Ideas Generation

These are the sketches I have done from loosen ideas I have been writing down as notes.

I think the use of lights is important, as Ikea wayfinding system, but I think it is not very functional unless departments change all the time, which is something is not going to happen. But if it does, it would be something to consider, as it is not only flexible and cheap, but it also allows to use colours and multiple shapes.

I also noticed while identifying wayfinding systems in LCA that Graphic Design is the only department with a coloured light (and the offices below). I think that instead of using it as a decorative element it could have wayfinding purposes.

The colours assigned in the sketches are just examples.

I also considered using the student advice signage and take it to the next level using colours to indicate more things in the building. But it would be confusing as there would be loads of text and colours on the walls, which can be a quite stressing experience as well. Colours and shapes are much easier to identify and relate. During the photoshop workshops, a image caught my attention: a wayfinding system done by lines.

After the Peter & Paul talk and how the mosaic theme was explained these two ideas started to mix in my head.

By using a repetitive pattern to make it as long as it needs to be and using the colour of the assigned department it could be used throughout the building and it would be not only very easy to identify, but also within the theme of the building. It would be placed on the eye level (1.60 - 1.80 m from the floor). The colour of these mosaics would match with the light in the destination.

There is a potential problem that has a solution: if the line of mosaics is on the left wall and there is a corridor to the right it can go from one wall to another by crossing it through the ceiling. In this way the wayfinding system would be involving and it would have a much less appearance proper of a corporation. Students of art want to have an exciting experience during their studies and want to have a different life from what is sadly considered "normal lives". Ergo normal and regular wayfinding systems are out of question.

I also made sketches for the symbols to be used in the signage next to the text that relates to the mosaics for even an easier identification and without the need of reading everything. The text should have a secondary function to support the understanding of imagery. I used the grid supplied in Study Task 2 to design these pictograms.

A way to inform the audience how to quickly know what they can find where they are can be made using the principle of this example. This image can be particularly helpful and using the mosaic theme, this information can be put on the floor of each level of the building, in the stairs. It should be easy to spot as it is visible when coming from either downstairs or upstairs. A big number on a wall next to this signage will be displayed so the user doesn't need to look to the floor every time to find out where he is, but a big number that is part of the surroundings itself will let him know straight away even by not looking at it.

A colour should be saved for this signage from the college colour palette (found in the Brand Guidance PDF that I cannot post here) for this particular signage. Probably the most adequate for its contrast is the pink, which is also used in the website. It could be a way to standardise the colour for the college rather than using it for a particular department.

The mosaics will be used only to help finding certain departments. Although, it won't be used for every part of the building. For instance, the lecture theatre, needs a symbol and a colour assigned. This system of arrows can be used, but it needs to be consistent with the rest of the design and using colours or shapes that don't interfere with the rest of the wayfinding system.

After experimenting with arrows with mosaic shapes I concluded it could be confusing and hard to identify arrows like that among so many mosaics. Then looking through many different kinds of arrows a minimalist design should simplify the message. I also tried with simple lines and arrows, but it can still be confusing. Using big arrows on the wall and with long separation between them should make the experience of finding these places easier and they will not be confused with departments, as the wayfinding system is radically different, but consistent. The big arrows can be displayed not only on the walls, but on the floors as well as long as there is no rug.

Visual research

I have been doing some visual research that might be useful to be applied to the LCA wayfinding system. These are examples of practical and alternative signage that can take a step away from more corporative choices.

Folds

In this Study Task, after checking some publications that used folding methods, I used the book 'How to Fold' published by Agile Rabbit as it has innumerable ways of folding and they are exposed with simple instructions.

I chose one in particular that let the user to discover the content while unfolding, having a whole page at the end and allowing the designer to distribute the information properly as it has 6 small faces divided by 2 sides and the final big one.

This task allowed me to better identify what my small publication is going to be about and the layout of it.

Symbols

Before starting to draw sketches I decided first to do a little bit of research about some pictograms in different olympic games. Results were quite varied and I was surprised about how the same idea for the same purpose can be designed in so many different ways.

London 2012

Athens 2004

 

Beijing 2008

Moscow 1980

Munich 1982

I decided I would do a pictogram of a Scottish bagpiper, since it's something I always liked. I first checked the book Symbols that I bought some weeks ago to see what ideas could be interesting for this kind of designs.

The one at the bottom-left of the page looks similar to a bagpiper

At this point I realised one more time that the simpler the more effective. Simpler shapes were easier to identify. If more complicated shapes were chosen the result would be like Beijing olympics, which had some un-recognisable pictograms.

Then I went to google images to see what elements of a bagpiper I had to represent.

Examples of very effective use of negative space

Simple idea but less elements that can be recognisable in a pictogram.

A more martial look: The hat, the band on the chest, the kilt and sporran makes the bagpiper.

Using the supplied grid I started to draw sketches basing my practice in 1982 Munich olympics. Specifically, the archer, as it is not just a human body, but also an instrument.

After some experimentation it was clear that I had to decide whether the bagpiper would be represented from the front or from a side. I chose from a side, since the drones of the bagpipe would have been more easily represented, with the only cost of the band on the chest.

I didn't entirely stick to the lines of the grid because otherwise spaces would have been too big. Although, I only cut distances by drawing strokes using half of squares instead of the whole.

Once I vectorised it on Illustrator I used different colours to represent it as something Scottish. A possible audience for this kind of pictograms could be tourists in Scotland or signage to indicate where a school of bagpipes is.

As extra elements I added the bag of the bagpipe in negative space, the chanter of it and I made the back of the head plain, so it looks like is looking at the left.

Colours of Scottish traditional fabric

Dashed stroke to simulate stitches of the fabric

Scottish flag colours

Ikea wayfinding system

I was in Ikea the last weekend and I found that they use a regular system of signage, except for one thing: light arrows.

They use a system of lamps that project arrows onto the floor to indicate the customers the way they should follow in order to visit the whole store. This system is very flexible, so if the way changes it's only a matter of readjusting the light and there is no need to print all the arrows again.

On the other hand, it is not a waste of energy, as many of the wall signage has lights to be seen in the darkness or interiors.

In terms of visibility, it was very easy to find the next arrow despite the store was quite crowdy. The way the arrow dances around the body of the person who is passing below it calls the attention to where it is eventually going to be shown: the floor. And you are going to find it just in front of you, so it is very hard to miss.