Design is everywhere

My family and I recently took a weekend trip to Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, (amazing by the way, very much worth the short drive down) with a group of my daughter's playgroup friends.

Our common interest in the group, and how we all know each other, is that all of us moms work in the design industry. So you can bet that design would somehow work its way into the conversations of the weekend.

  

We all agreed that the design of the zoo was superb. It is so unlike many other zoos. You can tell that a great deal of thought and care went into making sure visitors were left with a lifetime of memories. It's a wonderful experience design on the part of their architects and site planners. There are so many opportunities to get up close and personal with the animals, being in their environments, and even interacting with them in some instances.

One thing that could add to the experience is their zoo map. We consulted this jewel at almost every turn. Being the planner that I am, I had to make sure we saw everything we wanted to in the most efficient way, all in the time we had allotted. What would be a great addition to their map is a time-based planner and color coded routes. If you have X amount of time, follow the red route, and so on. They could even paint the colored paths on the roadways!

We left with lots of pictures, lots of memories, and a stuffed monkey that our 2-year-old HAS to have with her at all times now.

Perhaps the funniest moment I remember though, was when the husband of one of my designer friends was instructed to take a picture of their little boy and my friend by the giraffes. Their son was busy looking at the animals and didn't want to turn around to say 'cheese' so Dad said teasingly to Designer Mom, "It's OK, I'll just take it from behind, it'll be artistic. I'm getting all 'graphic designer' on you... Oh that was a good shot, I can't wait to get that home and play with it in Photoshop (as he snapped the pic from a disposable camera)." Thanks, Kyle, for the laughs, even if it was at the expense of all of us designers.