Sunday's Signpost

This interpretive sign at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles left me scratching my head. The white dotted line is labeled "Crude oil and gas escape from fissures below the lake." The figures on the left appear to be men digging... referencing the original quarry that created the lake that became the tar pit? The black horizontal line reads "Surface oil slick." If it's a cross-section of the tar pit, how does it relate to where I'm standing?

When a design gets over-stylized like this, it's best to check it in prototype form with visitors, to make sure they understand it. You might be making assumptions that simply don't translate visually.

What do you think readers? Does this sign work?
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