Boston Harbor Islands “Pick Your Path” Self-Guided Island Adventures

DESIGN, ART DIRECTION + STYLE GUIDE

To help more visitors explore the islands independently, Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park turned to Merry Perry Design to create a cohesive series of self-guided activities – “Pick Your Path Story Activities” and “Grab & Go Activity Guides” – for youth groups (roughly ages 6-13) and their adult companions or families.

The ambitious vision for Pick Your Path: fun, engaging and easy-to-use “choose your own ending” stories that spark visitors’ sense of adventure, visually compelling design that could be both printed at home by visitors and printed professionally, cost-effective illustration and printing choices, and flexible templates with a style guide for successful adaptation by Islands partner organizations for future stories on the other islands in the park.

Part treasure map and part mystery, the colorful design features a hand-drawn aesthetic within its elements, textures and swashes. It expands on the foundational color palette and typography of the Boston Harbor Islands brand, pushing the palette brighter to balance the darker illustration etchings. Existing watercolor maps from the park’s collection are incorporated by layering with a unifying seascape background. A structure of text, visuals and maps supports visitors through the flow of activity choices and their movement around the island. Within the story, guiding arrows indicate the flow of the narrative, steps and choices. Careful coding of steps and map locations supports ease of use.

The story title and island name, along with introductory text and a glimpse of the main characters (a mischievous Private Sawyer from “Escape the Fort” and the haunting hands of the “Lady in Black”) appear on the title panel. Throughout, visual elements work closely with the text to both guide and motivate young readers, drawing them in to the story and on in their adventure as it unfolds. Merry Perry recommended engaging period-appropriate illustrations, mini chapter headings and exclamatory sound words to encourage visitors’ imaginative understanding of the story – all without giving away the ending!

[Illustration (bed, lady) by Cathy Radonic]