OUGD601: Dissertation Practical- Sketches and Ideas

Throughout the process of sign development there are several things that need to be considered, as I have outlined in my essay. The first is sign placement and content which has been achieved through the site and floor plan analysis. The second is material hardware and types of sign, alongside branding and sign personality. The sign personality will be derived from the LCA branding bringing a branding experience to life not just on paper and promotional materials but also within the site itself. 

The sign hardware and sign types are usually derived from budget and available space. Due to the buildings narrow hallways and lack of freestanding space I have chosen to opt for wall mounted signage. This will also allow me to blend the decals and artworks into the sign system making the two appear one and the same whilst bringing the walls to life. Wall mounted signs are often the cheaper alternative as well and considering the university most likely has a minimal budget (based on the existing quality of the signs in place) this seems like the sensible option.

My choice of materials is acrylic plastic. This versatile material is also low cost thus adding less strain to the budget, whilst being malleable enough to be moulded into any shape and used in any colour. This is perfect for what I have in mind as it gives me the ability to push the shape, style and colours of the signs to extremes whilst at the same time retaining a simple budget.

Description of Acrylic as a material for signs from The Wayfinding Handbook

Acrylic signs are also the most common, with the material being so easy to access and so cheap even the current LCA signage uses it. 

Sketches and Ideas

The first thing that you notice when looking at the LCA branding is the mosaic motif, this iconic shape translates across many different platforms and represents the colleges history, previous identity and the artistic nature of the students and institute. It is a strong jumping off point to incorporate into the signage and so I used it as the basic shape or inspirations for the shapes of the signs.

For the orientation/room numbers sign I want to have a collection of mosaic tiles running into each other. This takes the singular tile motif and begins to create a collection or mosaic. It also allows the tile look to translate into the entire sign family, creating a long flowing sign instead of having to use on large tile to contain the information or a different shape entirely.

Fore the toilet direction sign I may have to use the multiple tile technique too as trying to warp an arrow into a angled tile shape is difficult, and stretching the tie out doesn't look too good or in keeping with the style. However I will experiment further in digital development.

With the room and studio numbers I want to use both singular numbers on some rooms and writing and numbers on particular studios such as level 5, staff office etc. However the hierarchy may be difficult to achieve on such a difficult shape, with squares and rectangles the alignment is left or central and the text flows, however with a miscellaneous tile shape some tweaking may be required. 

I went around the site again with a measuring tape, now knowing where I wanted to signs to go and what I want them to look like I needed to gauge the size of them. The signs need to be large enough to be readable but appropriate to the wall size. So I took these measurements as a guide for when I start developing the final designs.

Pushing the mosaic and tile design further I want to incorporate the shapes into the decals and artwork to be used within the studios and the graphic design department. For each year group the concept of the design changes to match the year. For the first year I have chosen a scattered/shattered look to the tiles, this represents the passionate but unsure nature of a first year student. Most enter the course unaware of what various forms it takes and what they are best at, what they love and what they hate, this is represented through the decal and the multiple varied shapes scattered across the wall. 

Level 5 has less shapes but still a scattered number in a solid outline. This connotes the more well rounded and growing knowledge, as well as the beginnings of specialisms within each student. Throughout second year most students can begin to call themselves designers as well as producing work they can class as professional, however there is still much further room for progression. I wanted to represent this with the condensing of the scattered shapes into larger shapes across the wall, however the fact they are only outlines shows an incompleteness and a sense of further progression to be had. 

For the third years decals there are only two solid shapes (Although they appear as outlines in the sketch they will be solid shapes) these are filled to show a completeness and a full rounding off of the student/designer. However there will be two shapes instead of one complete decal, this is because of the further progression still to be made. Although a third year's specialisms and craft will be strongly developed there is still an intense amount of learning to be done, not only through the final year but also in future work, jobs and projects.