Wayfinding [Project] for the Worcester Ecotarium

This is the last project that wouldn't cooperate while I was uploading yesterday. For Advanced Graphics we had to do wayfinding/environmental design...which is basically signage (directional signs, exhibit signs, etc) for a museum/zoo of our choice. I chose the Ecotarium since I hadn't been there in a long time.

The first part was to create a set of icons that could be used for whatever purpose (my thinking was on everything, but I'm not sure if Krasner had a specific purpose, since he's not too clear with his instructions). I wanted to make something that was simple, and easy for young children to recognize.

Next up are the banners. I added the people and light poles to give them a sense of size, though I still have no idea if I made them too huge.

The Welcome sign would be a huge stone bear that you could walk through. And then 'welcome' and his face would be like carved into the stone.

These are the directional signs.

These are signs that tell what time a presentation is taking place and where.

And then this would be a sign system located near an exhibit that would tell you about the animal that was on display.

Overall I think it came out pretty cohesive (which was my plan), though I won't say it's my best work. It's definitely not portfolio ready, but I really have no idea what to do to make it look stronger. To me it feels really amateur (which of course, being a college student, the majority of my work is), but I didn't really have a game plan going into this, so my ideas were limited.

Again, I suppose if I had an actual client to work with, someone who could reject, add to, or accept my ideas, then it probably would have turned out a lot different.

I can't wait to start my internship and get some working experience. I've got senioritis and there's only one project left for each class, but I've basically checked out for the semester. Most of what I've produced this year really isn't portfolio worthy, and maybe someday I'll go back to my student work, but probably not. I'm hoping to gain some portfolio pieces from my internship (which by the way is at TMG Exhibits, in Westborough. I start in January and I couldn't be more excited!!! My boss, Peter Moran, is the one on the left of the homepage in the video. He's pretty awesome.)