built in 1896 as the “Lorin Reading Room,” The library underwent a number of renovations and name changes to become the vibrant community gathering place it is today. The new South Branch library building was open to the public in 2013, and was renamed the Tarea Hall Pittman Library in 2015 following a community effort to honor the fabled American civil rights leader. Our team worked with the city to develop a friendly and informative system of signage and placemaking elements to bring the center to life. Working on both the interior and exterior, our scope included identity and wayfinding signage, as well as signage for the tool lending library-—one of the only such libraries in the country. We drew inspiration from the architecture, which is fresh, light, and clean, and brought in subtle pops of color from the exterior signage and architecture to the signage on the inside.