Wayfinding

For my way finding investigation I did it on the Auckland Museum. I got dropped off from new market train station and walked upon the first sign guiding me to the Auckland museum which then led me to the Grafton entrance.

Once I was in the Grafton entrance it was a 5 minute walk when I saw the third sign that also showed a map to get to different destinations. It wasn’t difficult getting to the museum because all I had to do was do a 10 min walk on domain drive until you see a big white building on a hill full of greenery.

Once you enter into the museum, the grand foyer would probably be the only place  that has a lot of signs, these signs that are being shown are all about policy, not pushing the front door as you walk in, bag checks and knowing what is allowed in the museum and not allowed and so on.

When you’re walking around the museum it’s not that hard trying to find what you’re looking for because there are only 3 levels in the building and each level has different groups, to get to those different groups, the stairs and the elevator are the only options you can use. 

Each level has its own map, from my point of view I think that signs don’t really play a big part at the museum, the signs are there…but it is the way each level looks and what is around it, you will know exactly what level you’re in. When you’re in the war gallery, you know for sure it’s the war gallery because once you enter the room you feel like you’re actually in it, hearing the sounds of gun shots, the dark and gritty feeling you get throughout the whole level.

Probably the only thing you need is the map on your hands and what group you want to see within all 3 levels. 

The use of graphic and text that is seen all the walls to showcase all groups is successfully portrayed, each group being different from each by having its own source of images containing history.

         

The gallery of nature, a place full of greenery, trees everywhere and hearing the sound of waterfalls and birds, feeling peaceful and relaxed. These are just two examples; each group gives off a different vibe when you enter.

Pacific lifeway’s which was on the ground floor was the only group that showed a different form of signs, instead of the sign being planted on a wall it shined onto the ground with the use of lighting from the ceiling. Each sign was placed in different areas within the level and showcased different cultural groups and their artefacts.

Reflecting on the way finding on the Auckland Museum,  from my point of view I don’t think they  have to change their designs because they have done a good job on utilising the elements for each level, being well structured and successfully conveying the theme that is being showcased.

Font Investigation

Verdana is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand-hinting done by Tom Rickner, then at Monotype. Demand for such a typeface was recognized by Virginia Howlett of Microsoft’s typography group. The name “Verdana” is based on a mix of verdant (something green, as in the Seattle area and the Evergreen state, Washington), and Ana (the name of Howlett’s eldest daughter).

Bearing similarities to humanist sans-serif typefaces such as Frutiger, Verdana was designed to be readable at small sizes on a computer screen. The lack of serifs, large x-height (heights of lower-case letters, as scaled to the letter x being exactly equal to one), wide proportions, loose letter-spacing, large counters (spaces inside partially enclosed portions of letters or symbols such as c, s, or curved quotation marks), and emphasized distinctions between similarly-shaped characters are chosen to increase legibility.

The Verdana fonts exhibit characteristics derived from the pixel rather than the pen, the brush or the chisel. The relationship between straight, curved and diagonal strokes has been carefully developed to ensure that the pixel patterns at small sizes are pleasing, clear and legible.

Despite the quality of the Verdana font family at small sizes it is at higher resolutions that the fonts are best appreciated. Some of the subtleties of the letterforms, such as the slightly modulated stroke weight only become truly apparent at larger sizes. In the words of Tom Rickner, ‘My hope now is that these faces will be enjoyed beyond just the computer screen. Although the screen size bitmaps were the most crucial in the production of these fonts [their] uses should not be limited to on screen typography.

Characteristics of the typeface are:

Lower case

·         there is a square dot over the letter i

·         the lowercase j has a serif on top that protrudes left

·         the a is double-story

Upper case

·         the capital Q's tail is centred under the figure

·         the uppercase J has a serif on the top that protrudes left

·         There are two versions of uppercase R, one with a straight tail and one with a curved tail.

·         the uppercase I has serifs on the top and bottom

·          

Throughout the process of designing my posters, I decided to go with the ideas that were based on the font itself, which I came across during research, as this type is a thin bold styled and sharp cut at the end. I was asked to create a 27^th letter for Verdana; I did this by making it similar to the letter Z but doing it in a way that it is the final letter by having one line on the bottom having that sharp slanted look to show the viewer that it has come to an end. 

