Perkins Midpoint

8/3/2019 Perkins Midpoint

1/30

Samantha Perkins

student number

Midpoint Review

Spring 2010

16 March 2010 at 2:00 p.m. pst

Revised Submission

The Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California WHEREWAYFINDING BEYOND SIGNAGEby Samantha Perkins


2/30


3/30

WHEREWAYFINDING BE YOND SIGNAGEby Samantha Perkinsfor Midpoint Review, Revised SubmissionThe Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California

Spring 2010


4/30

CONTENTSdesign by Samantha Perkinsbinding by Samantha Perkinspublished 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

2010 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.

01 CONTEXT: The Problem, Dened

18 COURSE: Solutions Imagined

28 PASSPORT:Credentials, Portfolio and Resources


5/30

TO BECOMECOMPLETELY LOST

IS PERHAPS A

RATHER RARE

EXPERIENCE FOR

MOST PEOPLE IN

THE MODERN CITY.Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City


6/30

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 a ccess to hundreds of mapping

applications, giving instant information to the users current l ocation, plus

detailed instructions on how to get from that p oint to anywhere else in

the world.

With todays technology, losing your way is difficultbut it does still happen.

When it does, people l ook to wayfinding to help them navigate.

Wayfinding uses signage and directories to help people locate their paths

and destinations. But its not the best system out there, since it fails to

consider all methods used in navigation. Theres much in navigation that

we can learn from, in order to make better systems.

To discover how to generate these bet ter

systems, this thesis will seek to explainthe how and the why behind navigation,

regardless of the ult imate where.

ii iii


7/30

People may nd their way in the existential

sense, but theybecome overwhelmed or

disoriented if they physically lose their way.David Gibson

CONTEXT


8/30

WAYFINDING ISDEFINED Wayfinding is literally finding ones 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.)Waynding uses these visual layers to lead people along a series of determined

paths using visual bread crumbs such as signage and directories. Its a good

system, but its not the best one out there. The problem with wayfinding is that

it does not always consider how people reallynavigate.

COLOR TYPE IMAGE

02 03


9/30

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 THEYARE NEAR A CAFE.

04 05


10/30


11/30

As does memory and previous experience.

PEOPLE WILL SEEKMORE FAMILIAR

LANDMARKS TO

HELP ORIENT

THEMSELVES INLABYRINTHIAN

ENVIRONMENTS.

08 09


12/30

THE PROBLEM So it is apparent that peopl e 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 layersand 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 TYPE IMAGE SOUND SMELL SIGHT CURIOSITY

10 11


13/30

WHY NOT?

12 13

Current practices show an obvious disconnect between the p rimary 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 visualaesthetics, but does not full y 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 fre e of

excessive signage.

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.


14/30

14 15

Wayfinding design practices today are not without merit. However many

systems are an afterthought to the overall buildingsomething 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 realizationOh, 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 caf 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.


15/30

16 17

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 architec-

tural and navigational outcomes.

Theres a bigger opportunity to take

advantage of the collaborative potential

between designers in the wayfinding

design process.


16/30

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

APPROACH


17/30

A NEW DIRECTIONWe need to rethink what wayfinding can be i n order to improve

its current perception and p otential. To do this, we need to unplug and let ourselves

get lost. Its time to return to intuitionthe use of sensory input, human behavior

and previous experienceto find a new way to wayfind.

Observing how people navigate when technology and traditional wayfinding

(signage) succeed or fail, will uncover clues for imp rovement. This should, in turn,

lead to a more collaborative model of wayfi nding education and design.

By looking at how people use their senses,

experiences and human behavior to navigate,

we can understand how these can becomeused 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 wont know until we understand

how people roam.

Over the course of this thesis I will obser ve 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.

To achieve these, I will:

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 bet ter,

more intuitive wayfinding systems.

Test the effectiveness of these through student

projects and design conference presentations.

