GDES2012 – Teme Valley Brief – Final post

GDES2012 – Graphic Information Design

Mani Brief – Teme Valley Trail 

This will be the final blog entry for the Teme Valley Trail brief and tomorrow is hand in day, so all designs have now been finalised and printed ready for submission.

I thought I would go through my finalised ideas to give an insight into how they have developed since the early concepts.

Identity

I decided to create a logo that would act as an identifier for the whole Teme Valley Tour.  Each location has it’s own colour coding identity, so this logo acts to tie them all together.

I chose the font Panton as a starting point, but modified the letters V and A to create a valley and mountain shape between them in the word “Valley”.  The V and A could even serve as a letterform logo in it’s own right, which would lend itself to merchandising opportunities.

The identity I created for the Teme Valley Trail

Map Additions

I added sample routes to the map based on the colour coding that I decided for the walking and cycling trails (blue & pink respectively).

One option could have been to use pull outs to give further information for each of the routes, instead I chose to follow the form of the map and create colour coded sections with pictograms and simplified data for each route, such as distance, time & difficulty.

Information Board

The information board has been designed specifically for the Tenbury Wells location. The accent colour would vary from site to site and has been informed by the colours I used on the leaflet. All signage at each location would feature this accent colour, creating  strong visual unity.

Each board would then feature information unique to that site such as things to do and places to go.

QR codes would be used to give further information on routes, such as detailed instructions or maps.

The Teme Valley Trail logo is also featured to tie it back into the overall theme.

Background elements such as the pattern are shared with the leaflet and based on the star shape that apple pips cause when it is cut in half sideways. The apple connection being due to the region being well know for it’s production of cider.

 

Information board for the Tenbury Wells location

Way Finding Signage

Large Signs – These are designed to be close to the visitor centre or start of each route. They are large and bold but feature simplified information or pictograms where possible.

Finger-Post – Designed with simple information; Time, distance and pictogram. These would feature intermittently along the trail. The design is intended to wrap around the post with the trail colour indicator on the inside, which would be visible due to the height and viewing angle. The post would feature a location marker on top as per those found on the map section of the leaflet.

Way Markers – These would also feature along the trail, but are designed to blend into the surrounds more and in many cases could be fitted to existing fence posts etc. Colour on top to denote location, with pictogram and colour coded arrow to denote trail type. This would be layered in design so that it had a 3D look and feel to it.

Large Signage

Finger Post and Way Markers

Finally I created a few simple mock ups to show what the signage may look like in-situ.

Conclusion

Overall I am pleased with the solution I arrived at. With more time there are a few changes or additions I would have liked to explore, such as different material types, cu-out shapes or the inclusion of braille for the unsighted. However these are things that could easily be implemented should the client wish to do so.

Signage scale

Preview of my presentation board, for submission

Presentation Board

GDES2012 – London trip – Legible London

GDES2012 – Graphic Information Design

London Trip – 8th April 2015

As part of our trip to London, we were asked to make observations and analysis of ‘Legible London’s way finding system.

The main Legible London signage

I found numerous examples of the signage in the area that I walked (Earls Court, Olympia, Kensington & Knightsbridge).

 

Legible London – Olympia

Legible London – Kensington

 

 

The above photographs show the me in front of two examples of the Legible London way finding signage.

Earls Court

Olympia front side

Olympia rear side

Olympia – Typography

The two maps that feature on each sign

Map close-up – Shows the edge of the white circle to indicate you are zoomed in

The edges of the signs also feature additional information such as emergency telephone numbers, sign location etc.

The base of each sign has a compass showing true North. Could this have been a consideration for the blind?

Observations

I think that the main audience for the ‘Legible London’ signage is tourists.  Although the signs can be used by locals and workers as well, it is more likely that visitors to the city will use them to get around.  The designers have used a bold yet simple colour scheme that is uniform amongst all of the signs, so they have a visual system that connects.  The typography is clear and in many instances recognisable pictograms are used to aid guidance.  The maps are simple and feature only information that is needed to navigate, such as landmarks and street names, tube stations and ‘Boris bike’ points.  The colour scheme also ties in with the overall signage (i.e. blue and yellow, with green on the maps to show areas of grass such as parks).  I noticed also that the edges or sides of the signs are also used to contain additional contact information such as 24hr travel info, who to call if the sign is vandalised and also the sign location.

Colours

The signage background colour is a deep blue, with yellow accents such as the top of each sign as well as the location typography, with supporting text in white.  The maps also follow this colour scheme, whilst also including greys and green for areas of grassland.

