Sweet Auburn Grande is a mixed-use affordable housing development in Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District. Its visual experience guides residents and visitors while connecting them with the neighborhood’s history and the legacy of the Gold Dust Twins.
Sponsored by Gorman & Company, the project brought together a talented team of designers selected by SCAD to create a cohesive visual experience for Sweet Auburn Grande. The resulting system unified wayfinding, signage, environmental graphics, and an interpretive exhibition across physical and digital touchpoints.
My contributions included design research and wayfinding, with a primary focus on the exhibition UI. I organized historical content and spatial information into a clear, accessible interface that aligned with the surrounding environment.
Skip to Final Design
Auburn Avenue was once a commercial district filled with African American owned businesses, described by the National Park Service as the center of African American economic, institutional, and cultural life in Atlanta in the early twentieth century. Since the 1990s the area has been recognized as an endangered historic place, and the community is undergoing renewal efforts to build itself up without displacing existing residents.
The development is part of that work: 109 homes, 92 of them affordable, and 8,500 square feet of ground-floor retail meant to activate the surrounding streets. Its design pulls the exterior of 229 Auburn Avenue into the corner of the building, an address that held Georgia’s first chartered Black-owned bank and the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, founded in 1905 by Alonzo Herndon. That exterior returns to use as retail space.
The building keeps the exterior of 229 Auburn Avenue, but the only spaces available to tell its story are corridors, stairwells, an entry area, and a fitness center wall. Those have to become visually interesting and historically grounded at once, on an affordable housing budget.
Problematic and historic
The east wall advertisement has to carry its historical significance and its prejudice at once.
Ordinary spaces only
Corridors, stairwells, entry areas, and one fitness center wall. Nothing else is in scope.
Mostly paint
Paint and other low-cost materials only, code compliant, within historic guidelines.
Goal
The work had to recommend wayfinding and artwork for the corridor areas, displaying historic information about 229 Auburn Avenue and the neighborhood in a way that ties the past to the present.
Design showcase
Designed a mobile companion that connects Sweet Auburn’s physical environment with its history. Visitors can explore key figures, the neighborhood timeline, and the Gold Dust Twins interpretation in one coherent experience.
Visual System
VTC Bayard brings historical character to headlines, drawing from the visual language of the Civil Rights Movement.
DM Sans provides a clear, modern typeface for body copy, signage, and digital interfaces.
VTC Bayard
DM Sans
Turquoise, carrot orange, magenta, green, and yellow reflect Sweet Auburn’s compassion, architectural heritage, vitality, renewal, and joy. Assigned to six historical figures, the palette creates a vibrant visual language rooted in the neighborhood’s history and evolving community.
Unlocking Local Stories
Once a figure is unlocked, the interface reveals historical context, quotes, archival imagery, and text-to-audio. Progressive disclosure turns each discovery into a focused and accessible learning moment.
Before a figure is unlocked, the interface offers a restrained preview instead of the complete story. Visual clues and quote fragments establish a clear next step and motivate further exploration.
A Guided Historical Journey
Organized the menu around both historical discovery and everyday visitor needs. Users can move from stories and guided experiences to apartment tours, retail, dining, and additional project information.
Connecting History and Place
Organized the experience into an introduction, historical timeline, Gold Dust Twins interpretation, and place-based discovery flow. A clear hierarchy helps visitors understand the context before exploring individual stories.
Gold Dust Twins
Designed each profile to combine archival imagery, concise historical context, quotes, and audio playback. The focused structure makes each person’s contribution easier to understand and remember.
logo animation
Built the logo from quilt-inspired forms that continuously rearrange into new compositions. The motion reflects Sweet Auburn as a living community shaped by many connected stories.
Scan to Explore
Designed compact plaques that pair quilt graphics with concise historical context. Clear scan prompts connect each physical marker to the digital experience without competing with the architecture.
Public Spaces
Used quilt motifs, vibrant colors, and inclusive messaging across shared spaces to create a welcoming first impression and strengthen the community’s sense of belonging.
Signage
Elevators & Stairs
