Wayfinding Research -
The task was too go out into Leeds and find examples of wayfinding in places such as the galleries, museums, transport interchanges, the city centre and shopping centre. As this task was set on a Monday we were unable too visit the galleries and museums so we deiced too look at the train station and the signage around Leeds used by tourists.
Leeds Train Station -
Leeds train station, like most other stations in the rest of the country is very clearly signposted, although people may not realise this when you look around there are hundreds of signs. These signs range from small to large and they each have different roles to aid the public, the signage is made up of many different things from pictograms which help people clearly see what rules may be enforced or point them in the right direction. As expected the most obvious things have pictograms, for example toilets and no skateboarding. Ones that were useful that you don't see very much of, were cash machine and meeting point, both very clear and easy to associate with.
Other types of signage that are all over the station are white arrows, they are on most signs and they work very well. As they are on a dark blue background this means that white arrows are easily noticeable for everyone to see. Most of the signage is high up so that it can allow for everyone to see it, as when the station is busy it could be difficult too see it if it is lower down, so having it high up and with the right colour contrast works very well.
The typography, like all National Rail stations in the UK they follow the same layout and design throughout so that it is easy for everyone to understand how the station works. So they also do the same with the typeface which they use, this is Helvetica Medium. This is one of the legible typefaces around so using it keeps the simple theme throughout. All of the type is in white on a blue background making it even easier too read.
Leeds City Centre -
As well as looking into local transport interchanges I also looked at the signage around Leeds city centre also in shops and galleries, as I thought it would be beneficial too see how different wayfinding systems can be used to aid the public.
As it was a Monday when I went too look around for wayfinding I soon realised that all the galleries are closed, this was made very clear to us by the clear sign posting on the doors, the signage as in places that are very easy to see, to make sure that everyone can see. Moving on from the galleries I deiced that looking at public wayfinding would be an interesting part of my research, all around Leeds there is signage that has been put in place to direct people looking for landmarks and popular tourist destinations. All of this signage is on posts, in open areas making easy to locate for tourists; as well as this the signs are pointing in the direction of the places which help the public, it makes easier when looking for something.
While walking around Leeds I went into a few shops and wanted too look at the signage and wayfinding systems used in stores, one store in particular I looked in was Size? this is a company that I like and specially the design that they use to promote themselves I enjoy so looking into how they direct people around a store was interesting. Inside the store it has 3 floors, the ground floor was very minimal one part that I really find eye catching is the large neon signage that is showing where the clothing is on the first floor, it works well to catch people attention in bright colours, this is also kept with the brands colours. Once being lead upstairs by this sign there is more signs on the wall telling costumers what brands they will find, I feel this is a good way to get people to see what is there. Once on the first floor there is more neon lighting that links with the Carhartt themed upstairs parts of the store. But as it is a small shop there isn't lots of wayfinding, its more of personal branding using the companies logo. At the basement of the store it has an Adidas section so there is more neon lighting catching your attention to show you what is down there. I feel that the neon works well for this type of store, and it could be used in more places as a form of wayfinding because it really helps to get the attention of people.
As well as looking into the local area, I wanted too look at wayfinding systems all over the world and in differs locations. I the first system I looked into was the New York city signage program that had been massively developed back in 2013, they have used the style from the subway system so that it is familiar for people of New York. The overall design is very simple and clean, this is the best way to have it as it means everyone can understand how it works. The simple flat design had easy to use symbols that are widely recognised by all this helps the functionality of the system, the whole system was designed to help encourage people to walk and use public transport, so the wayfinding includes many easy tips for how to get to tourist areas or transport links. The colour scheme has been made to fit with the subway colours, I believe this has been done so that it is familiar to people and it does not then make the wayfinding confusing.
Another new wayfinding system that I looked into was the new London College of Communication, design by London based design company Pentagram. Idea behind this was that it needed to be easily and quickly adaptable so that if for any reason room numbers changed that it could be changed. So the peg board design was used so that a sign could be taken off and the replaced or moved. They have thought about very important factors of the wayfinding systems, the first being the scale it needs to be readable for everyone so they had to choose type that is legible on many different scales. They also looked at how colour can attract attention so rather than using just black on white they have uses a two or three bright colours to help the signage to stand out, each colour then represents a different part of the building.
