Wayfinding 1.1

Studio Matthews - EMP Museum

Studio Matthews has created a wayfinding solution for the EMP Museum. In order to successfully guide guests around the museum, they have used a bold numerical character to represent the floor the guests are on and changed the scale to suggest what level is above/below. This clarification will give the guests confidence to navigate independently.

The arrow acts as a visual guide for the audience, even though the weight of it is narrow, the diagonal line suggests movement. 

I took advantage of Photoshop in order to produce a mood board using  sources that I found on the internet:

Taking reference of colour, shape and line, this is a successful technique for gathering preliminary research. The predominant colour palette that I have found is primary which keeps the instructions simple and easy to interpret for the audience. The use of arrows and line are minimalist and allow the audience to follow. I like the concept of using different types of line, for example zigzag or straight and changing the weights. A key could be used to direct people to a certain part of the building. 

Noticed wayfinding is predominantly on walls and large boards. Interested in the more conceptual design such as displaying on the floor, ceiling, glass panels using vinyl or even in a leaflet. 

Leeds Art Gallery/Henry Moore 

To broaden my research, I visited Leeds Art Gallery and the Henry Moore institute to see what wayfinding techniques they use to guide their guests.

Signage was common throughout the gallery, however the type and pictograms were very small which means the audience had to 'look' for the signage, instead of being influenced by it. I think this may be because of the context, in a gallery the visitors are there to look at pieces of artwork on the walls and around the room so signage is kept to a minimum to avoid distracting the public from the artwork.  

Arrows were predominantly used to direct visitors around the gallery which was extremely clear and effective. An arrow is a good example of a pictogram because it is internationally recognised to indicate direction.

Other pictograms as seen above are also internationally recognised. Even without the type, the pictograms have become so commonly used, people interpret them unconsciously with the semantics of the toilets. I like how clear the instruction on the plaque are as the arrow is at the top which informs the audience that the typography below relates to this arrow. However it could become confusing if there were numerous instructions and arrows on the plaque. The type of arrow around the gallery was inconsistent due to some having a horizontal line joining the directional line and some just having the directional line. This didn't effect how effective they were but made the signage inconsistent. 

My favourite piece of wayfinding was in the Henry Moore Institute:

The simplicity of the layout and content makes this really easy and quick to interpret. The floor level is numerically labeled and I like how they have capitalised the 'G' and 'B' to represent 'Ground' and 'Basement' because it keeps the overall composition consistent. Subtly changing the blocks of grey is a useful and tasteful way of showing the audience which floor they are currently on. The typeface is Times which is appropriate for the gallery as it is very traditional and sophisticated. The zigzagged line is representational of stairs which isn't necessarily required but it creates cohesion between each line which makes it easier for the audience to follow. 

The floor plan inside the gallery was a useful guide, however the small scale meant it was hard to read from far away, mainly due to the small type. I think this would be better suited for a leaflet or guide for the gallery as it'll be useful for personal use:

The Light

Visiting The Light shopping centre in Leeds, allowed me too see signage and wayfinding techniques that weren't as effective. 

Although the title and pictograms are visible, the light font style made it less legible especially because it was hanging from the ceiling and from a distance. This isn't easy to read because it's so far away and the type is minimal. The font style isn't very serious which creates a friendly tone, however a more geometric typeface would be clear from such a distance. 

Another example of how pictograms and type work together as efficient wayfinding, although the baby blue type doesn't contrast enough with the white background which makes it hard to see from a distance.

A really simple guide to the floor plan that allows the audience to find a point of reference and navigate around that floor. The style again is very friendly but the colour scheme and typography seems immature which is appropriate for this context but I wouldn't like to replicate this in my wayfinding.