Metal work. Decorative signage for nurseries in Gdańsk.

Facades of newly developed nurseries in Gdańsk are one of our projects promoting design in spaces dedicated to children. Illustrative metal work depicts familiar animals that can be spotted during walks, and helps to identify the facilities. During the conceptual stage of the design process, we developed an idea of a series of illustrations showing animals residing in our region, so they can be spotted by children in Tricity during walks in the woods and by the sea. This way, every facility has a patron that will accompany toddlers in their daily lives: a fox, a deer, hedgehogs, storks, rabbits, a squirrel, a frog, an owl and even a seal.

The system allows for adding new animals to the set, as the network of nurseries expands. Individual animals illustrated by Jacek Wielebski can become "guardians" of the nurseries and make identifying these places easier. The
animal characters are easy to recognize and remember for children, so they can say: "I go to the nursery with a fox" or "I go to the nursery with an owl".
The authors hope to create a sense of belonging to the first small community of which the children become a part.