During my time in Zion, I was asked to do a complete redesign of the water bottle filling stations that are scattered throughout the park. This was a slow-going project as many things needed to be approved by multiple people, and I was also responsible for getting all the measurements and solving some fabrication problems.

This project started with two separate design concepts for the new stations. The first design was a more traditional approach that involved much more photography than illustration. The second is the version you see presented here, a more artistic and fun approach. This version was inspired by old WPA posters which used many simple shapes and solid colors, as well as grainy textures and shading. Both styles were made alongside each other until it was clear what version of the station people liked the most, and I am grateful they chose the version they did as it was a lot of fun to continue designing it. I enjoy this art style a lot, and I am grateful I was given an opportunity to create something in this style professionally.

For the design I wanted to depict the parks hanging gardens as the "springs" for the spring water. I thought it would be a fun idea to line up these springs to where the physical spigot comes out of the wall. This proved more challenging than I originally thought, as each water filling station has different locations for the spigots than the others. Lots of measuring was involved and, in the end, I made four different versions of the station.

A critical feature for this new station was to draw people in so they would read the information on the sign, which communicated why using reusable bottles is important for not only Zion but the world in general, as well as educate visitors on Leave No Trace principles. Using eye catching artwork like this instead of photos helped with this a lot, and I often see people pointing out the water filling stations and going up to read them. Seeing these printed and put up around the park, and watching visitors interact with them makes me very proud of the work I did. I think they look great, and they look even better with the backdrop of the park around them.