Artist Christine Rains had several projects lined up when Alex Cousins asked her to design a sign topper for the Hayhurst neighborhood back in 2017. Aside from designing the logo/sign topper for her own Alameda neighborhood, she was designing maps, logos, flyers, posters and other materials for the Oregon Department of Transportation, Portland’s Planning Bureau, Tualatin Parks and Recreation and several other clients.
“I knew Christine as a graphic designer who works for local agencies and nonprofits,” said Cousins, who was a neighborhood association board member at the time. “So, I reached out. I already had the cow theme in mind for Hayhurst.“ Rains was interested. Her sister had lived in the neighborhood for years, so she knew about Alpenrose Dairy and the area’s agricultural history (some of which is related on our “About” page).
Alpenrose Dairy donated to Hayhurst Neighborhood Association to create the first sign toppers to run along SW Shattuck Road. Board members, including Cousins, Leslie Hammond and Dylan Lauzon, led the project and reviewed Rains’ preliminary design options. They chose a design that represents a simple and friendly message about the neighborhood.
Board members also received a “Portland in the Streets Community” grant from the Portland Bureau of Transportation, to fabricate and install the sign toppers.The first set of 46 toppers were installed at Safe Route to School priority locations.Then, in 2025, neighborhood association board member Alissa Cattone identified six more high-visibility spots to add sign toppers. As of 2025, 52 sign toppers are installed around the neighborhood, providing a unique, cohesive community identity for Hayhurst.
Today, Rains draws on her background in landscape architecture and urban design in her contract work for Tualatin Parks and Recreation and other projects. For ODOT, she’s creating the maps and flyers illustrating the Columbia River Highway bike trail, which will eventually extend from Hood River to Portland. Her illustrations reflect her love of nature and the Pacific Northwest. For nearly three decades, she has paddled on a Rose Festival Dragon Boat team, and this summer she will spend a week kayaking around Johnstone Strait up in British Columbia. Her husband, Harvey Simmons, shares her love of nature, and is an amateur photographer and author of two books about PNW wildflowers.
In June, Rains showed her art at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, and in August she’ll have a booth at the Vancouver Arts and Music Festival.
Find more information about Christine Rains’ design work at: https://christinerainsdesign.com/ and her illustrations of iconic Pacific Northwest places at https://www.christinerainsillustration.com/.