Studio Brief 1: Research

To kick off my research into way finding I went to the library and found this book. It helped me understand things such as colour, pictograms, positioning and such in relation to way finding.

Eye Level
The golden rule is that 'eye level' is the perfect level for conveying information
However this relies upon the person walking looking directly in front of them which is generally not the case, most people walk with their shoulders slumped forward and their head tilted forward therefore would miss the sign. Busy places also need to be taken into consideration as the sign needs to be seen over people's heads.

However these don't need to be considered for my way finding system as it is interactive therefore needs to be at a height that people can reach.

Pictograms
The book also talked about the pictograms for the Munich Olympics by Otl Aicher. Their opinion was that they are so simple yet so good that they can not be improved upon. They need to be done in a sensitive way like Aicher has done.

Colour
Humans do not have the ability to register colour. If you were to try memorise a specific shade of a colour you would find it hard to remember it a few minutes later. Therefore we only see colours as blue, red, green etc and not specific shades. As humans we also find it difficult to remember the specific colours when things are colour coded therefore it is better to represent a colour with an object as well to make it easier to remember.

In way finding systems colour can be used to give things a hierarchy, for example important notices being displayed in red, and those of lesser importance in black and white.

The book also discusses whether or not colours for things such as emergency exits should be standardised as in the US their emergency exits are displayed on white backgrounds with green text where as in Europe they are the opposite.

When using colour, the book suggest using white lettering as black letters merge into the colour and start to look dirty.

You need to bare in mind the surface you are printing on as this changes the colour.

Red
Used to make a statement

Yellow
Used for sending out signals, a disruptive tone.

Blue
Preferred by clients, looks good in light shades but not too dark/ almost black

Green
not often used in way finding