Aerial view at sunset of San Diego Bay, with the downtown skyline, waterfront marinas, Coronado, and the Pacific coastline stretching toward the horizon along the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Wayfinding and environmental graphic design by RSM Design.

San Diego, California

Port of San Diego

Where San Diego Greets The World

Project type

Wayfinding Signage Design Placemaking Design

Project sector

Civic Design Waterfront Wayfinding Design
Tablet screens displaying Port of San Diego wayfinding design guidelines, including teal pictogram icon set, Gotham Narrow project typography, gradient and solid color logo branding standards with Pantone specifications, and materials palette for the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Wayfinding standards and signage design by RSM Design.

Project info

Client Port of San Diego

Other Parsons

A wayfinding master plan that turns
a sprawling waterfront into one connected experience.

Stretching across five cities and more than thirty miles of waterfront, the Port of San Diego is a place where commerce, recreation, and community life converge along the bay. The challenge of uniting such a vast and diverse landscape lies not only in connecting people to destinations but also in weaving together a sense of identity for the entire waterfront. Recognizing this opportunity, the Port invited RSM Design to envision a comprehensive signage and wayfinding master plan that could bring clarity and cohesion to the experience of moving through the site.

The team began by studying the existing conditions, carefully mapping how people currently navigate and interact with the waterfront. From this foundation, a set of recommendations was created to simplify and consolidate signage, ease navigation, and engage users in a more meaningful way. The resulting vision is a consistent family of signs that carries a unified voice across the Port while drawing subtle inspiration from the character of each district. These variations root the wayfinding in its context, creating a system that feels both distinctive and seamlessly connected across the bay.

Sign family elevation showing teal-to-blue gradient wayfinding signage for the Port of San Diego, including a park identity monument, primary and secondary vehicular directional signs for public parking, pedestrian directional, freestanding district directory with map, exercise station marker, playground rules sign, and regulatory signage, with a human figure for scale, along the San Diego waterfront in San Diego, California. Wayfinding and signage design by RSM Design.

34 miles of waterfront across 2,403 acres of land

Market Waterfront Design
Aerial view of Embarcadero Marina Park and its marina filled with yachts, with Seaport Village, waterfront hotels, the downtown skyline, and the USS Midway along San Diego Bay at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Waterfront wayfinding and environmental graphic design by RSM Design.
Pedestrian fingerpost directional sign pointing to the Cruise Ship Terminal with a ship pictogram and six-minute walking time, mounted on a teal-to-blue gradient post with the Port of San Diego logo, set against the rigging and bowsprit of a historic tall ship along the Embarcadero at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Pedestrian wayfinding and signage design by RSM Design.
“Pay Here” parking pay station sign with a white circular P symbol on a teal-to-blue gradient aluminum panel with wave graphic and Port of San Diego logo, pole-mounted near a modern building at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Parking wayfinding and signage design by RSM Design.
Park identity sign for Spanish Landing Park East with a teal-to-blue gradient panel, wave graphic, and Port of San Diego logo, mounted between cedar posts in a landscaped rock bed with seagulls overhead and the park lawn and marina beyond, at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Park identity signage and wayfinding design by RSM Design.
Close-up of angular painted pavement graphics in blue, white, and turquoise stripes over dark asphalt, echoing the wave forms of the brand identity, at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Environmental graphic design and placemaking by RSM Design.
Aerial view of a decorative crosswalk with white bars and diagonal teal and blue stripes inspired by the brand’s wave graphic, crossing an intersection beside a landscaped median with drought-tolerant plantings at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Placemaking and environmental graphic design by RSM Design.
Design process diagram showing how the wave in the Port of San Diego logo becomes the curved panel shape of a North Embarcadero pedestrian directional sign with teal-to-blue gradient, pictograms, and destination listings, for the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Brand-driven wayfinding and signage design by RSM Design.
Pedestrian directional sign for the South Embarcadero district with a teal-to-blue gradient panel, wave graphic, dining, information, and ferry pictograms, and destination listings, mounted on a white post against palm trees and waterfront buildings at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Pedestrian wayfinding and signage design by RSM Design.
Spanish Landing Park West pedestrian directional sign with teal-to-blue gradient panel, restroom pictogram, and walking times to Spanish Landing Park East and Cancer Survivors Park, mounted on a white post frame in a coastal planting bed beside the bayfront promenade and marina at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Pedestrian wayfinding and signage design by RSM Design.

Wayfinding for ferry transit connects passengers to the Port of San Diego's waterfront network.

Market Transit Design
Rendering of an overhead Shelter Island gateway sign with red neon script lettering on an elongated navy cabinet spanning the roadway at dusk, with lit waterfront storefronts and landscaping below, at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Gateway signage and placemaking design by RSM Design.

Gateways to iconic destinations, reimagined

Rendering of a Harbor Island gateway monument with oversized blue and white dimensional letters above a dark stone gabion wall, a dimensional Port of San Diego logo, and a stone-clad “Island” base, lit at sunset with palm trees and a departing plane overhead, at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Gateway monument signage and placemaking design by RSM Design.
Rendering of an Embarcadero gateway arch with suspended dimensional letters spanning a pedestrian plaza, with matching inlaid paving lettering, stainless steel bollards, crowds of visitors, a docked cruise ship, and the cruise terminal beyond, at the Port of San Diego in San Diego, California. Gateway signage and placemaking design by RSM Design.

Next project

Loading next project

View project