Synovus Park
Project Overview Client: Diamond Baseball Group, Columbus Clingstones
Years: 2024-2025
Services: Wayfinding Strategy, Signage Design, Experiential Brand Activation, Sponsorship Masterplan, Naming Rights and Sponsorship Activation
Columbus, Georgia welcomed professional baseball back with the relocation and rebranding of the Atlanta Braves’ AA Affiliate, now called the Columbus Clingstones. Historic Golden Park, a 100 year-old structure was restored, renovated, and reopened as Synovus Park.
While the original grandstand remains, the rest of the park is new. I led the effort to create a new signage & wayfinding system, bringing the ballpark up to code, and ensuring clear navigation through the new spaces.
I also worked with my team to design activations and team pageantry celebrating the new team name and identity. We found ways to acknowledge the 100 year history of the park and honor the legacy of baseball in Columbus. The result is creating a place that the Columbus community can be proud of for years to come.
We began the project by creating a masterplan, identifying high impact areas where branded elements would help create a sense of place and promote pride in the city and team. This process helped us and our client to set aside areas for branding and identify separate places of value for sponsorship, avoiding competing visuals and messages.
I drew inspiration from elements of classic ballparks — manual scoreboards, lineup cards, painted murals, and chain-link fences — to create branding that fit the historic character of the park but connected it to the future team.
Once installed, the team invited fans to sign their own baseball and fill the monument as a way to invite the community to contribute to a permanent feature in the ballpark.
Hank Aaron is one of the greatest to ever play baseball. He built his legend in Georgia. On his pursuit of reaching the major leagues Aaron played on the Synovus Park field (then-called Golden Park) in 1953. He was one of three black players who helped break the color barrier in the South Atlantic League that year.
Aaron is a model for all who aspire to compete at the highest level, and so when we were looking for an icon that could honor history and inspire the staff, players, and fans in Columbus (the Braves AA affiliate), portraying Hank Aaron was an obvious choice.
Continuing the dot pattern design motif, the lobby staircase mural depicts Aaron in his iconic batting stance.
The ballpark has a single entrance and grandstand. For a small and simple venue, it was important for the wayfinding strategy and signage to be straightforward and feel seamlessly integrated, from large directional plaques down to the smallest details at each seat.
The signage design is inspired by old tickets, scoresheets, and classic baseball ephemera to fit the 100 year history of the park. In baseball numerology, the number 3 appears frequently, representing 3 strikes, 3 outs, and 3 bases, among other occurances. The use of 3 circles became a recurring pattern applied throughout the sign system. We chose ballpark green to match the park’s canopy and seats, while including panels of southern oak wood references baseball bats and provides warmth and contrast.
Suite identification signs include a removable name plate
allowing flexibility for sponsors or suiteholders to be updated from season to season.
Team Nick Abele, Project Lead, Designer
Robert Sitek, Designer
Tiffany Zen, Planning
Leo Mangimelli, Construction Detailing
Fabricators: Identity Group, DCL
Painter: Cannon Arts
Work completed at Populous