Jane Davis Doggett
Artist & Environmental Graphic Designer
1929 - 2023
Inducted in 2016
Biography
Jane Davis Doggett was an internationally acclaimed graphic designer and outstanding artist trained at the Yale School of Art & Architecture in its modernist heyday of the 1950's. A pioneer in the new field of architectural and environmental graphics design, she moved to Florida in the 1970’s where she was commissioned to design graphics and wayfinding systems for major Florida airports including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. Her designs for Tampa International Airport were recognized through an award from the US Department of Transportation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Her pioneering vision in graphics design and signage created clear, efficient and safe directional routings in major US facilities such as Madison Square Garden, Pennsylvania Station, Los Angeles Metro, the National Zoo in Washington, plus 40 airport projects - more than any other designer in the world. 20 million airport passengers every year are guided by her graphics and wayfinding. Awards for her designs include the American Institute of Architects National Award of Merit, the Progressive Architecture Design Award, and the American Iron and Steel Institute Design in Steel Citation. In 2007, she received the Outstanding Alumna Award from Newcomb College of Tulane University and in 2008, she was elected a Sterling Fellow of Yale.
Her innovative design concepts have had far-reaching effects on airports internationally. She initiated the use of color-coding (for example, Red Area versus Blue Area) and letter-coding displayed in graphic icons to identify airport terminals in roadway lead-up signage and in routings throughout terminal interiors. She also initiated the concept of thematic graphics to identify the airport as a gateway to a given area, projecting unique cultural and geographic aspects of the area served by the airport. Examples of international airport gateways where her concepts were demonstrated include JFK, Boston-Logan, Baltimore-Washington, George Bush-Houston, Miami, and Tampa. Her graphics design work has been featured in international publications in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, and Japan.
Ms. Doggett's book Talking Graphics contains geometric designs in colors and symbols expressing philosophically profound messages and proverbs from various cultures. It has received international praise for its ability to break language barriers. In recent years her two and three-dimensional artworks have been exhibited in museums nationwide. She has had major exhibitions at the Tennessee State Museum and the Yale University Art Gallery.
Ms. Doggett was active in both the artistic and civic life of her community. She was a founding board member of the Arts Council of Martin County and was co-founder of the Jupiter Island Arts Council. In 2014, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts Council of Martin County. In 2015, she received the Arts Recognition Award from the Town of Jupiter Island.
