SC Connecticut News

The Haas Family Arts Library at Yale University has announced that the papers of Jane Davis Doggett, a 1956 MFA graduate and renowned graphic designer, are now accessible to researchers. Doggett is celebrated for pioneering wayfinding systems used in airports and public spaces globally.

Adrienne Pruitt, archivist of special collections at the library, stated, “Whether you know it or not, you have walked through a place that Jane Davis Doggett designed.” Over her 50-year career starting in 1959, Doggett developed award-winning wayfinding systems for more than 40 international airports and various urban spaces such as museums and hospitals.

Doggett's designs replaced the cluttered signage of the 1950s with a coded system that emphasized ease of navigation. Influenced by Josef Albers and Paul Rand among others, she introduced "placemarks," simple symbols representing the character of a venue. Her work incorporated consistent typography and color schemes to visually link signage and interior spaces.

In a 2021 interview with "Yale Alumni News," Doggett explained her approach: “I didn’t envision my role as herding people,” she said. “Rather, I saw it as communicating to people the choices offered for their individual selections with clearly defined routings of how to get there.”

Later in life, Doggett focused on creating art including paintings and sculptures. Her works have been exhibited widely, notably at Yale University Art Gallery. Her book "Talking Graphics" features her IconoChrome series which translates proverbs into geometric shapes.

The collection marks the first from a female graduate of Yale’s Graphic Design program established in 1951. The archive spans from 1917 to 2023 and includes design work, artwork, papers, correspondence, artifacts, audiovisual materials, and digital content.

For those interested in learning more about her contributions to design and art, PBS offers an online documentary titled "Jane Davis Doggett: Wayfinder in the Jet Age."