signage and wayfinding

IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF SIGNAGE SOLUTIONS AND CASE STUDIES FOR DESIGN RESEARCH PROJECT

STRATEGIC INFORMATION DESIGN

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This module has given me the opportunity to develop research thinking on what my Design Research Project  will focus on.

As I had a very open remit at the beginning for TRANSITIONAL PORTALS in URBAN ENVIRONMENTS, I have now had to think about a more specific approach in order to make my project realistic and meaningful. I needed to develop a much more detailed investigation into how I could integrate with the wide range of STAKEHOLDER  GROUPS.

SIGNAGE OBSERVATIONS

I spent a bit of time looking at Kirkcaldy from the perspective of a new visitor to the town. I drove into the town from different directions to assess how directional signage worked and how road traffic operated in conjunction with the signs.

I recorded video clips from the car as I drove to enable me to review the condition and design of the signage wayfinding and discovered a series of gaps in the links between junctions etc.  In some cases there was a lack of clarity which I felt would confuse  visitors who were attempting to come to Kirkcaldy.

FIFE COUNCIL REGENERATION ENVIRONMENT PROJECTS TEAM

I contacted the department at Fife Council who are involved in a variety of environmental improvements and regeneration initiatives within Kirkcaldy. In discussion via e-mail and telephone conversations with a few individuals, it became clear that there were distinct areas of potential development that I was sure my design research thinking could become involved in.

SIGNAGE  and WAYFINDING was one  element that Fife Council had been developing but that it was currently on hold due to budget restrictions and that there was a current initiative for a Business Improvement District ( BID ). One of the elements of this BID was to look at new street furniture and signage solutions.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

I created a Powerpoint presentation about my thoughts on Kirkcaldy which included case study images from a variety of different towns and cities as a prompt for discussion with stakeholders. I made an informal presentation to Gill Baldwin from the  Fife Council Regeneration Team at Kirkcaldy Town House on Thursday 1 April 2010.

The presentation was well received and feedback during a discussion afterwards highlighted a few possibilities for  potential of my involvement in  Working Group Forums  on the future development of the town esplanade and  promenade.  I was also given contact names of other relevant contacts within Fife Council related to the BID project.

Unfortunately, to date, no further  contacts have been able to meet with me to discuss how I can get involved. I will now have to e-mail the contacts to establish a more productive relationship with them. Without these contacts, my Design Research Project will not come to fruition.

CASE STUDY RESEARCH

Following the meeting with the Regeneration Environment contact, I did some investigation into other coastal towns in the UK who were developing regeneration projects and discovered 2 towns who were also in TRANSITION.

CLACTON-ON SEA  in Suffolk

RHYL in Wales

Both these towns have seafronts and esplanade /promenades and there are links in this page regarding their developments.

OTHER RESEARCH STUDIES

I have in the past been to a variety of towns and cities that have made improvements to the ambience and enhancements of their urban context.

BIRMINGHAM is a good example of re-capturing the cityscape for the population

GREENOCK has a RIVER INVERCLYDE INITIATIVE

BORDEAUX in FRANCE has a fantastic interactive social space on its riverfront which is used for all kinds of events and it is a promenade  with a high standard of installations such as lighting, and surface finishes.

KIRKCALDY TOWN CENTRE MANAGEMENT

This organisation are part of the local authority and are really the major STAKEHOLDER for my Research project.

However, at present, they are heavily involved with 2 major developments.

1    BID PROJECT – Business Improvement District

2   MERCAT SHOPPING CENTRE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

Presentation – 100120

The new proposals for a major expansion and enhancement of the main shopping mall in Kirkcaldy is currently in for PLANNING APPROVAL, but there are no guarantees that this most up to date scheme design by ONE ARCHIECTURE and  the developer  will gain the necessary approvals to proceed.

However, these proposed developments may have a major impact on what i am developing for my MDes studies.

This is the most up to date post on my current position with my studies.

STAKEHOLDER MEETING on THURSDAY 31 APRIL 2010

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I had arranged to have a meeting with Joan Geddes from the Fife Council’s Physical Environment and Regeneration Team , at the Town House Kirkcaldy at 0900hrs.  Unfortunately, Joan was not available, but I was able to met with someone from the same team.  Gill Baldwin, a landscape architect and I had a discussion over a cup of tea and I was able to explain the MDes research project and presenting an initial powerpoint presentation of my findings and research to date.

The aim of the meeting for me, was to try to establish any opportunities to link in with any of the potential development schemes that the Physical Environment and Regeneration Team were workingh on currently or in the near future.

I feel my presentation was well received by Gill, as it enabled us to discuss a wider variety of topics related to my own project. This council team have a reasonably wide remit and are linked to other teams such as the Transport team etc.  There  is potential to tap into the council archives with regard to photographic sources and to make new links to other contacts within the council.

Town Centre Regeneration Initiative;  Economic Develoment; Town Centre Management; Kirkcaldy Civic Spaces Project, etc.

The emphasis of my research at the moment was on wayfinding as a way to develop an enhancement of the towns access routes by creating information flow signage and clearer routes of traffic flow. This would ultimately benefit all users of the wayfinding to improve navigation and information for  improved traffic flow and to highlight features and palces to visit in the town.

Gill’s comments were that signage / wayfinding was perhaps too obvious a selection and commented that I should perhaps look an a more urbanist approach by developing ideas for walking and cycle routes  linked with the huge potential to develop innovative design ideas for the main promenade along the riverfront.

Flooding : interestingly, on Tuesday 30 March,  Kirkcaldy was subject to the worst flooding on the promenade for 30 years, due to a combination of heavy rain and extreme high winds, which compounded to create 3o foot high waves.  Flooding of buildings and roads along the promenade of the ‘Lang Toun’,  highlighted a real problem to be assessed and solved for a future strategy.  I will post photos later from the local press for reference.

TASKS: I now need to rethink my strategy for my project and perhaps re-assess the research question. I have already started looking at case studies from other coastal towns, such as Rhyl in Wales and Clacton-on Sea , to compare how a development process for Kirkcaldy can be developed.

Hopefully, Gill Baldwin will be able to  provide  contacts with other relevant people and departments within Fife Council, to enable me to make further stakeholder links.

There  is also the possibility of participating in future development workshops for a variety of different projects.

Many thanks to Gill for her time and expertise in discussing my proposed design research project.