Game On! Water Street by 3x3 Design

Game On!

Water Street PUBLIC SPACE PROGRAMMING// DISTRICT IDENTITY // WAYFINDING

STRATEGIC PLACEMAKING

in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District Objective The Downtown Alliance of New York sought to animate a series of privately-owned public spaces to inspire a work/play neighborhood that extends stay time, drives commercial activity, and appeals to tenants of the new economy. Solution Worked with an event planning firm to develop a pop-up series and district brand to activate space and transform a key corridor into a social destination that cultivates communities and attracts new businesses. Outcomes Successfully established the client’s goal to create a cohesive place-based programming series that engaged local employees, specifically young professionals and employees in emerging technology and creative industries (TAMI) around Water Street. Survey Snapshot •

Exclusively positive survey responses (100% of the 398 responses)

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Target demographic was engaged, majority of the program participants: -

Work on Water St. (77%) Work in a TAMI (48%) Age 25- 33 (37%) Age 34-44 (27%)

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Dominant feedback encouraged client to expand Game On! series and future program activities.

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Marketing reached 60% of those surveyed.

RESEARCH Conducted participant observation, behavioral mapping, and targeted pedestrian interviews to understand audience desires and current perception of the area. Uncovered unique local assets and significance through users’ belief systems and identified “universal” cultural components for brand identity and programming that promotes community socializing. KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS: • How might we shift public perception of Water Street from a lackluster business corridor to a complete district that encourages social interaction? • How might we enliven the area through a summer programming series that highlights Water Street’s amenities and invites, engages, and retains new creative and tech (TAMI) companies? • How might we establish physical connectivity and reinforce the corridor’s identity through a uniform brand that supports the client’s existing initiatives to incubate Lower Manhattan’s growing tech community?

DESIGN PROGRAMMING & SERVICES// PUBLIC SPACE PROGRAMMING Conceptualized a public space programming series based on lean design research that harnessed team competition to drive participation. Programs activated 9 public and privately-owned public spaces (POPS) and included the following (as shown to right; clockwise from top left image): PUTT PUTT AT ELEVATED ACRE Teammates encourage one another while playing miniature golf at a popular lunch spot and park-like open space for area employees. SHUFFLEBOARD AT 1NY PLAZA Family members compete in shuffleboard in strategically located public space that connects Water St. to public transportation and other major thoroughfares. URBAN BEACH AT WATER WHITEHALL Pedestrians detach from the area’s hectic work pace and relax at the public beach located near the Staten Island Ferry. FOOSBALL AND WORLD CUP VIEWINGS Colleagues and friends play foosball in a POPS (privately-owned public space) used for the Game On! farmer’s market and happy hour beer garden.

DESIGN PLACE-BASED STRATEGIES // BRAND IDENTITY Understood need for “surprise and delight” to create a public space identity and wayfinding system that blends digital technology with realspace branding touchpoints and facilitates navigation along the corridor: reinforcing a ‘District Brand’ and guiding pedestrians to activation sites. Spray chalk and masks were used to create interactive street games and branded elements linked to social media and responsive website to engage pedestrians with the Water Street brand (as shown to right): Corridor branding captured the spirit of childhood street games, while functioning as an integrated wayfinding system to direct pedestrians to events and promote social media platforms. anamorphic street art created suspended reality for employees during work breaks and cultivated a tourist hotspot for picture taking, using 3-D street art on a highly trafficked street. Game On! marketing at strategic touchpoints, like newsstands and bus stops throughout the district corridor, to reinforce the programs larger identity strategy. sudoku court turned a large vacant walkway lined with benches into a life sized sudoku court for employees to play during work breaks.

COMMUNICATE ENGAGEMENT TOOLS// DIGITAL WAYFINDING Delivered a digital platform to aggregate events, market the Game On! campaign, and expand presence throughout New York City. The responsive web platform extended reach to a larger New York audience by helping users navigate and locate ongoing activities. A user-friendly indexing system was created to catologue and highlight events filtered by: location, time of day, and day of week. (As depicted on right): gamefinder Designed a responsive digital interface that indexed Game On! events and highlighted daily activities within all activated open spaces in the district. ‘August Competition Month’ Solicited involvement from key businesses on Water St. through a digital interface that enabled employees and employers to compete and connect. pinpointed flyering Developed and strategized key locations for Game On! employees to disseminate flyers and ‘swag,’ to promote during moments of high volume foot traffic. food truck hotspot Created daily notifications and listings for the ‘Game On! Food Truck Hotspot’ to enable lunch-goers to plan group outings.

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