​As part of a major expansion and renovation project that included the creation of a children’s wing, the Howe Library requested an environmental graphics program unusually broad in scope for a town library. In addition to an exterior clock face and main ID sign, interior components included donor recognition, wayfinding and regulatory signage, bookcase flags, special-event kiosks, an archival donor-plaque mural, Children’s Room entry sculpture, and a lobby mural.

To create a magnetic presence at the Children’s Room entrance, a classic owl motif was updated and translated into a 7-foot, formed-metal sculpture. Immediately christened “Howel” by Library staff, the sculpture is infused with literary overtones. A laminated, large-format print of detail from a marbled book endpaper expresses the bird’s plumage, while the face is set off in a contrasting typographic texture derived from a poem selected by the Library. (For the curious reader, the poem’s complete text is posted nearby.)