Greetings from
DevStudioCraft's proposal for Track II, and for three parts of Track III: exhibit graphics, 3D and digital interactives. One museum, seven places, one family.
J Old Joliet Prison · O Gemini Giant · L Railroad Museum · I Planinsek Grocery · E Joliet Arsenal · T World's First Dairy Queen
Dear Greg and the Board
JAHM now runs seven places, from an 1858 limestone prison to a roadside giant on Route 66. Visitors meet them one by one, under different names.
The new brand has to make them one family, with room for each place's own story. Your answers to bidders confirmed that the brand comes first and guides the exhibit planning. This proposal covers Track II in full, and three parts of Track III that grow from the brand. It can be ready in June 2027, in time for the museum's 25th anniversary in October.
Belal Soliman
Project Lead, DevStudioCraft · contact@devstudiocraft.com
The family
JAHM is a family of places, each with its own story and its own colour. Turn a card over to read its place.
Illustrations made for this proposal with AI image tools from our art direction. No JAHM photographs are reproduced.
01 · What we learned
Your own maps show the canal, the railroads and the highways meeting at one point. Your 2026 exhibit calls it “In the Center of Everything”. We think the brand can start there.
Sources: RFP-2026-JAHM-01, JAHM's answers to bidders, the talk “From Gateway to Getaway”, Illinois Association of Museums, US Census QuickFacts.
02 · The brand today
JAHM has done what most museums only plan. The brand grew place by place, and today we count at least six visual voices. A visitor's trip meets four different looks.
A classic serif name on the website and the street banners.
A red JAHM sign with an Illinois 66 shield, 1926–2026.
A regional Route 66 brand lives inside the museum too.
Its own tours, merchandise and social pages.
A laurel “25 years, 2002–2027” mark, ready for next year.
Cheerful road-trip illustrations: warm, but not yet a system.
Route 66 guides often reach travellers before JAHM's own name.
The home page shows four places; the names sit inside photos.
FareHarbor: a second look, a small logo.
A separate Square site: a third look.
Banners, a neon shield, brown highway signs.
Newsletter, membership, donations.
Our view from public material only. Phase 1 checks it with your staff, visitors and partners before any design starts.
03 · Brand architecture
The biggest decision in Track II. Phase 2 tests the three models on real uses with the Board. Sketches to explain the models, not designs.
04 · Three territories to test
Early hypotheses, not designs. They give the Board something to react to in Phase 1. The three directions in Phase 3 grow from the research and may look nothing like these.
Joliet as the crossroads. Lines that meet, a clear wayfinding alphabet, made for highway signs and gallery walls.
Best for: Route 66 travellers and wayfinding across seven places.
The material city. Limestone, iron and the 1858 walls. Cut letterforms and quiet authority.
Best for: donors, researchers and the prison's history.
Roadside optimism. The Gemini Giant, the first Dairy Queen and the open road. Warm and playful.
Best for: families, school groups and the gift shops.
05 · How we work
Five phases, February to June 2027. Every phase ends in one approved deliverable, so the Board always knows where the work stands.
06 · Work plan
◆ milestone · bars: work in progress · green: Track III, timed to the exhibit firm's plans. Month numbers follow the RFP table, so the identity suite lands in Month 6.
07 · Deliverables
Everything in the RFP's Track II row, in files your staff can open and edit. All rights pass to JAHM, as RFP section 8.4 requires.
Audience Research & Perception Auditreport and summary deck
Brand Strategy Briefpositioning, voice, messages, pillars, architecture
Three visual identity directionseach on six real JAHM uses
Identity suitemaster logomark, a lockup for each place, mono and reversed
Colour and typeAAA-tested palette, type licensed in JAHM's name
Signage standardsexterior, wayfinding and gallery signs
Template libraryabout 20 editable templates, from social to donor pieces
Booking and shop templatesso FareHarbor and the Square shop feel like JAHM
Merchandise applicationsfor the gift shops and the Landing Pad
Brand Guidelines Manualabout 60 pages, PDF plus editable source
Launch plan and hand-off kitrollout schedule, Track III kit, staff training
08 · Track III, our part
The new brand guides the exhibit planning. We carry it into the galleries in three parts of Track III, and work alongside the exhibit firm JAHM selects for the rest.
The exhibit firm leads
We work from their plans and join their reviews. Nothing is designed twice.
We do not propose Track I, the Strategic Plan, which JAHM has made optional.
09 · 3D visualisation
A small room we made for this proposal: an illustration of how we present 3D, not a gallery design. Turn it yourself, or jump to a view.
More 3D from our studio: Lucido, a building you walk into · APT-01, a 360° tour (studio samples).
10 · Team
DevStudioCraft takes organisations from brand to the finished thing people use: identity and guidelines, websites and apps, 3D and film. The same people design every part, so the logo, the templates, the signs and the screens follow one system.
Based in Bremen, Germany. DevStudioCraft is a brand of M2A Group; contracts are with M2A Facility Management GmbH, Bremen (HRB 40419), represented by Managing Director Eng. Ayman Elbahrawy. Prime firm, no sub-consultants.
Belal Soliman. One point of contact for JAHM: schedule, meetings, reviews and quality.
Research, the perception audit, positioning, voice and brand architecture.
The three directions, the identity suite, the Guidelines Manual and the templates.
Track III 3D visualisation and the digital interactive concepts.
Everyone who visits
Research in English and Spanish, captions on every video session, and type and colour tested for WCAG AAA, so the brand works for every visitor, staff member and partner.
11 · Our work
We have not yet completed a museum project, and we say so plainly. These projects show the work Track II asks for: research, an identity system, guidelines and templates, for organisations with several audiences.
Identity, 50-page brand book, 15 logo masters, website, app UI and seven brand films.
airyona.com ↗
17 logo masters, brand book, website, workwear, vehicle livery and signage. In-house work, shown as proof of craft.
m2a-fm.de ↗
Website in German and English for clubs at 33 schools: families, teachers and partner schools.
irobo-edu.de ↗
A detailing house built in 3D for the web: walk in, look around, book.
lucido.devstudiocraft.com ↗Client references are shared with JAHM at the shortlist stage. More work: devstudiocraft.com/work.
Thank you
We would be glad to present this proposal to the Board in December, by video or in Joliet.
Prepared for the Joliet Area Historical Museum, RFP-2026-JAHM-01, November 2026. The fee proposal is a separate PDF sent with the submission. JAHM's names are used only to describe this proposal.
Wish you were hereJAHM City Center · 204 N. Ottawa Street, Joliet