“Quilted Landscape”— a dynamic conceptual installation designed by HMC Architects’ graphic design team for a Central California High School — won a Communication Arts Magazine 2022 Award of Excellence in the Environmental Graphics category. Over 1,000 entries were submitted and 126 were selected as winners by a jury of creative professionals.

Taking cues from the school’s design vision, the dimensional installation was inspired by aerial views of California’s Central Valley. Crop circles, dirt roads, irrigation canals, and square plots of farmland become a system of custom geometric letterforms, an abstract pattern that leads students and faculty through the space, but a closer look reveals that the shapes spell out the name of the school.

Communication Arts is a professional journal for designers, art directors, design firms, corporate design departments, agencies, illustrators, photographers, and everyone involved in visual communications. Through its editorials, feature articles, and the annual competitions it sponsors, Communication Arts provides new ideas and information, while promoting the highest professional standards for the field. Winners will be published in their upcoming 2022 Typography Annual Jan/Feb issue.