OUGD405: Studio Brief 1 - Wayfinding (Initial Research)

This brief was to develop a way-finding / navigational system for our chosen environment, whether that would be a university, shopping centre or art gallery. In doing so we have to ensure that it is an improvement over the current one, in terms of both legibility and guiding a user through an environment.

Initial thoughts were to visit a range of places, both art galleries and shopping centres such as the Trinity and also Leeds Art Gallery to get a feel for how their current way finding signage is. Taking into account things such as the clarity of each sign and how useful they are in terms of pointing me in the right direction. As a whole, they were adequate enough for their purpose but I felt Trinity could do with some improvements. Reason being that there didn't seem to be enough signage around the centre and even when there was it wasn't 100% clear which direction I was supposed to be going in.

Getting to grips with the basics of way finding and understanding what elements are considered vital, was the first thing I wanted to do. Although some aspects such as colour contrast and scale seem obvious components, I wanted to ensure I considered every possible option when it comes to way finding signage to ensure it's the most useful and legible signage.

A way of thinking about how signage should be is to not having to make the person reading it think too much, instead unnecessary info should be disregarded leaving only information possibly accompanied by pictograms left on the signs to ensure the person's journey flows as smoothly as possible.

The National Rail Signage Guidelines PDF was a very useful source as it identifies each aspect of their current way finding signage and goes in depth as to why they chose what they did. Given how successful their current signage is, I felt this would be an accurate source to take information from.

The positioning of the signs themselves is vital as they should ideally be positioned where people would read them most, e.g. perpendicular to the direction that the people are walking in, so that they can read them quickly at a glance but also in a position that wouldn't mean they'd be blocked by advertising posters, CCTV etc.

Even the height of the signs is important, the National Rail Guide suggests a height of around 3.5m for the signage, this is not too high that people reading it would have to stop and stare directly upwards but also not too low to come in collision with anything or anyone.

Colour is a very important part of any signage as if there is not enough of a contrast between colours, the text will be barely visible and although it may look visually appealing, it would be practically useless as at a glance people will struggle to read the signs.

Above is a table of colours, all with corresponding values out of 100 that ultimately rate how legible one colour is when placed on top of another colour. With it, is the calculation as to how each of those values shown were obtained, with a simple mathematical equation. This is will come in handy when it comes down to choosing colours for the signage because although, to me, it may seem legible and aesthetically pleasing, it may not be the same for everyone.

The typeface used realistically would be a sans serif typeface as they're more often than not a clean and legible typeface as serif fonts can sometimes be somewhat complex in terms of each letterform. Suggested sizes from the guide are as follows:

7 Metres = 160 Pt Size

9 Metres = 190 Pt Size

14 Metres = 320 Pt Size

18 Metres = 380 Pt Size

Although the colours and typeface choice may be perfect on signage as far as legibility goes, from a distance they may not even be clear enough to see if an appropriate point size isn't used.

Suggested key aspects that need to be considered when choosing a typeface include good legibility with large x-heights, wide letter proportions and prominent ascenders and descenders.

I found a few typefaces that closely fit to these 'requirements':

Rail Alphabet

Geneva

Clearview

Arial

And of course, how could I forget..

Helvetica

OUGD404: Study Task 4 - Book Definition

What is a book?

Definitions of a book:

1. A handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
2. A work of fiction or nonfiction in an electronic format
3. A number of sheets of blank or ruled paper bound together for writing, recording business transactions, etc.
4. A division of a literary work, especially one of the larger divisions.

There are a range of different things to consider when making a book, especially an art based book. Typically, most common books are generally made at a cheap price without much thought put into the different aspects of the book such as the stock, binding method, layout, typography, colour etc. But a well designed book can potentially be a work of art in itself.

Layout is absolutely key when it comes to books or any kind of editorial design for that matter, as it can make or break a book. Having a well laid out book can often interest people more into reading, especially me, even if the content itself isn't all that interesting. What I like most about the book above is how clean and clear the layout is, it makes reading much easier as the columns are of a perfect size and also the balance between pictures and text is appropriate.

The binding of a book can also be something to consider as it can make a big difference appearance wise. For example if your book is very authentic and hand made, something like a stitched binding method would seem more appropriate whereas a contemporary art book may work better with a 'Perfect Bound' method to fit better with the overall aesthetic of the book.