There is a very distinct visual hierarchy to the signage.  The yellow band, which also includes a pictogram of a walking man at the top first draws attention.  The yellow colour in the typography gives location names, whilst the supporting text in white may highlight a road name, tube station or tourist attraction such as a museum.  Below this are generally 2 maps, the first giving a wider view of the area and the second a more zoomed in street view.  This is made obvious by the use of a white circle which can be seen in full on the top map, but only partially seen on the lower map which indicates a closer view.

Typography

The typography is a sans serif font.  All yellow place names are shown in upper case, with street names and supporting text in white and using a combination of upper & lower case lettering.  This is to create a visual hierarchy, but also by colour coding and using upper case the names can be read quickly and easily without confusion.

The type is similar to not only the underground, but also to all transport links such as buses and ‘Boris bikes’.  This creates unity between the London transport network and ties the way finding in seamlessly with it’s surroundings.

Disability

It is difficult to see how much consideration was given to the disabled or visually impaired.  The signs are quite tall, which I imagine is in part due to visibility from the upper deck of double deckers buses.  The maps are certainly lower and would therefore be visible to those in a wheelchair.  The signage doesn’t feature braille for the blind, but the maps do feature bold colours and the information is easy to read so perhaps the visually impaired were considered.  The only clue I found that suggested some consideration for the blind is that each sign features a raised, metal compass on the floor.  Somebody could certain ‘feel’ that and get a clear indication as to where North was, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure how much help this would be?

Position

All of the signage I found was located on main roads and generally at intersections, so that they could give indication to what is in each direction I suppose.  They are all close to transport links, usually bus stops which is helpful for people getting on and off buses to find their bearings.

Overall I think the signage is effective.  One criticism could be that the maps only show a fairly short geographical  area and so if you wanted to travel further across the city, it would not be clear which direction to head in.  That said, there are the locations all over the city and it wouldn’t take long to work out where you needed to go from Harry Beck’s tube map, which is an incredible piece of design in itself.

Other signage

I also encountered a number of other examples of way finding signage throughout the city, namely the ‘Boris bike’ scheme as well as some interesting information found at bus stops and on bus shelters.  The bike hire scheme ties in very closely to the legible London signage, although it is clearly identified by it’s blue colour scheme.  The location signs are four sided, with one side featuring a pay point so that you can hire a bike there and then and drop it off at any other point throughout the city.

Example of Bus network signage

This map shows the bus network throughout the city and obviously draws inspiration from Harry Beck’s London tube map

London Cycle Hire

These signs are 4 sided and include a pay point so that you can hire a bike

Map information is the same as the legible London signage, thus tying inseemlessly

Boris Bike scheme

Fingerpost – Share Legible London colours

Fingerpost – Share Legible London colours

This is at the base of one of the fingerposts I found

Although this doesn’t tie into the legible London signage, I found the type choices & treatments interesting

The famous Undergound tube signage

Beautiful type carved into stone

The V&A emblem carved into marble in the V&A museum foyer

I also found this amazing example of infographics inside the main entrance of the V&A museum.  It shows a visual timeline of nature that buds, blooms, migrates or emerges annually in the area surrounding the V&A museum.  Each colour shows a different species of plant, animal, insect, bird or tree revealing the interdependence of urban ecosystems.

GDES2012 – Teme Valley Trail Brief – Part 4

Teme Valley brief – Research

Time Valley Trail Leaflet

Part of the brief is to redesign the existing ‘Teme Valley Trail’ folding leaflet, so before starting on the design elements I decided to take a look at folding techniques, both creative and more traditional.

The leaflet currently folds out to reveal an A3 spread which features the main tour map as well as information regarding the area and towns on the tour.  It is currently very information heavy and quite dated in it’s looks.

Considerations:

• The sample text from the supporting document should be included.
• Use clear grid & column structure.
• Consider use of pictograms or informational diagrams to help put across the content.
• Could tie in wildlife, nature, local foods & drinks into the theme.
• A general want of the client is to have more visual interpretation/dynamism/pictograms on the leaflet & less text.
• 2 sides of A3 to work with.
• Consider audience when looking at format.  i.e. cyclist may have a pouch to read quickly from the handlebars of a bike.  Walkers may want it to fold small for pocket, perhaps like a train timetable.
• There are 5 areas to be included on the leaflet – Tenbury Wells, Bromyard, Broadheath, Great Witley & Cleobury Mortimer.  (this may help determine the number of folds or sides created by folds that are needed.

Examples of folding techniques/possibilites:

I looked at a number of folding styles from creative to more traditional.  I think for the purposes of this brief, the more creative designs may be a little too out there,  They often seem to be used for promotional purposes in the “creative” arena such as promoting an event or an exhibition, or even self promotion.

As this brief is aimed at an audience who’s main interest is navigation of the area and information on things to see & do, I feel the more traditional approach is best suited.

