I thought this was rather a comical wayfinding strategy, and almost ironic, seeing as though whenever you need direction, that the sun needs to be shining almost showing you the way…
Month: March 2015
Digital Inclusive design solutions
” For people who are blind or visually-impaired, wayfinding in built environments presents challenges. More and more, however, wayfinding technology for visually-impaired people is being developed that goes above and beyond simply modifying existing solutions. Rather, the new assistive technologies are based on the concept of asking what visually-impaired people need in order to facilitate wayfinding and then developing solutions that serve those needs.”
I found this company; http://asisignage.com/our-products/digital-solutions/wall-mount who have created many different ‘digital solutions’ to improve wayfinding for the visually impaired, however is something which needs to be powered a very environmental solution? What are the financial running costs, and initial investment needed to roll these ‘solutions’ throughout a university building?
It also poses a much more serious question; what happens if the power was to go down, especially during a time of need such as a fire or earthquake (not only thinking about the UK, but a much wider context)?
Anamorphic wayfinding – ‘directional’ directions
I like the idea that not all directional material has to be informative until we need it most. Anamorphic wayfinding signage can appear as a graphical wall treatment until we are on the wrong path and can ‘appear’ to be informative and provide us with directional information such as the example above. A video of how this process could work can be found on this link; https://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf
Nodes with Sheffield Hallam University
After completing my literature review of ‘Image of the city’ by Kevin Lynch, I had a go at drawing out different types of pictorial routes throughout Sheffield Hallam University from memory…
These ‘node’ diagrams varied somewhat, showing individual items, objects, pieces of furniture, views/vistas, whilst others were more interpretive such as this one above.
It would be interesting to record others drawings/diagrams from memory to see if any other symbols appear, or if there are any correlation between the types of things people most commonly remember from these interior spaces.
Identifying an Interiors characteristics
Since the start of the project I have been gathering data surrounding wayfinding, and understanding the general perception of a space through, colour, material, and aesthetically values, but haven’t looked into what ‘characteristics’ we would value an interior as having.
What personality, if any would a space be given?
If we were to give it facial hair, would it have moustache, a goatee or sixties ‘burns’?
How does the materials or the people occupying the space have an effect of our chosen characteristics?
Paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.
A Literature review of ‘Image of the city’ by Kevin Lynch.
In this book Lynch explains that semiotics are everywhere and everyday the mind makes mental notes of everything around us, and our brain remembers things in our urban environment as a way of guidance and security as the concept of “place legibility”. By looking over different concepts and isolating different areas and distinct features of a city, including busy shopping streets and places of interest, made them so appealing to all types of people. Everyone is different in remembering different aspects of a city and things stand out more to one person as they do to other; each person has a different mental map to the other, depending on this aspect which they found interesting.
Mental maps could change, whether it is a building, structure, sights, or even smells or sounds which they can relate to that specific area of a city. These mental maps differentiate to every individual, but can be understood in their own way. These are defined by Lynch as “a network of paths edges, districts, nodes and landmarks”.
The main routes which people take throughout a city, the “paths” can be expressed as roads, “trails” and “sidewalks”. Everything else which is not included in the “path” group is expressed as the cities “edges”. Prime examples of edges are walls and coastal paths.
Lynch explains that cities are divided up into different areas depending on the characteristics in that area, usually extensive in size. A wealthy neighbourhood such as Beverly Hill and New York City are two examples. Streets are mapped out in formations so that “blocks” or “neighbourhoods” are formed. Beverly Hill has many areas that are lush with vegetation, especially palms trees. However small a reference is in Beverly Hill, evidence has shown that people remember this better where there are large amounts of vegetation. On the other hand New York City has no vegetation apart from Central Park, but this won’t necessarily help people to navigate the city so well.
New York City features large block formations, planning the city with the single thoroughfare of Broadway running through this block formation. Each area has a name and each block can be described as a street off an avenue, making it very easy to navigate. Major reference points in cities like Cathedrals, Hospitals, or even mountains are physical reference points and are very good aids when navigating.
The final element is strategic areas where there is added focal points, adding attention of city features. These such areas are known as “nodes”. A prime example of a node are areas which are densely populated, or a place of congregation such as shopping centres, or supermarkets, and can also include motorways and duel carriageways.
I’m sure we can all find our way to work or university very easily, and know our way home again. Without these skills I’m sure we would all be much more dependent on one another to get around and life would be much more difficult. Most of us can remember things around our environments quite easily; Lynch’s nodes, quite simply mental notes of places. These mental notes we can link together into a long chain of events and remember where we are in relationship to our city, or environment.
These nodes don’t necessarily have to be physical features in the landscape, but a mental note such as seeing a friend at a location, or always seeing a group of kids hanging around on one particular street corner. These are all semiology in the urban environment and can all be placed under the heading of semiotics.
