Philadelphia Water Department

Philadelphia Water Department (PWD)

At West Cary Group, I lead creative development for our Philadelphia Water Department client’s Water Revitalization Plan (a multi-decade plan to strengthen the city’s drinking water infrastructure) in close collaboration with engineers and communications partners.

The Team

Creative Direction, Illustration and Design - Danielle Probst

Messaging Strategy - Stephanie Patino & Megan Smith

Account Management - Lexi Beaver, Megan Smith & Jennie Mummert

Visualizing Philadelphia’s Water Future

Our creative work for the Water Revitalization Plan (WRP) focuses on helping Philadelphians understand exactly what upgrades are happening, where/when they will occur, and how these improvements may impact their communities. In many cases, we use illustration to:

Explain large-scale infrastructure projects
Outline neighborhood-level impacts and project locations
Increase community engagement online and at events
Strengthen brand recognition and trust

SRX Impact Report

One of our first collaborations with PWD was developing a series of cohesive illustrations explaining the impact of the Schuylkill River Crossing project. These complex diagrams were needed to support an existing written document, and layed the groundwork for a uniquely WRP illustration style.

WRP One-Pager

We then partnered to create a flyer summarizing the Water Revitalization Plan at a glance, which was distributed to impacted communities digitally and at in-person events. This double-sided document maps out key project locations across the city, and explains the many ways the WRP will benefit Philadelphians.

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Project Pages

Since most WRP materials direct audiences to the construction pages for more information, we created iterations of the core map to be used on each individual project page. This made for a more visually-consistent experience at every touchpoint.

Leaning into illustration

Our early illustrated pieces didn’t just resonate, they reshaped how PWD communicated this multi-decade plan to its community. The trust built through those first projects opened the door to many illustration-driven initiatives including:

Interactive presentations & event posters
Project fact sheets & infographics
Animated explainer videos
Print brochures, postcards and letters

Project Fact Sheets

After positive reactions from the PWD team on our early illustrative work, we began creating project fact sheets that overviewed the 16 key projects and supporting projects that make up the WRP. These double-sided documents (digital and print) tell each project's story at a glance, giving communities essential information in a clear, visually consistency way across the series. This effort is still ongoing, and each fact sheet has a matching tri-fold brochure for increased engagement at in-person events.

Community Listening Sessions

PWD held public meetings to build awareness for their Water Revitalization Plan, and looked to us for creative that would encourage sign ups, and keep people engaged during the sessions. The result? The best-attended community listening sessions they had ever hosted.