The process of designing a wayfinding solution for a location was made easier by my thorough research. Visiting locations around Leeds and photographing them gave me more knowledge about wayfinding in the real world. I could analyse the positive and negative characteristics of them by actually following them as a customer/target audience, instead of looking at them on a screen. I used these to inform my decisions. I chose The Corn Exchange because it didn’t have much wayfinding in the first place and what it did have was mainly for the exit and entrance. The Corn Exchange intrigued me because it is laid out in a circle and I wanted to solve the problem of creating a successful wayfinding system for such an iconic and historical building for Leeds.
Choosing the colour scheme for this brief was influenced by the colour scheme and materials used inside The Corn Exchange. It is a very bright space due to the amount of natural light that the ceiling lets in and the white/cream walls are refreshing and give the building more space. This is why I kept to a simple monochromatic colour scheme because the black type contrasts well with the white background and surroundings. The tones created by the pale wood on the floor and stairways are natural which is why the totem concept can be appropriate for the Grade 1 building.
I experimented with a number of different variables such as typeface, colour and primarily layout because I wanted to create an appropriate solution. I settled with Superclarendon Bold because I had used it before in typesetting and I knew it was a bold and classic style font, appropriate for The Corn Exchange. I decided on a serif typeface instead of Univers because I felt it was more appropriate for the historical and traditional styled building. Setting the type around the circle was problematic because I wanted it to be as legible as possible. I changed the size of the type for how many doors the shop owned as some restaurants and stores had larger shops. This change of scale created more contrast with the type and ultimately made it more engaging.
The biggest challenge that I came across was putting the wayfinding map into context as I didn’t want to ‘spoil’ the building by putting huge signage everywhere. I tried putting the map onto the entrance door but the information may not be clear when its on glass because the background is very dark. Having the map on the entrance door could aslo cause congestion and won’t be practical for customers. I liked the idea of putting the map at the top and bottom of the stairs because it will be useful for customers but I didn’t want people looking at the floor so found an alternative inspired by PearsonLloyd’s City of Bath wayfinding system. The totems were inspiring due to the way they blended into the city and didn’t distract from the historical architecture. This concept helped me to find an appropriate way to present my wayfinding. The colour of the totem is complimented by the array of wood inside the building which made it appropriate. Using my own pictures and placing my own concepts into them was a step forward for me because I don’t like to use secondarily sourced images from google.
My time management for this project began well as I visited numerous places to gain as much knowledge as I could. However, I feel my concept is lacking in wayfinding techniques such as pictograms and signage on the walls, etc. I was influenced by a lot of informed decisions about The Corn Exchange and I think my design would benefit customers experience and still be appropriate. My concept is simple, predominantly because I didn’t want to swamp the architecture with wayfinding, but also because I realised The Corn Exchange is small enough to see from one side to the other. My map helps the consumer reference where they are in order to speed up the process of finding the specific store they want.
I experimented with a number of different variables such as typeface, colour and primarily layout because I wanted to create an appropriate solution. I settled with Superclarendon Bold because I had used it before in typesetting and I knew it was a bold and classic style font, appropriate for The Corn Exchange. I decided on a serif typeface instead of Univers because I felt it was more appropriate for the historical and traditional styled building. Setting the type around the circle was problematic because I wanted it to be as legible as possible. I changed the size of the type for how many doors the shop owned as some restaurants and stores had larger shops. This change of scale created more contrast with the type and ultimately made it more engaging.
The biggest challenge that I came across was putting the wayfinding map into context as I didn’t want to ‘spoil’ the building by putting huge signage everywhere. I tried putting the map onto the entrance door but the information may not be clear when its on glass because the background is very dark. Having the map on the entrance door could aslo cause congestion and won’t be practical for customers. I liked the idea of putting the map at the top and bottom of the stairs because it will be useful for customers but I didn’t want people looking at the floor so found an alternative inspired by PearsonLloyd’s City of Bath wayfinding system. The totems were inspiring due to the way they blended into the city and didn’t distract from the historical architecture. This concept helped me to find an appropriate way to present my wayfinding. The colour of the totem is complimented by the array of wood inside the building which made it appropriate. Using my own pictures and placing my own concepts into them was a step forward for me because I don’t like to use secondarily sourced images from google.
My time management for this project began well as I visited numerous places to gain as much knowledge as I could. However, I feel my concept is lacking in wayfinding techniques such as pictograms and signage on the walls, etc. I was influenced by a lot of informed decisions about The Corn Exchange and I think my design would benefit customers experience and still be appropriate. My concept is simple, predominantly because I didn’t want to swamp the architecture with wayfinding, but also because I realised The Corn Exchange is small enough to see from one side to the other. My map helps the consumer reference where they are in order to speed up the process of finding the specific store they want.
No comments:
Post a Comment