In 2015, as UC Santa Cruz celebrated its 50th anniversary, the campus also celebrated the restoration of the 150-year-old Cowell Ranch Hay Barn near the entrance of campus. The barn had been one of the key buildings in the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, and now serves as the headquarters for the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), providing an attractive and accessible new “front door” to the adjacent 30-acre CASFS Farm.

James Freed Design provided exhibit design for seven new mobile information kiosks that each focus on a specific element of the CASFS program. We also designed a new video presentation area that is covered by chalkboard-clad sliding doors when not in use.

Project Credits: James Freed, exhibit design and illustration, exhibit intstallation. Darcie Fohrman, exhibit content development. Martha Brown, exhibit content development and writing. Jane Bolling, graphic design. Pacific Studio, fabrication.

Scale models of three different kiosk versions, complete with graphics, helped the client to see what the exhibits could look like in three dimensions.

The kiosks were designed so that the graphic panels could be easily changed or updated if needed. The graphic panels are held onto the kiosk frame with strong magnets, visible here as bright silver circles.

I also created the illustration for the South Campus Organizations map, which is posted on an outdoor graphic sign near the Hay Barn entrance.

The bases of the movable kiosks have lockable wheels. The kiosks can be stored in a side room when not in use. The redwood decking on the bases of the kiosks was recycled from original material removed during the refurbishing of the hay barn.

The Kiosk exhibits can be set up in several different configurations depending on the needs of the program.

We also designed a new video presentation area that is covered by chalkboard-clad sliding doors when not in use. The doors open to reveal a large flat screen monitor. Speakers are mounted below.