Originally i had the idea of creating the way finding from using the idea of the radio waves. This would create the numbers for the floors and be placed upon a plaque near the entrance of each exhibition. The number would be made up from wool string and wrapped around nails to make it look like the radio waves.
These were the designs which i was working from to create the plaques for the floors.
I decided to work off the top design, because the 1 is bigger and fits in that area of the space much better, with the information being along the bottom in an arrow shaped area, i think this works well for directing the audience around the space.
Creating the Plaques
In order to make the plaques i got some MDF which was A4 in size, this would be bigger in size for the actual exhibition but to mock it up i used this size. I printed off the number 1 and stuck this to the wood, so i could put the nails in the correct place. Once i had done this i wrapped the string around the nail heads.
First of all i tested the one out on its own, to make sure it would work and to see if it looked in proportions. I was happy with the result of the this and the images above show the result of it.
Next i did them properly with the information on and wood painted black. When i made these i was using the old colour scheme, so unfortunately they are matching the old colour scheme, but the idea is still there and i can propose the colours would be changed.
The first design has no extensions coming off the number in the middle, i do like this design but i think that the one seems too neat and tidy, there looks to be too much space around the one and the string doesn't have that much relevance to it all.
With the second design i did this with the extensions on the one - these are to represent the idea that the radio connects to all areas of the world. The radio waves also send this for everyone to receive.
As a full design i think that this one is better. The design looks more balanced with the extensions coming off the one. It takes up more of the plaque and balances out the whole design more. The wool wrapped around the nails makes more sense with the extensions too, you can make more of an idea what it is about, but i think it would become more clear when put in the surroundings of the exhibition.
After doing this and making the plaques, i did change the colour scheme and in the last crit the idea of doing the way finding through an indoor mapping idea and digitally on an app was brought up which i did like the sound of better. In the end i have decided to go with the idea of the app over the ones above, because i think it will make the exhibition more exciting and innovating. Its also more of an experience for the audience of the exhibition and with it being aimed at education and teenagers, i think they will be more involved with the exhibition by using the app i am going to create.
Even though Im not using the ideas above, it was still good to think outside of the box and create something that wasnt digital, it was good to be more hands on with it and actually create it myself, i like the aesthetics of the wool and i think it could be interesting to use in the future.
Moving on with the new idea for the way finding. Like i said previously, the idea came from someone mentioning something about indoor mapping in my last crit. So after looking into this further i thought it could be a really good way to engage people with the exhibition more, it also plays into the idea of digital media which the radio is.
The idea behind the app is to create a guide which shows you the exhibition through a 3D map. It will work similar to Google maps street view, in that you can direct through a 3D plane and see where you are going through the app itself. As the exhibition is audio and visual, i had to come up with a way that everyone can enjoy these aspects of the exhibition. Having them all playing aloud at the same time wouldnt work within the exhibition, so this is where the app comes in. As you walk around the exhibition icons will pop up on the map when you come near the exhibits, this will tell you what the exhibit is and if there is something to listen or watch. The symbol will also be present on the exhibit itself. You then simply scan this symbol and the app will load up the video / recording / speech etc so you can personally listen to it.
I have discussed the idea of the app with Lorraine and she gave me some advice about not trying to make it take over the exhibition and be something that is more interesting than the exhibition itself. So app will mainly be used so that you can personally listen to things that support the exhibition, the 3D element will still be there but not be the main focus.
As the app will no longer direct you through the exhibition i am going to design way finding throughout the exhibition space itself, this will take on the aesthetics of directions and be in the form of app icons, to fit in with the app itself.
For the way finding within the exhibition space, i have started to roughly draw out some of the icons which you would be used to symbolised certain areas of the exhibition.
This is looking more into directing the audience around the exhibition space. I am going to base this on using a simple arrow. The arrow would be used to show direction of which a certain area is with the use of the symbols above and text to display the information.
It will be laid out in a gridded area like shown simply in the image above.
I am going to mock these way finding ideas up to show how it would look within the exhibition. I think this will illustrate the idea better than me trying to explain it too.
Outlined versions of the way finding symbols
As each floor is assigned to a colour of the branding gradient, the symbols will coincide with the colour of the floor, for the purpose of mocking up the way finding system i will show the symbols across all three floors. This is the symbols for the ground and third floor
Symbols for the second floor
Symbols for the first floor.
In order to create the mock ups of the way finding system i went around college to take photos of the corridors and stairs and gallery space so that i had high resolution images to work on for mocking this up. It worked out well that college has a lot of white walls!
Way finding Mock up Images:
After selecting the images from the ones above to use to mock up the way finding, i have done a selection of the way finding symbols to get across how it would look within the exhibition space.
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