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verdana#Verdana_Pro

http://theukwebdesigncompany.com/articles/article.php?article=8

Symbolism

                                            

Under Armour is known as the of the best sports brands in the world and is also one of my favourites as well.  Under armour uses strong symbolism within the letters U and A, we can see the two letters resembling a crisscross which forms the companies initials “UA”. The Under Armour logo also features a custom typeface designed specifically for the company. Their two main colours which are white and black also have meaning to represent their brand, the black to symbolise courage, excellence and prestige while the white colour symbolises charm and elegance.

The F1 logo is one of the most iconic, creative and recognizable sports logo in history, there is strong symbolism within the logo with the use of negative space in the centre to form the “1”. Their main keywords for their logo would be speed and energy which can be seen with the red stripes to symbolise it

Lacoste is widely recognised as one of the best clothing brands in the world, the word Lacoste is taken from its co-founder Rene Lacoste, who is a legendary tennis player who joined with Andre Gillie, the owner of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm at the time to form Lacoste. Lacoste’s famous crocodile logo originates from a true story. The brand’s history goes way back, when Rene Lacoste was nicknamed “Crocodile” by the American press, partly due to his infamous bet with the Captain of the French Davis Cup team. The Captain had promised to give Rene a beautiful crocodile skin suitcase if he wins a very important team match.

The Amazon logo must be one of the most known logos of the web, the arrow in the amazon logo represents the idea that Amazon store sells everything from A to Z which is also one of their main concepts that is also in the name of the business, not only that but the arrow also represents a smile suggesting the expereience one will have when shopping at their online store

This Adidas logo is the latest design that has been introduced, and it represents some of the finest equipment that Adidas sells. This logo is supposed to have a lot of meaning than other Adidas logos. The company wanted to keep the three stripes that they were known for, but also add something to give the logo some power.This new logo is supposed to resemble a mountain, like it is challenging the people who buy Adidas products to push themselves to their limits.

Reference:

http://mokokoma.co.za/a-lesson-from-the-story-behind-the-lacoste-logo/

David Carson

David Carson

David Carson (born September 8, 1954) is considered by many to be one of the world’s most influential graphic designers; He has won several awards in the design field and his work include print media, film, videos, and corporate designs but he is best known for his innovative magazine design and the use of typography; all of these disciplines have given him an experience that can be valuable both in the design community and to the general public.

Whilst being a designer, and an art director, graphic design was not Carson’s primal career path. He graduated with a degree in sociology and started teaching while training to be a professional surfer. He started experimenting with graphic design in the early 1980′s. With surfing being a general part of Carson’s life, it has played a great role on his design career. It is one of the reasons for his motivation and success to direct and design various surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding magazines, websites, ads and products like Quiksilver, Burton, SURFportugal, TwSkateboarding, etc.

His main association was Ray Gun. Ray Gun magazine was an exploration of typography, layout and visual storytelling that would shift the approach of many graphic designers. The magazine was founded in 1992 and led by the work of David Carson, who served as its art director for the first three years of its career, which lasted 7 years and over 70 issues. Ray Guns monumental success over the next three years is most commonly attributed to David’s incredible design strategy that was particularly appealing to the youth.

Carson's style of typographic experimentation influenced the development of the deconstruction style of design and a whole new generation of designers. The experiments by Carson and other Ray Gun designers were chaotic, abstract and distinctive, but sometimes illegible.

David Carson is also known to be the godfather of grunge. This particular art movement became more and more popular during the 1990s.  It appeared to be a very messy and chaotic kind of design. Words, textures, backgrounds that formed posters and ads for various things were designed in a very interesting and different typography style. A style called Grunge that became ubiquitous throughout the years and it became the largest, most widespread movement in recent design history.

He was also known for breaking the rules in the field of design like the grid system. The grid system can be a helpful starting point, but isn't always an effective tool for every layout. The foremost purpose of a grid, in graphic design at least, is to establish a set of guidelines for how elements should be positioned within a layout. David Carson was one of the first designers to successfully disregard the grid system by not placing the images or text in correct form but relying heavily on overlapping text, images and diagonal lines. His innovative style defined the so-called "grunge" movement, and Graphic Design USA magazine named him one of the top five most influential designers of the current era. His ground-breaking indifference to the grid system shows that the breaking of rules can help fuel creative expansion.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carson_(graphic_designer)

http://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Carson