Samantha Perkins student number 02631979 Midpoint Review Spring 2010 16 March 2010 at 2:00 p.m. pst Revised Submission The Academy of Art University San Francisco, California
WHERE WAYFINDING BE YOND SIGNAGE by Samantha Perkins, 02631979
WHERE WAYFINDING BE YOND SIGNAGE by Samantha Perkins for Midpoint Review, Revised Submission The Academy of Art University San Francisco, California Spring 2010
design by
Samantha Perkins
binding by
Samantha Perkins
published by
Samantha Perkins for Midpoint Review
Spring 2010
Revised Submission
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, California
student ID
02631979
typeface
Helvetica Neue
printer
HP 9500 LaserJet
paper
Neenah Starwhite Tiara 70# text, smooth
cover
Neenah Starwhite Sirius 130# cover, smooth
Š2010 by Samantha Perkins All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner without express permission of the designer.
CONTENTS 01 CONTEXT: The Problem, Defined 18 COURSE:
Solutions Imagined
28 PASSPORT: Credentials, Portfolio and Resources
TO BECOME COMPLETELY LOST IS PERHAPS A RATHER RARE EXPERIENCE FOR MOST PEOPLE IN THE MODERN CITY. —Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City
With the invention of Augmented Reality and Global Positioning Systems, it has become easier for travelers to find their way around new locations, regardless of cultural differences or language barriers. Mobile devices, such as the iPhone, offer access to hundreds of mapping applications, giving instant information to the user’s current location, plus detailed instructions on how to get from that point to anywhere else in the world. With today’s technology, losing your way is difficult…but it does still happen. When it does, people look to wayfinding to help them navigate. Wayfinding uses signage and directories to help people locate their paths and destinations. But it’s not the best system out there, since it fails to consider all methods used in navigation. There’s much in navigation that we can learn from, in order to make better systems.
To discover how to generate these better systems, this thesis will seek to explain the how and the why behind navigation, regardless of the ultimate where.
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CONTEX T
People may “find their way” in the existential sense, but they…become overwhelmed or disoriented if they physically lose their way. —David Gibson
WAYFINDING IS… DEFINED Wayfinding is literally finding one’s way. In the realm of graphic design, it is defined as a subset of environmental graphic design concerned with the development of graphics elements that help people navigate an area or building. Based primarily around patterns of urban organization, wayfinding designers have found that people will rely on three basic layers when navigating or trying to recall a location.1 These are:
color text/numbers image (pictograms, arrows, etc.) Wayfinding uses these visual layers to lead people along a series of determined paths using visual “bread crumbs” such as signage and directories. It’s a good system, but it’s not the best one out there. The problem with wayfinding is that it does not always consider how people really navigate.
COLOR
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TYPE
IMAGE
There are other factors that could be taken into account in wayfinding design. Sensory input, such as sight, sound, smells, etc., all play into how people move through spaces.
SOMEONE MAY NOTICE A STRONG SMELL OF COFFEE AND REALIZE THEY ARE NEAR A CAFE.
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Human behavior plays a part too.
MOVING WITH A CROWD TOWARDS A LIT STAIRWAY IN A GENERIC SPACE MAY LEAD TO A POTENTIAL EXIT.
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As does memory and previous experience.
PEOPLE WILL SEEK MORE FAMILIAR LANDMARKS TO HELP ORIENT THEMSELVES IN LABYRINTHIAN ENVIRONMENTS.
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THE PROBLEM So it is apparent that people are using more than the three visual layers exploited by wayfinding design. Light, color, texture, sound and other elements are all influencing navigation decisions.
How can we use these additional layers and make wayfinding design better? The answer may be a more collaborative design system, where architects, interior and environmental graphic designers can work together in a more cohesive and intuitive way. The wayfinding design process does not currently work this way. But why not?
COLOR
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TYPE
IMAGE
SOUND
SMELL
SIGHT
CURIOSITY
WHY NOT? Current practices show an obvious disconnect between the primary players in the creation of wayfinding systems:
Architects and interior designers do not think like graphic designers. Though trained in design, members of these professions do not have the same understanding of layout, typography and human perception that graphic designers do (and they tend to have an overall disdain for signage in general, since it clutters up their clean, modern spaces).
Graphic designers rely solely on visual aesthetics, but does not fully consider all methods used by people to navigate. This frustrates architects and interior designers, who know that intuitive wayfinding can enhance the visual system and leave spaces free of excessive signage.
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Clients and consultants question the necessity and validity of wayfinding systems in general. Wayfinding requires additional resources, when clients only want to spend the minimum amount needed to fulfill required governmental codes. Many see wayfinding as a necessary evil, instead of an opportunity for collaboration, and a path to a better final project.
Add to this the current professional rifts. Architects and interior designers are now often asked to create wayfinding systems themselves, while graphic designers are being sidelined unless they truly understand architectural concerns.