The stock used within a book is another aspect to consider as this makes a big difference to how to book looks and feels. Considering both the material used and then also the weight of that material is something that shouldn't be overlooked as it can bring a better quality feel and appearance and is something that I want to properly consider for my publication. For example, G.F Smith have a range of different stocks to use ranging from around 115gsm to around 750gsm. Given the wide range, obviously choosing an appropriate stock isn't always easy and should be something that's given a lot of thought.

OUGD405: Study Task 1 - Wayfinding Research

For this study task we had to visit a selection of places such as museums and shopping centres to find examples of way finding, signage and pictograms in use in certain environments.

Trinity

Trinity shopping centre has illuminated signage on all floors indicating where the main areas are such as the Trinity Kitchen, Restaurants & Bars and also where the toilets are. The typeface used is clean and clear enough to read from a distance especially when you considering the contrasting white type and coloured background. They had a different colour to correspond with all the signage used on that floor, for example ground floor is yellow and floor one is blue, so that it's clear to people what is situated on what floor. The only concern I had with their signage is that it was few and far between and trying to find a particular shop can sometimes be problematic. But aside from that the signage was an appropriate size given it wasn't too overwhelming but also wasn't too small that it wasn't readable.

Leeds Train Station

Leeds train station on the whole had a lot of signs about indication everything you could possibly need to find. They all retained the same colour theme throughout which made it easy to identify the station's signage from shop signage. The signs were completely legible given how the white type contrasts very well with the dark blue colour of the signage, along with that they used a clean sans serif typeface for the signs. In some way the arrows aren't completely clear in which direction they're pointing, for example the diagonal arrows could possibly confuse some people, especially considering the many different shops and passageways within the station.

The Core

Although the signage within the core building may appear colourful and attractive, for the most part it is barely legible even up close as some of the pictures demonstrate. This is because of the fact that they've used such a thin typeface contrasted with bright colours such as lime green. Not only that but the signage itself isn't all that clear and gives no indication of where the shops are aside from stating which floor they're on. The typeface used is playful and fits in with the colour scheme used but from a distance may not be entirely legible due to the handwritten style of it compared to a regular sans serif font that was used within Leeds Train Station and Trinity. The size of the signage was adequate especially considering it stood prominent at the forefront of the building entrance, meaning people wouldn't have to spend time searching round to find directions to shops. I feel as though if the signs had been backlit this would have helped with being able to read the type as the signage was quite dull and not really all that appealing.

OUGD404: Study Task 5 - Canons

Balance
Visual balance comes from arranging elements on the page so that no one section is heavier than the other.

Proximity / Unity
In design, proximity or closeness creates a bond between elements on a page. 
How close together or far apart elements are placed suggests a relationship (or lack of) between what are otherwise disparate parts. 
Unity is also achieved by using a third element to connect distant parts.

Alignment
Alignment brings order to chaos. How you align type and graphics on a page and in relation to each other can make your layout easier or more difficult to read, foster familiarity, and/or bring excitement to a stale design.

Repetition / Consistency
Repeating design elements and consistent use of type and graphics styles within a document shows a reader where to go and helps them navigate your designs and layouts safely. Ensure that your document utilises the principles of repetition, consistency, and unity in page design.

Fibonacci & Golden Ratio
Fibonacci sequence ratio 8:13 links to Golden section. This sequence is not only evident within design but also nature.

Canons

These are essentially principles of page layout design that are used to measure and describe proportions, margins and print area as shown within the examples below.

Van De Graaf

Tschichold Golden Canon

Tschichold Octavo

Rules of Graphic Design

One rule that should never be overlooked is kerning, which is the adjustment of space between characters, and is absolutely key when it comes to creating legible type design pieces.

Readability or legibility shouldn't be disregarded for the sake of aesthetics within design work, such as text and background colour not contrasting enough to a point of where the text is barely legible either on screen or print.

Hierarchy is essential for any editorial work or even design work in general and by this I mean making the more important parts of a block of text larger, a different colour or a different font etc. This helps to highlight the importance of particular words or sentences.

Having white space within work isn't always a bad thing and should be used to the designers advantage, simply because of how it can give the text and pictures space to breath and avoids having an overcrowded piece. It can also be used to isolate more important aspects of a design.

Using grids within work, especially editorial design, allows for consistency and structure within the piece and ensures that every page has a set layout as opposed to it being randomly organised onto the page.

Correct alignment of text within any piece of design work is something that should always be considered as it will create consistency throughout the work but also allows the text to flow smoothly rather than it feeling too varied and uneven.