Seattle University has a story to tell about it’s sustainability efforts. And it’s a good story, too: four LEED Gold buildings in four years. Mind you this is a private university and does not “have” to achieve such high goals. But sustainability is part of their core belief system, so they do. And they [...]]]>

Seattle University has a story to tell about it’s sustainability efforts. And it’s a good story, too: four LEED Gold buildings in four years. Mind you this is a private university and does not “have” to achieve such high goals. But sustainability is part of their core belief system, so they do. And they want to tell everyone about it.

So G.Scott!Design was charged with designing a method for presenting the story. Using an external-grade (and Green) digital high-pressure laminate display panel was fairly obvious. But what about the base?

After numerous studies, rounds of pricing, and some head scratching, we came up with the base shown here. We think it’s kind of sexy even if we do say so ourself! Sustainability is sex so why shouldn’t the base be too?

(When is the last time you heard anyone say “Wow, what a sexy line?” Anybody? Anybody? We didn’t think so.)

The base is curved, one-inch thick aluminum fabricated and installed by Tube Art Group. The interpretive panel is manufactured by iZone. The concrete foundations are simple concrete formed from Sonotubes forms. The layout of each panel is similar with each buildings sustainability story told in a way that makes sense for the building. The story graphics were provided by Seattle University.

What other sexy signs have you seen? Where? And why do you think so? Tell us.

The renovation and expansion of the Seattle University library was the largest project in the school’s history. As part of our comprehensive environmental communications work for [...]]]>

The renovation and expansion of the Seattle University library was the largest project in the school’s history. As part of our comprehensive environmental communications work for the building, we created this donor wall. Placed in a prominent position in the expanded part of the building, the 18-foot long wall combines old-school materials with new-school concepts, much as the architects blended the 40-year old original building with an up-to-the-minute, modern addition.

The Namesake Panel forms the left part of the wall. Here Fathers Lemieux and McGoldrick, the two Jesuits for whom the library is named, are recognized. The metal panel features silkscreend intepretive copy, metal letters, and commissioned illustrations by Bruce Morser.

The Donor Names panels along the right side of the wall is inspired by the word clouds commonly found on websites: larger gift amount, larger name; smaller amount, smaller name; in a five-tier hierarchy. Large donors are mixed in with small donors for artistic balance; the same as more popular words are mixed in with less popular words in a word cloud with their prominence represented by size. Breaking away from the traditional presentation of donor names separated into individual lists defined by giving amounts the “word cloud” creates the sense of community that was required to make the library a reality: decidedly a new-school approach to donor name listing. The craftsmanship of the names panels themselves, on the other hand, are firmly old-school, fabricated from etched, infilled, and artisan-patinated steel.

The Green River Community College is heavily forested. Paths meandered everywhere. It was dark and confusing…but not anymore!

As part of a campus master plan update by Schrieber Starling and Lane architects, G.Scott!Design created a new master wayfinding and signage plan for the campus. Or, as Scott told the college president and his council, [...]]]>

The Green River Community College is heavily forested. Paths meandered everywhere. It was dark and confusing…but not anymore!

As part of a campus master plan update by Schrieber Starling and Lane architects, G.Scott!Design created a new master wayfinding and signage plan for the campus. Or, as Scott told the college president and his council, it was time to put the “us” back in “campus!”

Our work was intense. We created a new campus map and handout, using color to distinguish the “neighborhoods.” We named key paths with the names of the founding trustee names and placed them on highly visible and colorful waymarkers. We designed a bold, modern, and cost-effective building identification monument sign. And we created I-Spots, our term for a campus map and destination directory.

Now, on the first day of classes, students don’t have to wonder where their classroom building is located: they can rely on the maps to get them going the right direction, the waymarkers to confirm they on the right path, and the building id signs to clearly identify that they’re in the right place.

Last fall, while doing a client project survey, we came across this sign. If ever there were mixed messages… Needless to say that when we showed this photo to the client they were somewhat embarrassed (especially given the state of America’s general physical fitness).

Always consider a sign’s context. After [...]]]>

Last fall, while doing a client project survey, we came across this sign. If ever there were mixed messages… Needless to say that when we showed this photo to the client they were somewhat embarrassed (especially given the state of America’s general physical fitness).

Learning points:

Always consider a sign’s context. After considering color, size, form, message, materials, mounting details, cost, and so forth, if the sign doesn’t work in the environment then that effort was naught. We need to be vigilant that the context stays true and relevant to the sign message. Admittedly, when this sign was installed the soda machines were not there, but then they were and the context changed. And that brings us to our second point…

Do a Sign Walk. Lately we’ve been advising clients to schedule a regular tour of their building and/or campus, paying particular attention to the signage: a Sign Walk. Check-in with the sign program: Has the context changed for any signs? Are the messages still relevant? Do any signs need to be replaced or repaired? What’s working? What’s not? Don’t rely only on casual comments, complaints, or observations when dashing from meeting to meeting: make the process deliberate and regular.

An extension of a Sign Walk would be a “Prop Walk”, “prop” being short for “property”. Take a look at everything, including signage. You’ll be amazed at what you see. (FYI: We like the term “prop walk”. It sounds cool, and a bit cheeky, taking it from from the law enforcement term “perp walk” while watching — one of too many — TV crime dramas.)