Wayfinding design practices today are not without merit. However many systems are an afterthought to the overall building—something to be done to meet minimum building and ADA code requirements. Worse still, signage becomes on more issue to be shoehorned into the budget when most of the funding has been spoken for.
A last minute realization—“Oh, yeah! Signage!!!” When injected into a completed environment, such system risks standing apart visually. Many systems consist of mounted signs and directory maps only. This fails to consider the many ways we navigate beyond signage. Simple things like the smell of coffee pointing to a café nearby, or the fall of light leading to an exit, could all be utilized more effectively if considered at the start of a project, while budgets and minds are still open.
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LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Regardless of the noted problems with the wayfinding design process, it remains a vital means of communication for so many people. A real opportunity exists to show clients how ideas like intuitive wayfinding systems can enhance a sense of place and make for more effective architectural and navigational outcomes.
There’s a bigger opportunity to take advantage of the collaborative potential between designers in the wayfinding design process.
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APPROACH
At every instance, there is more than the eye can see, more than the ear can hear, a setting or a view waiting to be explored. —Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City
THE SOLUTION A NEW DIRECTION We need to rethink what wayfinding can be in order to improve its current perception and potential. To do this, we need to unplug and let ourselves get lost. It’s time to return to intuition—the use of sensory input, human behavior and previous experience—to find a new way to wayfind. Observing how people navigate when technology and traditional wayfinding (signage) succeed or fail, will uncover clues for improvement. This should, in turn, lead to a more collaborative model of wayfinding education and design.
By looking at how people use their senses, experiences and human behavior to navigate, we can understand how these can become used in new systems of wayfinding design. Could it be that implementing changes in architectural materials might indicate potential paths? What happens if we introduce sounds? Or allow our signage to unite touch and sight to light a new direction? We won’t know until we understand how people roam. Over the course of this thesis I will observe and document how humans navigate when they are lost. From this work, I will develop tools and materials to enhance collaboration between architects, designers and clients. Warmer materials, such as masonry, wood, give a “friendly” feel and signal a more hospitable approach.
» Develop a system of parameters for getting lost. » Distribute this system for use in exploring a variety of urban and large-scale spaces. » Document methods used in navigating these spaces. » Develop an educational kit to highlight real methods used in navigating. » Make this kit available to students and design professionals interested in developing better, more intuitive wayfinding systems. » Test the effectiveness of these through student projects and design conference presentations. Warmer materials, such as masonry, wood, give a “friendly” feel and
signal a more hospitable approach.
Colder materials, such as
Colder materials, such as stone and
stone and metal, allow for a
metal, allow for a more dynamic form
more dynamic form to the
to the building, which can in turn
building, which can in turn
lead the visitor around to an entry, or
lead the visitor around to an
signal a less amenable movement. A
entry, or signal a less
change in materials signals an event,
amenable movement. A
which could be something as simple
change in materials signals
as a change in volume, or more
an event, which could be
directional, such as a change in
something as simple as a
permeability. Additionally, changes
change in volume, or more
in surfaces, based on materials, or
directional, such as a
depth, can also affect understanding.
change in permeability.
Rough-cut stone signifies one
Additionally, changes in
meaning, smooth pavers another, dirt
surfaces, based on
roads yet another. Patterns and
materials, or depth, can also
textures alter their level of
affect understanding.
intertwinement—as each element
Rough-cut stone signifies
interacts with those surrounding it, a
one meaning, smooth
new even is defined, a change is
pavers another, dirt roads
noted and people react accordingly.
Texture
yet another. Patterns and textures alter their level of intertwinement—as each element interacts with
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To achieve these, I will:
THE SPACES ROAMING THE WORLD Once a system of parameters has been established, an Exploration Kit would be used by Miami University design students and myself to explore civic and architectural spaces within specific given locations:
Buenos Aires, Argentina London, England Mexico City, Mexico New York City, New York Stuttgart, Germany Tokyo, Japan
OUT ON THE TOWN Within these locations, each participant will visit specific types of architectural spaces, navigating each based on the given parameters. They will record which methods of navigation worked better, and which ones failed. Additionally, they will be asked to document the process for use in the development of final deliverables:
Civic Gardens Convention Centers Medical Centers Museums Performance Halls Each space will be investigated through specific filters, including traditional wayfinding techniques, human behavior, the senses and previous experiences.
LONDON NEW YORK CITY
MEXICO CITY
BUENOS AIRES
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STUTTGART TOKYO
DELIVERABLES The following series of deliverables will be developed to explore the full potential of the project:
Exploration Kit used in the collection of preliminary research » A series of parameters for getting lost. » A journal and iPhone application to be used in documenting the research sites and recording the actual process of navigation. » This kit would be further developed into a tool that could be used by design professionals in exploring their own surroundings to gain better insight into navigation behavior.
