OUGD405
Signage Research

Signs come in all different types of shapes, scales, materials and forms, therefore I wanted to research more into the types of signs and be more aware of the meaning of each type of sign.

The Square
The primary characteristic of a square sign is that it often symbolises an object within the shape, it communicates boundaries, the square almost forms protection to the object / icon within the shape.

The Triangle
The triangle can work in two important ways, when vertical it can direct movement. A simple vertical triangle is commonly used as a direction sign. Horizontal signs form an ideal sign for signals such as road signs this is down to a triangle symmetry, the horizontal base can convey stability and durability.

The Circle
A circle addresses a more strong approach than any other shape, the viewer often positions themselves inside or outside the circle, the circle is believed to certainly interact with the viewer the most because on a daily basis we come across horizontal and vertical objects but we tend to appreciate rounded forms.

Good signage / wayfinding compared to bad signage / wayfinding

This is Pentagrams wayfinding solution for one of London's best known and influential design colleges, the design is so simple yet effective because the main design triumph is how efficient the design is. Efficiency is accomplished by the signs being pinned to the boards, say if a lecture theatre or workshop block was to change location, the college could easily customise the wayfinding instead of overhauling the whole design. Pentagram achieved a successful wayfinding system, not just through design but functionality with the use of material and media. 

These two examples of bad signage and wayfinding is mainly down to bad kerning and too much content in my opinion. The kerning in the first example is totally off, the entire block of text is a mistake, personally I think the amount of content is too much for the viewer to take in while on the move. This example has proved the importance of kerning in wayfinding and how it can alter the viewers interpretation of an environment. The second example is another kerning mistake, this one doesn't have same occurring problem but has a big fault in the lettering of 'click' which makes it appear like 'dick'. I think the scaling of this piece may have caused this problem, so when designing my own wayfinding / signage I need to consider scaling pictograms and text so that they remain effect at any size.