Photo Location Spotting

Possible Photography Locations

The Trails

Silos

Skatepark

Train Station

Final Solution

Final Solution

These are our final solution designs. We wanted to use a Pac-Man theme to direct people to The Underground. This theme works really well and is very effective. 

New Solutions

New Solutions

After reviewing and getting feedback from our work, we decided to change some ideas for way finding. We decided to use a more fun approach that will better lead people to The Underground. We changed the color scheme to red and blue instead of red and black. These are some of the new icons that we will be using: 

Solutions

Solutions

Initially, we wanted to use arrows to lead people to The Underground. To get a better idea of how this would work, I went into Photoshop and edited photos of entrances to The Underground. We kept the same color scheme that The Underground already had which was red and black. We also decided to redo their logo design.

The Image of the City

The Image of the City Summary

In his book called The Image of the City, Kevin Lynch compares three major cities in the United States (Los Angeles, Boston, Jersey City) and explains how people orient themselves around the city. He states that people in urban areas use mental maps to get around. An important theme in this book is legibility. This is how a cityscape can be 'read'. We do this through the act of way finding. Lynch then describes the five elements that are involved with wayfinding. These include:

1. Paths: Routes along which people move through the city
2. Edges: Boundaries and breaks in continuity 
3. Districts: Areas characterized by common characteristics
4. Nodes: Strategic focus points for orientation
5. Landmarks: External points of orientation

According to Lynch paths are very important because they organize urban mobility.  A clear and organized mental map is very important because it provides emotional security and counters the fear of disorientation. 

The Underground

Routes to The Underground

There are three ways to get to the Underground.  The main way is down the large stairs in the front of Wescoe. The second way is around the back on the right side of the building. Lastly, you can go through the basement of Wescoe. None of these routes seem to have any directional signs or logos for The Underground. Our goal is to fix this problem and easily guide people who have never been to The Underground or people who do not even know it exists.

Choosing Our Location

Choosing Our Location

We decided that we are focusing on The Underground for our project. The Underground is located under Wescoe and is very hard to find if you are a new student or unfamiliar with the building. There are also no signs at all that tell you where The Underground is. 

Wayfinding

Wayfinding Project

Our first project this semester is all about wayfinding. Wayfinding encompasses all the ways in which people orient themselves in their environment and navigate from place to place. It is how we get from point A to point B. There are five basic elements that form the foundations of wayfinding. These include: paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmark. Each of these elements helps people get to where they need to go. For this project, our group was to choose a location on campus that could use wayfinding to help people reach their desired destination.