Primates of the Education/Graphics Division
I work at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens as a part-time employee. I am not, however, a Zookeeper. I work in the Education/Graphics division. I make signs that teach visitors about the plants and animals. I also create billboards, vehicle and building graphics, banners, maps, logos, and other materials, but those can wait until another post. Here I will only cover the identification and interpretive signs that go in front of exhibits.
Animal ID signs go at the top of the posts in front of the exhibits. They say basic facts about the animal and show a picture of it.
“Interpretive” signs go below the ID signs, and discuss other aspects of the animal such as its behavior or its role in the wild.
Photo gallery of signs designed by Michelle Annette Leveille for the Los Angeles Zoo
Hand-painted tile animal ID sign
I was eventually hired as a direct employee of the Zoo. Creating the tiles was a long process, involving input and approval from the zookeepers, curators, and education staff. The Graphics division only had two employees, plus myself. We started making our signs with computers to speed up the process.
Indian fruit bat painting by Michelle Annette Leveille
White-cheeked gibbons painting by Michelle Annette Leveille
Snow leopard summer and winter coats by Michelle Annette Leveille
Snow leopard interpretive sign
These signs had the advantage of being replaceable if they were damaged. Graffiti was a big problem at the turn of the millennium, so we spent a lot of money and time replacing tagged signs.
A Fond Memory
What I like most about working at the Zoo is collaborating with the keepers and of course my coworkers in the Education Department / Graphics Division to make the signs as accurate as possible. I’ll never forget when I was new at the zoo and my supervisor, Neal Ward, asked me to diagram a tapir’s foot. After some unsuccessful attempts, Neal suggested that I go behind the scenes to ask the tapir keeper for advice. The keeper allowed me into the tapir exhibit. The tapir approached and butted me to the ground, then rested her massive head on my lap as I examined her muddy feet. I couldn’t have asked for a better assignment.
A Range Of Graphic Styles
Originally, all of the signs used the same font (Garamond) and hand-painted or drawn artwork. The Zoo Graphics Division was a part of the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, and our work matched the style of other public parks.
Older signs to the Los Angeles Zoo, circa 1993.
(This sun bear sign was at the Berlin Zoo; it matched our local signs except for the distance measurement)
Gallery of bats hand-drawn by Michelle Annette Leveille
Gallery of miscellaneous pen-and-ink illustrations by Michelle Annette Leveille
Gallery of hand-painted illustrations by Michelle Annette Leveille for Los Angeles Zoo animal identification signs.
Eventually all aspects of the exhibit signs were created digitally, including the illustrations.
Gallery of bird identification artwork and sign designs by Michelle Annette Leveille
African Cape hunting dog (a.k.a. African wild dog) identification sign by Michelle Annette Leveille
Gallery of animal identification illustrations created digitally by Michelle Annette Leveille
The Zoo was built by Los Angeles City workers. As some of the exhibits became outdated, they were torn down and rebuilt by outside contractors, who imbued each new section with their own design motifs and signage. The Zoo Graphics division took on the ongoing maintenance and replacement of these signs as they eventually deteriorated. One of our goals was to bring some unity to the styles so that the zoo would not appear as segmented by the age of the exhibits.
New Sea Lion sign in the Adventure Island area of the Zoo
As I recall, the first major deviation from the Zoo’s standard graphics came in 2002, when the short-lived “Adventure Island” area was redesigned by an outside firm (I think it was Hunt Design), as the Winnick Family Children’s Zoo. Signs were made of colorful and durable materials. The interpretive panels featured faint woodcut-like vector designs behind the text. The graphics division began to incorporate this artistic style into interpretive panels throughout the zoo.
Some early, simple woodcut-style artwork created by Michelle Annette Leveille to be placed as background objects on interpretive signs.
These woodcut-like designs became more complex. The Graphics Division began designing their own motifs for themed areas.
Rainforest of the Americas woodcut motifs by Michelle Annette Leveille
Eventually most of the new exhibit signage at the zoo featured more organic edges with less right angles. The font was updated from Garamond to Officina. And I created the interpretive images in a vector graphics program, with muted colors, gradients, and mezzotints to soften the edges.
Public Gardens
There were many botanical specimens planted when the zoo opened in 1966 which took some time to fill out. By the late 1990s the plants were overgrown. A series of storms caused many trees to fall, some putting the public and animals in danger. City staff trimmed back the foliage and rediscovered many rare species of plants. The more remarkable specimens were moved to their own sections of the zoo and the zoo became accredited as a Botanical Garden. I created artwork for the identification and interpretive signs in the various garden areas.
Garden sign plans by Neal Ward.
A gallery of identification images for the Bird & Plant Gardens by Michelle Annette Leveille
Some recent interpretive signs
My vector artwork on newer signs has become slightly more realistic, with less of a woodcut look and more of a flat-layered appearance. Here are some examples.
Interpretive sign artwork by Michelle Annette Leveille for the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
More interpretive sign artwork by Michelle Annette Leveille for the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens
Every time I replace a sign, I update the map on the sign that shows where the animal lives in the wild. These range maps have decreased at an alarming rate due to habitat destruction, and I have had to add “Endangered" symbols to many species. It saddens me, but it also strengthens my faith that by working at the Zoo and educating the public, I am part of the solution.
