Creating a visual system is like designing a game. You need to ask: What is the purpose? What are the key elements and relationships? What are the rules? And where are the opportunities for surprise? With over 350 national parks and millions of visitors, the United States National Park Service (NPS) needed a publication system to help visitors orient themselves no matter which park they were in, to understand the geological or historical significance of the park, and to better access its recreational opportunities. The parts of the system had to work individually and as a whole.

Systems design involves considerations of user needs, communication consistency, design processes, production requirements, and economies of scale, including the standardization of sizes. Rather than examining and designing an isolated piece, the designer of a system considers the whole, abstracting its requirements and essential elements to form a kind of game plan for the creation of its parts. When Massimo Vignelli was hired to work with the NPS design staff, they agreed on a publication system with six elements: a limited set of formats; full-sheet presentations; park names used as logotypes; horizontal organization for text, maps, and images; standardized, open, asymmetric typographic layout; and a master grid to coordinate design with printing. The system supports simple, bold graphics like Liberty or detailed information like Shenandoah Park, with its relief map, text, and photographs.

A well-conceived system is not a straightjacket; it leaves room for imaginative solutions. It releases the designer from solving the same problem again and again and directs creative energy to the unique aspects of a communication. To remain vital and current, the system must anticipate problems and opportunities. Designers working in this area need design-planning skills as well as creativity with text, images, symbols, signs, diagrams, graphs, and maps.