Innovators in Signage Solutions

Our mission is to help visitors navigate complex environments with ease and confidence. Originally founded as a signage design and wayfinding planning firm for healthcare, education, and museums, we’ve evolved to offer a comprehensive, end-to-end service. Over the years, we expanded our capabilities to take control of the fabrication and installation processes, ensuring every project is delivered on time, within budget, and with uncompromising quality.

Today, we provide complete turnkey signage design-build solutions that reduce stress, save costs, and exceed the standards of traditional signage delivery. Whether we’re collaborating with architects and designers to bring their visions to life or designing wayfinding programs that go out to bid, we’re committed to providing the flexibility and expertise our clients need. Some clients may require multiple fabrication quotes, and we’re always ready to meet those requirements.

MEET OUR TEAM

Richard Nicolson, Creative Director

dnicolson@nicolsonassociates.com

Mr. Nicolson is an environmental graphic designer with 30+ years’ experience on a range of facility types, including healthcare, educational, cultural, corporate, and sports stadiums. He has worked closely with CGA on sign design for more than 15 years. Dick is committed to aesthetically pleasing, well-conceived sign designs that are functional, efficient, and cost-effective. Before founding Nicolson + Associates in 2004, he was VP and Director of the Signage/Exhibit Group, Ford & Earl Associates, Troy, MI; Director of Environmental Graphics at Rossetti Architects, Detroit; and signage designer for Smith, Hinchman, & Grylls Architects, Detroit. Dick also built and managed a nationally recognized, custom, environmental graphics fabrication shop. Some of his fabrication experience includes large scale, high-end design projects, including signage and donor recognition for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York City’s Battery Park, Johns Hopkins Hospital, MGM Casino, The Detroit Riverwalk, and the University of San Francisco Law Library. Dick holds a degree from the College of Creative Studies, Detroit (BFA in Industrial Design).

Scott Wolterink, Account Advisor

swolterink@nicolsonassociates.com

Scott has worked in the development and fundraising field since 1996.  He has been the lead fundraiser and relationship manager in eight comprehensive campaigns including capital, endowment, annual and planned giving components exceeding $665 million. His experience includes:

Higher Education: Lake Forest College, Hope College

Humanitarian Efforts: American Red Cross

Healthcare: Bronson South Haven Health System

Leadership and Youth Development: YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, Boy Scouts of America National Foundation

Scott is a Licensed Professional Fundraiser and holds the CFRE designation.  He earned his Master of Education degree from the University of Vermont and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hope College. He is a graduate of the National Planned Giving Institute at The College of William and Mary, Leadership Development program at Vanderbilt University and The Aspen Academy for Healthcare Philanthropy. Scott can be reached at (248) 897-1719 or email swolterink@nicolsonassociates.com.

Janet R. Carpman, PhD Carpman Wayfinding Consultants www.wayfinding-consulting.com

Associate to Nicolson Associates

Janet R. Carpman, PhD is a nationally recognized wayfinding expert based in Boston, MA, passionate about creating places where everyone can easily find their way around. Her wayfinding work spans sites and facilities for health care, arts & culture, education, courts, public transit, and state government. Jan has worked with clients in 30 states and 3 Canadian provinces for more than 40 years to analyze wayfinding problems and find innovative solutions involving design, behavior, operations, and technology.

She is committed to understanding and meeting the wayfinding needs and preferences of all users, including first-timers, older adults, and people with disabilities. She also recognizes the budgetary, corporate identity, and mission-related wayfinding concerns of stakeholders and the day-to-day, job-related wayfinding requirements of staff. She is proud to have involved thousands of users, stakeholders, and staff in her research, planning, and design work.

She was the first Director of Wayfinding at the Institute for Human Centered Design in Boston (2018-2022). Before that, for more than 30 years, she was a principal in the wayfinding consulting firm, Carpman Grant Associates, Ann Arbor, MI. With her partner, Myron Grant, and associate, Richard Nicolson, she analyzed, planned, and designed wayfinding systems for ~70 organizations. Their projects included wayfinding-related design reviews; environmental analyses; user analyses; website analyses; wayfinding master plans; staff wayfinding training programs; sign location plans and message schedules; sign designs; map designs, and room numbering systems.

 Jan co-authored (with Myron Grant) two, award-winning books, Design that Cares: Planning Health Facilities for Patients and Visitors (3rd edition), Jossey-Bass, 2016, and Directional Sense: How to Find Your Way Around, IHCD, 2012. 

 She holds degrees from the University of Michigan (PhD, Architecture & Sociology), Harvard University (Master of City Planning), and the University of Rochester (BA, Sociology).

Stephanie M. McCarty, Account advisor

smccarty@nicolsonassociates.com

Stephanie's expertise in the donor recognition and wayfinding industry spans over a decade, where she has consistently led client projects to resounding success. Stephanie holds a bachelors degree from Wayne State University.

Other Associates

Nicolson Associates maintains a small staff so we can bring specialized consultants into projects on an as needed basis. These services include interpretive writers and designers, custom fabricators, lighting specialists, structural engineers, landscape designers, etc..