Lynch carried out a five-year study to try and see how peoples journeys through a city changed, and which places have most interest, and in turn which places they remembered, but most of all how easy is it to navigate through a city.
Lynch surveyed and interviewed 30 people from Boston and 15 each from Jersey City and Los Angeles. Lynch had chosen each of these cities because they all have their own characteristics; Boston, a vibrant city that has many unique features and distinct buildings, but although it has a clear coastline and many skyscrapers it is very difficult to navigate. On the other hand Jersey City has a lack of distinctiveness, and Los Angeles has relatively original forms.
Lynch’s survey consisted a description of an imaginary trip through the city, (with sketched map drawings of their mental map) found appealing consistencies within their invented trip. The maps included people going through a vivid part of the city and many individuals mentioning water and vegetation with pleasure. Regularity in description of their city, Boston was found to be the hardest to navigate in places because it contained confusions or “floating points, weak limitations, isolations, ambiguities, and lack of character” and couldn’t be differentiated between two places. Jersey City and Los Angeles were also difficult to familiarise because they were lacking identity and distinctive individualism. In response to the experiment Lynch made several conclusions. He took the areas that people found vibrant and most interesting and assigned these areas as “high ‘imageability’ ranking.
‘Imageability’, an additional term introduced by Lynch, is the superiority of a substantial object; “which gives an onlooker a physically powerful, or vibrant image”. He concluded that a highly imaginable city would contain very distinct areas of interest, and instantly recognisable to a first time visitor. Lynch also explains that a city which is well-formed is greatly reliant upon the most prime city elements and paths with Las Vegas being an example of well-designed path. The Las Vegas ‘Strip’ is well lit, and has a clear direction of movement throughout. Likewise landmarks, nodes, edges and districts, if meaningful (and not confusing) are great contributors to imageability to make a city easy to learn and to remember through mental mapping. These elements when placed in these when primary appearance can increase the ability to see and remember patterns.
Research has found that for people to find aspects of a city more appealing, that in turn they find them easier to remember in mental mapping, their head and body positions determine how easy this information is stored and remembered. This research suggests that people “Visualise their source location best when both head rotations and body translations are in sync with their visual cues”.
Its important for me to remember that wayfinding strategies may not be entirely a visual language, but also one of touch, smell or sound. Even though key visual nodes are important for this project to be successful, a comprehensive solutions must test most, if not all of the bodies senses.
Saussure and Semiology
“It is possible to conceive of a science, which studies the role of signs as part of social life. It would form part of social psychology, and hence of general psychology. We shall call it semiology (from the Greek semeon, sign). It would investigate the nature of signs and the laws governing them. Since it does not yet exist, one cannot say for certain that it will exist. But it has a right to exist, a place ready for it in advance. Linguistics is only one branch of this general science. The laws which semiology will discover will be laws applicable in linguistics, and linguistics will thus be assigned to a clearly defined place in the field of human knowledge.”
The results are in!
113 responses
Summary
If you were to assign a colour with a space you were EATING in, what colour would you associate with this eating environment?
| Red | 7 | 6.2% |
| Blue | 3 | 2.7% |
| Green | 35 | 31% |
| Black | 0 | 0% |
| White | 30 | 26.5% |
| Grey (light) | 7 | 6.2% |
| Grey (dark) | 0 | 0% |
| Yellow | 13 | 11.5% |
| Cyan | 0 | 0% |
| Magenta | 1 | 0.9% |
| Orange | 11 | 9.7% |
| Purple | 1 | 0.9% |
| Pink | 1 | 0.9% |
| Brown | 4 | 3.5% |
| Other | 0 | 0% |
If you were to assign a colour with a space you were LEARNING in such as lecture theatre, seminar room, or teaching room, what colour would you associate with this learning environment?
| Red | 3 | 2.7% |
| Blue | 24 | 21.2% |
| Green | 15 | 13.3% |
| Black | 1 | 0.9% |
| White | 18 | 15.9% |
| Grey (light) | 12 | 10.6% |
| Grey (dark) | 0 | 0% |
| Yellow | 23 | 20.4% |
| Cyan | 1 | 0.9% |
| Magenta | 0 | 0% |
| Orange | 7 | 6.2% |
| Purple | 4 | 3.5% |
| Pink | 0 | 0% |
| Brown | 3 | 2.7% |
| Other | 1 | 0.9% |
If you were to assign a colour for a TOILET, what colour would you associate with this private environment?
| Red | 0 | 0% |
| Blue | 34 | 30.1% |
| Green | 4 | 3.5% |
| Black | 1 | 0.9% |
| White | 39 | 34.5% |
| Grey (light) | 16 | 14.2% |
| Grey (dark) | 4 | 3.5% |
| Yellow | 2 | 1.8% |
| Cyan | 1 | 0.9% |
| Magenta | 0 | 0% |
| Orange | 1 | 0.9% |
| Purple | 2 | 1.8% |
| Pink | 1 | 0.9% |
| Brown | 3 | 2.7% |
| Other | 3 | 2.7% |
If you were to assign a colour for a CIRCULATION SPACE such as where the lifts and staircase of a building are, what colour would you associate with this public circulation environment?
