Installation of First Inspirational Sign —21 September 2014

Late last year, a group of second year Graphic Arts students from Unitec came out to CUE Haven as part of a project to develop visual communication using words and text to enhance the experiences of visitors to CUE Haven.

The students came up with so many wonderful ideas that although the designs were for their class assessment, we wanted to have some of the signs made and installed on the property.

One of the most unique concepts was designed by Paige Keene who developed several signs around inspirational ideas based on the name, CUE Haven.  CUE stands for “Cultivating Understanding and Enlightenment” and Paige came up with the idea of a little “CUE Birdie” who would guide visitors as they explore the property.

The letters “C,” “U,” “E” form the eye, wing and tail of the bird and in Paige’s concept plan the bird would appear on signs throughout the property to “guide visitors as a messenger communicating philosophical and inspirational ideas.”

Thanks to a grant from Unitec, one of Paige’s signs was made up by Capitol Sign Services  Ltd., and the sign is both beautiful and inspiring.

Today we installed the sign at a point on the walking track where visitors will see it clearly and by a bench where they can sit down and relax and think about the message on the sign.  Paige came out with her father Steve and friend Leon who helped with the installation.

We took the sign and equipment down to the site and selected what we thought was an ideal spot for the sign.

Unfortunately, after just a couple of centimetres of soft soil, the ground was rock hard.  In fact, it was rock!

So we brought in reinforcements in the form of the post hole borer.

Even the augur wouldn’t put a significant dent in the hard impacted clay, so we decided to move over to the other side of the track.

Conditions were a little better but we still needed the augur to dig a hole of the necessary size.

Once the hole was dug it was a relatively simple job to cement the post in place.

And Leon did an adventurous trip to the stream nearby to get more water!

The sign is installed in a perfect location and looks great.

Coincidently, Paige’s sign is by a bench which was made and installed earlier this year by a couple of students participating in the Gateway program at Westlake Girls High School.  We found out today that Paige is an alumnus of Westlake Girls High School!

We want to thank Unitec for their support of the CUE Haven project and for allowing their very talented students to get involved and make such a valuable contribution.

And we want to thank the nice people at Capitol Sign Services Ltd., who have been extremely helpful and supporting in getting the signs made up.

A special thank you to Steve and Leon for their very hard work to get the sign installed today.

And most of all we want to thank Paige for her beautiful sign.  It is a wonderful addition to the CUE Haven landscape and will inspire visitors for years to come.  Paige graduates from the Unitec School of Design this November and we wish her much success in her future endeavours with Pudge Designs and hope we can use more of her work.  Thanks!