Examples of folding techniques

Creative use of fold to create visual interest

This would fold to A6 in size, so would be very pocketable.

Creative fold of a map

Added features

Once I started creating mock-up flyers using some of the different folding techniques that I researched, I discovered that I would end up with more pages than I needed in terms of the information I have to include from the supporting document.

I decided it might be interesting to include a few different elements to the design to engage with the audience a little.  For example a page directing the audience to look out for wildlife along the route.

Therefore I researched a few of the different species of bird, butterfly, insect and wild flowers that can be seen in the area.

Chafinch

Greenfinch

Bluebells

Honey Bee

Common Blue Butterfly

Kestrel

GDES2012 – Week 3 – Road Signage

Week 3 – Graphic Information Design

Road signage brief

This week we were asked to design a road sign with one of 4 headings in mind : Warning, Tourist Information, Motorway or Primary route.

I have Chosen the Tourist Information sign for Worcester New Bridge.

• A TOURIST INFORMATION SIGN
  Pointing in the direction of Worcester’s ‘New Bridge’ over the River Severn. The sign would be sited somewhere near McDonalds. The sign must have a simplified rendering of the new bridge on it with the text ‘New Bridge’ and be pointing towards the bridge.

Having already researched Jock Kenner & Margaret Calvert for a previous project, I decided to add to this with the recommended findings from the brief – Namely a BBC Top Gear clip featuring Margaret Calvert & additional research from the design museums website.

• Road signage system development of the new system to the graphic designer Jock Kinneir (1917-1994) and his assistant Margaret Calvert (1936-).
• They devised a rigorous signage system of carefully coordinated lettering, colours, shapes and symbols for Britain’s new motorways in the late 1950s and for all other roads in the mid 1960s. Efficient and elegant, their system was one of the most ambitious information design projects ever undertaken in Britain.
• It is a role model for modern road signage in other countries and is still in use today.
• Their system was rooted in the concept of each sign taking the form of a map oriented towards the driver.
• A combination of upper and lower case letters would be more legible than conventional upper case lettering, they developed a new typeface, a refinement of Aksidenz Grotesk, for use in the signs. Later named Transport, it is recognisably modern as a sans serif font, but it is softer and curvier than the blunt modernist lettering used on continental European road signs. Kinneir and Calvert felt that these qualities would make it seem friendlier and more appealing to British drivers.
• Each letter within a sign was placed on a letter tile to determine the correct spacing – based on the width of the horizontal strokes in the Transport version of the capital letter I – between it and other letters. By treating each letter as a separate unit, the overall size of a sign was determined by the amount of information conveyed.
• The width of the capital I stroke was also used to specify the size of borders and the spaces between lines of text.
• Used colour coding – Just as their motorway signs consisted of white lettering against a blue background, they used white lettering for place names and yellow for road numbers against a green background on signage for primary roads, and black lettering against a white background for secondary routes.
• They decided to adopt the continental style of using pictograms rather than words on the road signs, and Calvert drew most of the pictograms in the friendly, curvaceous style of Transport.

“It is sad but true to say that most of us take our surroundings for granted,” Kinneir observed in 1965. “Direction signs and street names, for instance, are as vital as a drop of oil in an engine, without which the moving parts would seize up; one can picture the effect of the removal of this category of information on drivers in a busy city or on pedestrians trying to find their way in a large building complex. It is a need which has bred a sub-division of graphic design with more influence on the appearance of our surroundings than any other.”

Source – http://design.designmuseum.org/design/jock-kinneir-margaret-calvert

I then went on to look at existing signage for tourist information & attractions.

• A tourist sign is often referred to as a “brown” sign.
• They feature a brown background, with a white border and white text (transport).
• Usually featuring a pictogram of the attraction.

Type

• Type used is transport, which I will incorporate into my design.
• Transport fonts downloaded from this resource http://www.cbrd.co.uk/fonts/

Tourist Information Signage

I found this fantastic website called http://www.followthebrownsigns.com which offers up a wealth of information regarding the brown tourist signs, from their history to attractions in “my area”.

What makes a brown sign?

• Technically the definition of a brown signed destination is “a permanently established attraction or facility which attracts or is used by visitors to an area and which is open to the public without prior booking during its normal opening hours” (as stated by the Highways Agency).

This image from – http://www.ukmotorists.com/motorway_signs.asp

The picture below shows a good example of the types of pictograms that are used on tourist information signs.

 

Location

The brief stated that the sign should be located by McDonalds, before you get to the Bridge.  I knew that there was already a large signpost in this vicinity and so I took my own photographs so that I could see what was already there and to visualise my design in-situ.  This was also born out of necessity as I could not find any usable shots to convincingly mock up my design.

A few of the shots for consideration are :