| Red | 3 | 2.7% |
| Blue | 8 | 7.1% |
| Green | 15 | 13.3% |
| Black | 3 | 2.7% |
| White | 14 | 12.4% |
| Grey (light) | 27 | 23.9% |
| Grey (dark) | 9 | 8% |
| Yellow | 12 | 10.6% |
| Cyan | 3 | 2.7% |
| Magenta | 0 | 0% |
| Orange | 11 | 9.7% |
| Purple | 1 | 0.9% |
| Pink | 2 | 1.8% |
| Brown | 1 | 0.9% |
| Other | 1 | 0.9% |
If you were to assign a colour for an OFFICE, what colour would you associate with this office environment?
| Red | 3 | 2.7% |
| Blue | 12 | 10.6% |
| Green | 6 | 5.3% |
| Black | 2 | 1.8% |
| White | 27 | 23.9% |
| Grey (light) | 35 | 31% |
| Grey (dark) | 4 | 3.5% |
| Yellow | 3 | 2.7% |
| Cyan | 2 | 1.8% |
| Magenta | 1 | 0.9% |
| Orange | 8 | 7.1% |
| Purple | 3 | 2.7% |
| Pink | 2 | 1.8% |
| Brown | 0 | 0% |
| Other | 5 | 4.4% |
If you were to assign a colour for a LIBRARY, what colour would you associate with this learning environment?
| Red | 6 | 5.3% |
| Blue | 10 | 8.8% |
| Green | 27 | 23.9% |
| Black | 0 | 0% |
| White | 10 | 8.8% |
| Grey (light) | 12 | 10.6% |
| Grey (dark) | 2 | 1.8% |
| Yellow | 16 | 14.2% |
| Cyan | 6 | 5.3% |
| Magenta | 3 | 2.7% |
| Orange | 5 | 4.4% |
| Purple | 2 | 1.8% |
| Pink | 0 | 0% |
| Brown | 10 | 8.8% |
| Other | 2 | 1.8% |
If you were to assign a colour for a MEETING ROOM, what colour would you associate with this meeting environment?
| Red | 7 | 6.2% |
| Blue | 19 | 16.8% |
| Green | 11 | 9.7% |
| Black | 1 | 0.9% |
| White | 13 | 11.5% |
| Grey (light) | 25 | 22.1% |
| Grey (dark) | 6 | 5.3% |
| Yellow | 5 | 4.4% |
| Cyan | 3 | 2.7% |
| Magenta | 1 | 0.9% |
| Orange | 6 | 5.3% |
| Purple | 6 | 5.3% |
| Pink | 0 | 0% |
| Brown | 3 | 2.7% |
| Other | 4 | 3.5% |
If you were to assign a colour for an ATRIUM space, what colour would you associate with this open public environment?
| Red | 2 | 1.8% |
| Blue | 9 | 8% |
| Green | 23 | 20.4% |
| Black | 0 | 0% |
| White | 42 | 37.2% |
| Grey (light) | 6 | 5.3% |
| Grey (dark) | 1 | 0.9% |
| Yellow | 7 | 6.2% |
| Cyan | 1 | 0.9% |
| Magenta | 2 | 1.8% |
| Orange | 11 | 9.7% |
| Purple | 3 | 2.7% |
| Pink | 0 | 0% |
| Brown | 1 | 0.9% |
| Other | 2 | 1.8% |
Below is a table of results for each of the public spaces, indicated by the colour selected most. Its clear that the public spaces which don’t involve any aspect of learning or social aspect are very monotone.
High Contrast for visually impaired
An icon rich, bold, graphically revitalised basement that had accumulated a cluttered and confusing array of signage over many decades has been redesigned creating something colourful, with high contrast. The palette was designed specifically for the low light conditions and clearly distinguishes designated cyclists lanes and areas (yellow), general pedestrian and movement areas (turquoise) and warning hazaards (magenta).
Over size iconography communicates consistently, and safely for all users regardless of age or nationality and accommodates the visually impaired.
Literal wayfinding + or –
“With so much at stake, it’s little wonder that effective wayfinding projects demand an interdisciplinary approach in terms of their conception and execution; interior architecture, graphic design, product design and set design are all called upon to create spatial narratives for users to follow and understand. While buildings often attempt to make themselves legible to users with regard to how they should be moved through and negotiated, orientation systems, through a dialogue with the architectural spaces in which they are installed, serve to amplify this readability. Successful systems, however, don’t seek to draw too much attention to themselves.”
Design Wayfinding 