Initial ideas for way finding

I began the task by completing some initial sketches surrounding the layout of Liberty Park. I began to do this by creating a list of central mapping points, this including: Blocks 1-5, reception, the bike storage area, bin disposal unit and smoking area. I chose these locations as key focus points due to the intended audience, students aged 18-22. As Liberty Park does not currently have its own wayfinding system I had to think outside the box, using my own collected knowledge about the buildings layout.

Initially I found this task very daunting as my sketches appeared very unclear and difficult to navigate, I also found it difficult to visualise the buildings layout without any aid from a previous wayfinding system. This lead me to think about the buildings layout in shape form, to help me do                                                 this I looked at the aerial view of the building. I got the idea to do this from looking at the wayfinding system of the light, although not great in design the basic map structure was easy to navigate quickly, a factor that my intended audience would be in favour of.

After collecting my thoughts surrounding the buildings layout, I began to create sketches focusing upon clarity rather than the scale or exact location of each sector. This strongly aided me within the design process, as the buildings complexity had previously confused me whilst designing.

I began to play with each block's location and size, and although the buildings are connected, I began to feel that in design related terms it was such clearer to separate them into different sections. I felt that by doing this the map's layout became much easier to visualise, although negatives occurred such as whether it conflicted with the actual layout of Liberty Park. I disagreed with this comment as the basic layout of liberty park was still in place. The decision on whether the buildings should be separated won't be finalised until it has been determined whether colour will help the maps navigation.

Particular aspects I struggled with overcoming were when two parts of a building overlapped, a specific example of this is how the entrance appears to be built up of two floors, the courtyard and block one, to simplify this I only involved the ground floor within my design as this is where the consumer will be viewing the map from.

When creating the initial sketches I also discovered the relevance of pictograms, as I found myself jotting them down onto the map in order to guide me whilst designing, Therefore when creating this                  wayfinding system I will definitely involve my own pictograms.