Opened in October 2022, Frankford Pause Park is a pocket park in Philadelphia's Frankford neighborhood, developed by the Frankford Community Development Corporation. Located adjacent to the second-to-last stop on the Market–Frankford Line, the park leverages its unique location by channeling rainwater from the elevated train structure into a rain garden below.
Building on this green stormwater infrastructure, I designed interpretive signage to educate young visitors about water conservation, the water cycle, and water's role in both nature and daily life. The designs feature silhouettes of children interacting with water-related elements. To create these images, my team at Cloud Gehshan, in collaboration with Hinge Collective and Frankford CDC, hosted a community engagement session in which local daycare groups decorated foam-core cutouts and posed for reference photos. While Fairmount Water Works provided initial draft copy, I rewrote much of the content to improve clarity and accessibility for young readers.
Installed at the base of sculptural, climbable benches resembling waves, the interpretive panels enhance the park's role as an engaging and educational community space.
As the park continues to evolve, a traverse wall is planned as a future phase that extends the water cycle theme through movement and graphic storytelling. Drawing from the visual language of the interpretive panels, the wall will reinforce connections between the park, Philadelphia's watershed, and the surrounding community. I developed early design concepts for this element that were selected by the client; the project advanced beyond my tenure, and my contributions to the traverse wall remain conceptual.
As the park continues to evolve, a traverse wall is planned as a future phase that extends the water cycle theme through movement and graphic storytelling. Drawing from the visual language of the interpretive panels, the wall will reinforce connections between the park, Philadelphia's watershed, and the surrounding community. I developed early design concepts for this element that were selected by the client; the project advanced beyond my tenure, and my contributions to the traverse wall remain conceptual.
Role
Designer (Interpretive Signage
& Traverse Wall Concepts),
Co-Copywriter
Designer (Interpretive Signage
& Traverse Wall Concepts),
Co-Copywriter
Client
Frankford CDC
Frankford CDC
Agency
Cloud Gehshan Design,
in collaboration with Hinge Collective
Cloud Gehshan Design,
in collaboration with Hinge Collective
Principal/Design Direction
Matt Cavalier
Matt Cavalier
Co-Copywriter
Ellen Schultz, Fairmount Water Works
Ellen Schultz, Fairmount Water Works
Project Status
Interpretive signage installed November 2024
Interpretive signage installed November 2024
Photos by Liora Moshman, Matt Cavalier, and Hinge Collective Team
Community Engagement Session
Local children from Frankford daycare programs pose with foam-core cutouts, creating the silhouettes featured in the final designs of the panels. This ensured the designs reflected the community it serves.
Interpretive Panels
Early sketches shown to client
Type study exploring playful sans-serif fonts and color palette inspired by the surrounding environment
I revised all interpretive panel copy before beginning visual design, simplifying language and restructuring
information for young readers. The final text balances scientific accuracy with age-appropriate, digestible content.
information for young readers. The final text balances scientific accuracy with age-appropriate, digestible content.
Interpretive panels detailed drawing
Traverse Wall Concepts
This traverse wall graphic concept, selected by the client, features a map of the Tookany/Tacony–Frankford Watershed. The design introduces children to their location within the watershed and illustrates how local waterways connect to the regional water system and water cycle.
Other design concepts included interactive geometric lines with water cycle motifs (by Hinge Collective)
and graphics inspired by the Delaware River shoreline.
and graphics inspired by the Delaware River shoreline.
Traverse wall inspiration
