Albany Waterfront – Brand & Placemaking Masterplan
A comprehensive design vision to reconnect Albany to the Hudson River – unifying parks, gateways, and downtown corridors under one waterfront story, even before the physical work is complete.
This project lives primarily as a masterplan of branding, wayfinding, and placemaking concepts created to guide future implementation.
Snapshot.
PROJECT TYPE
Branding & Master Plan (Conceptual)
ROLE
First Director of Marketing
SCOPE
Waterfront parks, gateways, downtown links
FOCUS
Reconnecting Albany to the Hudson River
Why the Waterfront Needed a Story
The construction of I-787 and decades of urban renewal physically and psychologically cut Albany residents off from their own river. Communities in the South End and beyond lost their direct relationship to the Hudson – the water was close, but it might as well have been miles away.
The City didn’t just need signage. It needed a vision: a way for future projects, parks, and gateways to feel like parts of a single waterfront experience.
This masterplan asks a simple question:
“If the waterfront were a brand and a place at the same time, how would it look, feel, and move people?”
The Albany Waterfront Identity
I created a flexible waterfront brand that could stretch across parks, trails, gateways, and downtown connections – distinct from, but aligned with, the City’s core identity.
Primary and secondary Albany Waterfront logos, district icons, color palette, typography, and wave motifs designed to echo the Hudson and visually tie destinations together.
Designing How People Move, See, and Feel the Waterfron
Wayfinding as Storytelling
Lamp post banners, floor markings, and kiosks act as narrative devices – using waves, arrows, and phrases like “You’re almost waterside” to guide people emotionally and physically back to the river.
Branding the South End Connector
Underpass “dead space” becomes a branded corridor through section signage, environmental graphics, bike fencing covers, and environmental messaging – turning a simple route into a stitched-together story.
Gateways as First Impressions
Northern and Southern gateway concepts reframe key intersections as thresholds to the waterfront, with rebranded headwalls, water-inspired murals, interpretive signage, and bold calls to explore the river.
Art as Infrastructure.
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Joint Mural
A joint mural fosters connection by bringing residents, artists, and organizations together to co-create a shared visual story that strengthens pride, sparks conversation, and deepens a sense of belonging.
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Jersey Barrier Paint-Off
A Jersey Barrier Paint-Off turns standard safety barriers into highly visible, art-forward features that improve awareness, encourage slower traffic behavior, and provide a collective platform for local artists and community members to showcase their work in a unified, public display.
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Public Poems
Public poems built into the infrastructure integrate language directly into the built environment, turning functional elements into reflective, artful experiences that enhance safety awareness while offering a collective platform for local poets, youth, and residents to have their voices permanently seen and heard.
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Alternating Art Exhibitions
Alternating art exhibitions activate the South End Connector space by continuously refreshing the visual environment, preventing it from becoming static or overlooked. By rotating work from local artists, youth, and community groups, the space remains dynamic, relevant, and highly visible, reinforcing its role as a safe, inviting corridor while giving ongoing opportunities for creative expression tied to the South End’s identity and resilience.
This work turns infrastructure into narrative, proving that design, policy, and people can move together with purpose.
Branding at the scale of a city – unifying multiple parks, gateways, and neighborhoods under one waterfront identity.
Design used to engage with history, displacement, and access, not just aesthetics.
A demonstration of how <strong>systems-level design can reconnect residents to a place they can’t yet fully see.
A visual and narrative toolkit future teams can lift directly into implementation when funding and timing align.