20 21

THE SOLUTION


18/30

22 23

BUENOS AIRES

MEXICO CITY

NEW YORK CITY

LONDON

TOKYO

STUTTGART

THE SPACESROAMING THE WORLDOnce a system of parameters has been establi shed, 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 TOWNWithin 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 HallsEach space will be investigated through specific filters, including traditional

wayfinding techniques, human behavior, the senses and previous experiences.


19/30

24 25

DELIVERABLESThe 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 applicati on to be used in documenting the research

sites and recording the actual proce ss of navigation.

This kit would be fur ther developed into a tool that could be used by design

professionals in exploring their own surroundings to gain better i nsight into

navigation behavior.

Interactive Interface for virtual exploration Allows audience participants to explore virtual environments.

Mixes traditional wayfinding (color, type, image) with more intuiti ve methods

(sensory input and human behavior).

Provides learning through play within a virtual e nvironment.

Comprehensive Texts A series of textbooks designed from resea rch 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 a s 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.

EXPLORATION KIT COMPREHENSIVE TEXTS RESOURCES WEBSITEINTERACTIVE INTERFACE LECTURE SERIES


20/30

AUDIENCEWHO THIS IS FORThis 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 empl oy new insights and more

visually appealing wayfinding methods to their projects.

It would be built to engage audience

members on a more active level, providing

more insight in the process.It would be built to move them well beyond textbook examples and the

installation case studies, in a n interactive and compelling way.

TIME LINESUMMER 2009

GR800 Directed Study, independent

SPRING 2010

GS623 History of Gaming

SUMMER 2010

GR801 Thesis Development

FALL 2010

DS800 Directed Study, Architecture as Landscape

(PH611Students explore the built environment and it s 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

26 27


21/30

Nothing is experienced by itself, but

always in relation to its surroundings,

the sequences of events leading

up to itKevin Lynch, The Image of the City

PASSPORT


22/30

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.

Its much more fun warping the minds

of the young, since they will go out and

inform the minds of everyone else.

WHO I AM

30 31

2007PRESENT Miami University, visiting professor of design

Graphic and Interior Design, Architecture Programs

2006 White Design Studio, freelance design consultant

Branded Environmental Graphic Design Installations

20052007 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

20042005 University of Arkansas, adjunct professor

Department of Architecture, Foundation Studies

20032005 NW Arkansas Community College, adjunct professor

Department of Graphic Communications

20022007 PhDv8, owner

Print and Web Design studio, freelance contracts

Award winning projects include marlonblackwell.com

19962002 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

19951996 Brinkley Sargent Architects, architectural intern


23/30

CONSTRUCTIVE

CRITICISM

GR605 Digital Design

INSTRUCTOR Tracey Morin

TERM Fall 2009

32 33


24/30

TXT BOOKS

GR600 Visual Communications

INSTRUCTOR Jeremy Stout

TERM Fall 2009

34 35


25/30

FUEL CELLS

GR601 Type Systems

INSTRUCTOR Carolina de Bartolo

TERM Spring 2009

36 37


26/30

LAS VEGAS


27/30

40 41

LAS VEGAS

CONVENTION

CENTER

PROFESSIONAL Catt Lyon Design

IN COLLABORATION WITH HNTB

TERM Fall 2005Summer 2007


28/30

RESOURCES

Craig M. Berger, Wayfinding (Switzerland: RotoVision, 2005).

Italo Calvino, InvisibleCities (Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Comp any, 1972).

Charlene Catt Lyon, LVCC Design Thoughts, email, July 30, 2007.

David Gibson, TheWayfindingHandbook:InformationDesignforPublicPlaces (New York City:

Princeton Architectural Press, 2009)

Reginald G. Golledge et. al., WayfindingBehavior (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).

Kevin Lynch, TheImageoftheCity (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1960).

Per Mollerup, Wayshowing (Baden, Germany: Lars Mller Publishers, 2005).

Michael Silverberg, Nowheresville, USA, IDMagazine, Sept/Oct 2009, 4447.

Yi-Fu Tuan, SpaceandPlace (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 2008).

42 43


29/30

CIAO BELLA


30/30

Perkins Midpoint

Documents

Transcript of Perkins Midpoint