Above is some inspiration that I have found from the internet, this has given me some ideas on who I should compose my own wayfinding system. Most of the examples that are shown are using bold and heavy type but they just interesting and colour backgrounds. A lot of the design is very simple but this helps the system to work, if the system looked more complicated it would make it more difficult to use.
These are some sketches that I drew up to start thinking about ideas, I was looking at three different styles for a system. I want the system to be sustainable, eco-friendly and easily adaptable, so I mocked up some ideas that would have elements of all three. Each idea uses three different materials and is made using a different process, laser etching, cut out metal and light boxes.
As it was a Monday when I went too look around for wayfinding I soon realised that all the galleries are closed, this was made very clear to us by the clear sign posting on the doors, the signage as in places that are very easy to see, to make sure that everyone can see. Moving on from the galleries I deiced that looking at public wayfinding would be an interesting part of my research, all around Leeds there is signage that has been put in place to direct people looking for landmarks and popular tourist destinations. All of this signage is on posts, in open areas making easy to locate for tourists; as well as this the signs are pointing in the direction of the places which help the public, it makes easier when looking for something.
While walking around Leeds I went into a few shops and wanted too look at the signage and wayfinding systems used in stores, one store in particular I looked in was Size? this is a company that I like and specially the design that they use to promote themselves I enjoy so looking into how they direct people around a store was interesting. Inside the store it has 3 floors, the ground floor was very minimal one part that I really find eye catching is the large neon signage that is showing where the clothing is on the first floor, it works well to catch people attention in bright colours, this is also kept with the brands colours. Once being lead upstairs by this sign there is more signs on the wall telling costumers what brands they will find, I feel this is a good way to get people to see what is there. Once on the first floor there is more neon lighting that links with the Carhartt themed upstairs parts of the store. But as it is a small shop there isn't lots of wayfinding, its more of personal branding using the companies logo. At the basement of the store it has an Adidas section so there is more neon lighting catching your attention to show you what is down there. I feel that the neon works well for this type of store, and it could be used in more places as a form of wayfinding because it really helps to get the attention of people.
Leeds College of Art -
I began my research by walking around LCA trying to figure out what was happening with the current system, it became very clear that it was difficult for people to find their way and the poor design doesn’t help either.
I looked at how the system is used and how much relevance it has to the university. It was very difficult figuring out how to get from A to B as the signage was not very strong in some areas and there was a lot of numbers and not enough directions.
As well the signage being difficult to understand in areas, there was also a mix of wayfiniding, I believe that the university currently has three/four different wayfiniding systems to “help” visors/students find there way around, this is not what you want, you need something that will be clean but yet bold helping the users, rather than confusing them with many systems. Speaking to fellow students also packed up the fact that it wasn’t just myself that found it difficult to get round when you were looking for a new room, even though the university isn’t huge. But a new system would be adaptable to that if the university was too grow then the signage wouldn’t change.
Famous Wayfinding -
As well as looking into the local area, I wanted too look at wayfinding systems all over the world and in differs locations. I the first system I looked into was the New York city signage program that had been massively developed back in 2013, they have used the style from the subway system so that it is familiar for people of New York. The overall design is very simple and clean, this is the best way to have it as it means everyone can understand how it works. The simple flat design had easy to use symbols that are widely recognised by all this helps the functionality of the system, the whole system was designed to help encourage people to walk and use public transport, so the wayfinding includes many easy tips for how to get to tourist areas or transport links. The colour scheme has been made to fit with the subway colours, I believe this has been done so that it is familiar to people and it does not then make the wayfinding confusing.
Another new wayfinding system that I looked into was the new London College of Communication, design by London based design company Pentagram. Idea behind this was that it needed to be easily and quickly adaptable so that if for any reason room numbers changed that it could be changed. So the peg board design was used so that a sign could be taken off and the replaced or moved. They have thought about very important factors of the wayfinding systems, the first being the scale it needs to be readable for everyone so they had to choose type that is legible on many different scales. They also looked at how colour can attract attention so rather than using just black on white they have uses a two or three bright colours to help the signage to stand out, each colour then represents a different part of the building.
