The Downtown Rutland Partnership selected the team of Charles Gibson Design and ORW Landscape Architects to create a wayfinding signage program for Downtown Rutland.

Phase One of the project called for a comprehensive evaluation of existing downtown signs according to five criteria stated in the RFP: message content, location/visibility, structure/materials/hardware, visual efficacy, and coordination with other signs. The evaluation report also included a map locating all signs in the historic downtown as well as a schedule listing each sign, its message, source of jurisdiction, and other information.

Following the preparation of a report that explored gateway alternatives, Phase Two culminated in the design of six sign types: Primary Gateway/Downtown Demarcation; Secondary Gateway/Downtown Demarcation; Destination/Public Parking Directional; Parking Identity/Confirmation of Arrival/Pedestrian Orientation; Public Parking Directional; and Public Information/Orientation.

A principal strategy of this wayfinding program is to guide vehicular visitors from clearly defined gateways to public parking, thus encouraging their transition to pedestrians. At the level of the sidewalk, interpretive information and orientation maps then direct the visitor to historic, cultural, and civic destinations.