Innovative communications: a façade carries the meaning behind it

We recently commented on candy as a communications medium. m&ms being edible confectionery carrying a customizable message it’s ideal for bearing valentine’s day sentiments and surely one of the few situations in which eating one’s words is a virtue.

OFD came across another innovative communications medium. Incorporated into the top of a building façade at 214 Van Ness Avenue are a series of large domes that run from left to right. Equality and Independence is what they spell, but it is through Braille not letters that they communicate the core mission of the inhabitants and the visitors they serve.




































Lighthouse is an organization for the blind and visually impaired. The name implies a unmistakable presence, in this situation drawing visitors towards it rather than warding them away, which it does in a maritime setting.

The architects Jay and Joel Hendler felt that the building had to live up to the expectations embodied in the Lighthouse idea itself. Their solution was to incorporate it in to the facade itself. They created a design that is as visually iconic as it is symbolic of the organization’s mission and purpose. Now when people think of the company there is a distinctive image that is conjured up in their mind to associate with the institute.

A clever - and distinct - element of visual identity and another example of an innovative communications medium on the streets of San Francisco.