Wayfinding Inspiration -
Above is some inspiration that I have found from the internet, this has given me some ideas on who I should compose my own wayfinding system. Most of the examples that are shown are using bold and heavy type but they just interesting and colour backgrounds. A lot of the design is very simple but this helps the system to work, if the system looked more complicated it would make it more difficult to use.
Idea Development -
These are some sketches that I drew up to start thinking about ideas, I was looking at three different styles for a system. I want the system to be sustainable, eco-friendly and easily adaptable, so I mocked up some ideas that would have elements of all three. Each idea uses three different materials and is made using a different process, laser etching, cut out metal and light boxes.
Using the sketches I then deiced that i should take them and make them into digital ideas, The first idea that I created was the metal signage, the idea behind this approach, was that the metal would be taken from scrap yards or similar so that it would give the signs some character and sense of belonging, as new metal would not fit in and would give the same look. The approach would have the type and pictograms cut out of it so you could see through to the wall. The the most important parts would be in large type for example room numbers and arrows, helping the users easily distinguish where they are.
When colour is needed for example the LCA logo in the top right vinyl stickers or a print would have to be used to achieve this effect of colour.
Light boxes, the most visually engaging idea. The signage would be all made of light boxes, why would this work? As stated they would be the most visually interesting for people to use as they would be always bright and bold for people too see. But they would not work because as they use a lot of energy too keep them on as well as this they would not be easy to change if they broke or needed moving for any reason. I believe this is why it would not be wise to install something like this into a university, they would be better suited in a pub/club. However the concept of is very interesting and could be used in some areas of the college.
Idea three, this is the concept that fit all of the areas that I want too fill when creating a wayfiniding system. I have designed it so that it is visually engaging, meaning that when people use it they will easily be able too tell where and how they will get to their destination, as well as seeing it as something interesting to look at. It is also sustainable, the wood would all be taken from scrap, again gives the signage some belonging in the building as well as it being easy to produce. And last, it needed too be adaptable, which it is, the signage could be moved around on a daily bases if different courses were using a room etc, or it can be easily made for extensions of the university or when ever needed.
Feedback -
To get informative feedback from this brief I wanted too make sure that I had a range of ideas that were different and would help me come to an informed design decision. When getting feedback the main part that came up was that it was interesting that I had focused on the three areas but it was good as it helped come up with the concepts that I have created. The majority of the peer feedback that I got back was make it as sustainable as possible and create something that people would enjoy using.
When asked to which concept would be the best for the job there was mixed feedback. Many responded with using the wood signage system as it went with all three areas that I wanted to tick, as well as this the feedback said that it would be better if the signs could be moved around so that if different courses or year groups were in different places it could be easily changed by staff. I agree with this feedback, but I still wanted too know why the others may not be as useful as the wooden signage.
The feedback from the metal signage, most of the feedback was saying, ‘yes good idea but...It could look very similar too the current signage’ - I believe this too be true I don’t want too create something that is too similar the current system, that would just be pointless. Another problem bought to my attention was that would the smaller lettering be difficult too read from a distance or while walking. Yes most likely it would, but this is only a problem that I could resolve after making a tester too see.
The feedback light-box idea was also very interesting to gain other people opinion. Although most said that they liked the idea and they could see it working people also said that they felt that ‘yes, it would work but it may look slightly out of place as something like light-boxes belong else where not in a university’. I agree with the statement as I was unsure about the idea myself, as well it would be unlikely that the light boxes would be that effective in the light building and they would be more suited to somewhere with less light.
All of the feedback that I got from different crits and groups has helped me work my way down to my final decision. For my final concept I will be using the wooden signage as it got the best feedback, from students and as students are the people using the system the most I felt that this was a strong enough reason. As well as this it ticks all three boxes. One thing that mentioned too me by a peer was a site map, as there currently isn’t one it would be beneficial to include in this concept.
Final Outcome -
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