Interactive Interface for virtual exploration » Allows audience participants to explore virtual environments. » Mixes traditional wayfinding (color, type, image) with more intuitive methods (sensory input and human behavior).
Comprehensive Texts » A series of textbooks designed from research methods, findings and suggested solutions. » Provides additional case studies of successful and unsuccessful existing models.
Lecture Series » Presentations at academic and professional conferences, outlining the methods and finding, as well as potential ways to combine traditional wayfinding and new ideas of intuition.
Resources Website » Provides access to all other deliverables. » Contains links to wayfinding community, resources and connections.
» Provides learning through play within a virtual environment.
EXPLORATION KIT
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INTERACTIVE INTERFACE
COMPREHENSIVE TEXTS
LECTURE SERIES
RESOURCES WEBSITE
AUDIENCE
TIME LINE
WHO THIS IS FOR This system of educational tools would be developed for Architecture, Interior Design and Graphic Design professionals, as well as students within these disciplines who hope to employ new insights and more visually appealing wayfinding methods to their projects.
SUMMER 2009 » GR800 Directed Study, independent
It would be built to engage audience members on a more active level, providing more insight in the process.
SUMMER 2010 » GR801 Thesis Development
It would be built to move them well beyond textbook examples and the installation case studies, in an interactive and compelling way.
SPRING 2010 » GS623 History of Gaming
FALL 2010 » DS800 Directed Study, Architecture as Landscape (PH611—Students explore the built environment and its impact through the lens of the camera.) » DS800 Directed Study, individual » DS800 Directed Study, individual or group SPRING 2011 » DS800 Directed Study, individual or group SUMMER 2011 » GR650 Portfolio FINAL THESIS PRESENTATION, AUGUST 2011
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PASSPORT Nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings, the sequences of events leading up to it‌ —Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City
WHO I AM While I have always been fascinated with the world of graphic design and the overall influences it has within our society, my initial education took the path of the architectural designer. Many of my studies sought methods of combining, or bridging, media forms as a means of educating visitors about the spatial relationships and the narratives that these spaces sought to communicate. This desire to translate the language of space directed the design decisions of later professional projects, and eventually led me to the fields of education and environmental graphic design. In my capacity as an environmental graphic designer, my responsibility was to translate the medium of architecture to a diverse audience, aiding in their navigation of the spaces through the use of signage and other graphic compositions. As an educator, it has been my joy to translate the language of composition to new minds, leading them through the world we call design, while addressing their curiosity and eagerness to learn this new way of speaking. It is through these two roles that I have developed an interest in navigational techniques, and how they can be used to educate audiences on various different levels.
It’s much more fun warping the minds of the young, since they will go out and inform the minds of everyone else.
2007–PRESENT Miami University, visiting professor of design
» Graphic and Interior Design, Architecture Programs 2006 White Design Studio, freelance design consultant
» Branded Environmental Graphic Design Installations 2005–2007 Catt Lyon Design, project manager / designer
» Environmental Graphic Design » Major projects include Las Vegas Convention Center, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, and the Indiana Football Stadium 2004–2005 University of Arkansas, adjunct professor
» Department of Architecture, Foundation Studies 2003–2005 NW Arkansas Community College, adjunct professor
» Department of Graphic Communications 2002–2007 PhDv8, owner
» Print and Web Design studio, freelance contracts » Award winning projects include marlonblackwell.com 1996 –2002 F|M Associates (aka dsgn Associates), designer
» Architectural Design » Award winning projects include Rave Review Theaters » Other major projects include SM Mall of Asia and Chang-Ning Mixed Use Buildings 1995–1996 Brinkley Sargent Architects, architectural intern
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CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM GR605 Digital Design INSTRUCTOR Tracey Morin TERM Fall 2009
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TXT BOOKS GR600 Visual Communications INSTRUCTOR Jeremy Stout TERM Fall 2009
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FUEL CELLS GR601 Type Systems INSTRUCTOR Carolina de Bartolo TERM Spring 2009
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LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER PROFESSIONAL Catt Lyon Design IN COLLABORATION WITH HNTB TERM Fall 2005–Summer 2007
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RESOURCES Craig M. Berger, Wayfinding (Switzerland: RotoVision, 2005). Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities (Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1972). Charlene Catt Lyon, “LVCC Design Thoughts,” email, July 30, 2007. David Gibson, The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places (New York City: Princeton Architectural Press, 2009) Reginald G. Golledge et. al., Wayfinding Behavior (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999). Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1960). Per Mollerup, Wayshowing (Baden, Germany: Lars Müller Publishers, 2005). Michael Silverberg, “Nowheresville, USA,” ID Magazine, Sept/Oct 2009, 44– 47. Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 2008).
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CIAO BELLA