Kilroy Square | Visual Identity and Placemaking

QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS

Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding

This project was not just about developing a brand visual or a logo mark. We started with a question – what is the visual identity of this place? Or what should it be?

The goal with Kilroy Square is to create a contemporary public square that will support a wide range of programming, from morning yoga classes to lunch crowd dining, as well as evening events and projected movie nights. The new visual identity developed by HHH reflects this playful approach to placemaking. 

The process began with a careful consideration of opportunities for signage and creative intervention that enhance the visitor experience. With a clear set of goals and a defined set of opportunities, we were able to present a decisive placemaking strategy for this mixed use plaza at the center of this newly revitalized urban area that involved a variety of signage, storytelling, and even a game to help visitors learn more. 

Next, we went about the process of developing a brand package, an original logo, and a range of logo variations that could be used in public signage and branded materials. 

These signs are inspired by the shipbuilding history of Quincy and the Fore River Shipyard, with corten steel that mimics the aged hull of a submarine. The signs also feature protruding rivets, a nod to Kilroy, the namesake of the plaza, who was a rivet inspector who’s mark became famous around the world. 

Only then did we begin the process of designing each sign. There are eleven unique sign types, each with unique detail based on their position in the plaza and communication objectives.  

Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
The Fore River Shipyard workers constructed hundreds of ships, for Kilroy Was Here is one of the first “viral memes.” It became popular during World War II, as the doodle seemed to appear everywhere American servicemen went. At the height of his popularity, Kilroy could be found far and wide, in bathrooms and on bridges, in school cafeterias and on homework assignments, on battlefields from the French Coast to the Islands of the South Pacific, in the holds of Navy ships and painted on the shells of Air Force missiles.

Many people have wondered how the Kilroy phenomenon began. Not many know that it was James J. Kilroy, an inspector here in Quincy at the Fore River Shipyard, one of the nation’s most productive shipyards during World War II, who started it all.

Kilroy was often asked to inspect vessels where he had already completed his work. To avoid redundancy, Kilroy began writing “Kilroy Was Here” in oversized letters on the inspected areas. He later added the “Kilroy” character, a simple face with a long nose and hands looking over a ledge.

Normally, workers’ marks would be painted over, but the dire wartime need for ships meant that most were sent into action before the last coat of paint. American sailors began noticing the character scrawled on ships almost immediately. At first, they treated an appearance of “Kilroy Was Here” as a good-luck charm, certifying that their ship had been properly checked and would be protected against the enemy. But it was not long before GIs also adopted the Kilroy standard as a symbolic rallying cry for troops in battlefields around the world.
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding
Kilroy Square – A visual identity project with signage and way-finding