Take pictures. Don’t rely on your memory or handwritten notes. Take pictures! You can build a library for future reference. You can save time by sharing a photo via e-mail rather than schlepping out to look at the situation first hand. And you’ll often see things later in a photograph that you missed in the the field.

Homeless men, woman, and children. Battered and abused women and children. Substance abuse treatment and recovery. Clearly not the sexiest subjects but a fact of life dealt with daily by the committed and courageous people of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.

G.Scott!Design is privileged to work with them for their signage and vehicle graphic needs. [...]]]>

Homeless men, woman, and children. Battered and abused women and children. Substance abuse treatment and recovery. Clearly not the sexiest subjects but a fact of life dealt with daily by the committed and courageous people of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission.

G.Scott!Design is privileged to work with them for their signage and vehicle graphic needs. Starting with putting their logo — huge — on the Senior Ministries Bus (“Sin Min Bus”) and continuing with the Youth Reach Out Center passenger van, the Search and Rescue van, a few maintenance trucks, and these refrigerated box trucks.

The design criteria for all of these was clear, consistent branding and identification of the organzation, and getting their message of “Restoring hope to our community” out, boldly, on these rolling billboards. We also wanted people who drive these vans and service the organization to be proud of who they work for and what they do.

Several challenges make their fleet graphics harder. Unlike a corporate fleet which, typically, has a lot of the same kind of vehicles, UGM’s fleet is a bit more rag tag. Different model years, different models, different types, and different funding sources make consistency very difficult.

We approached consistency with color and a small number of layout configurations. But we also responded to each vehicle and the purpose of each vehicle as best we could. Passenger side is different than driver side. Side doors, roll-up doors, license plate left or right, donor recognition: so many different conditions to consider.

Seattle University students study hard. And to keep their mind focused and their energy levels up, the university added a coffee, tea, and food service point as part of the renovation and expansion of the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons.

After a campus-wide café naming suggestion process, “The Byte Café” was selected, responding [...]]]>

Seattle University students study hard. And to keep their mind focused and their energy levels up, the university added a coffee, tea, and food service point as part of the renovation and expansion of the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons.

After a campus-wide café naming suggestion process, “The Byte Café” was selected, responding to the sophisticated use of technology in the new building and the bite/byte homonym.

While the café is in the library, we took great care to craft it’s own pesonality, it’s own image. After numerous studies, all playing with bits and bytes and things digital, a new logo was born inspired by the way type is rendered in pixels on computer screens and printers.

We also had the opportunity to design the first-for-the-university electronic menu boards and the café backwall.

Even though signage plays an important role in wayfinding, the process doesn’t rely exclusively on signs.

The term “wayfinding” was first used in 1960 by architect Kevin Lynch in The Image of the City, where he referred to maps, street numbers, directional signs [...]]]> Signage plays an important part of wayfinding—but there’s more…

By John Muhlhausen

Even though signage plays an important role in wayfinding, the process doesn’t rely exclusively on signs.

The term “wayfinding” was first used in 1960 by architect Kevin Lynch in The Image of the City, where he referred to maps, street numbers, directional signs and other elements as “way-finding” devices. This narrow description may explain the current misunderstanding that wayfinding is essentially the same as “signage.”

The two terms are not synonymous. Signmakers deal with designing, fabricating and installing signs. However, wayfinding used to navigate unfamiliar environments, doesn’t rely exclusively on signs.

This distinction gained acceptance in the early ’70s when researchers discovered that, to understand how people find their way, they first need to understand the underlying process. Architect and environmental psychologist Romedi Passini articulated spatial problem-solving in his books, Wayfinding in Architecture and Wayfinding, People, Signs and Architecture, which he co-authored with wayfinding planner Paul Arthur.

Passini and Arthur described wayfinding as a two-stage process during which people must solve a wide variety of problems in architectural and urban spaces that involve both “decision making” (formulating an action plan) and “decision executing” (implementing the plan).

People who find themselves in unfamiliar environments need to know where they actually are in the complex, the layout of the complex, and the location of their destination in order to formulate their action plans. En route to their chosen destinations, people are helped or hindered prior to their visit, the building’s architecture and signage. The physical environment, including positive effect in how users perceive the wayfinding system—if it seems easy to use or not.

Faulty sign design can cause navigation problems in unfamiliar environments. Some signs lack “conspicuity,” or visibility, because lettering lacks legibility when viewed from a distance. Others contain inaccurate, ambiguous or unfamiliar messages; many are obscured by obstructions or contain reflective surfaces, which hinder comprehension. Consequently, many people don’t read signs—often it’s easier to ask for directions.

Because wayfinding problems aren’t confined to signs alone, they typically can’t be solved by adding more signs. Instead, such problems can be unraveled by designing an environment that identifies logical traffic patterns that enable people to move easily from one spot to another without confusion. Signs cannot be a panacea for poor architecture and illogical space planning.

Wayfinding needs are best resolved during initial planning stages through a collaborative effort by all design professionals—architects, designers and signmakers—to address a project’s total environmental communication. The primary generator of environmental communication, architecture delineates spatial organization, destination zones and information sequencing—factors that spell wayfinding’s success or failure. Effective architectural wayfinding clues, provided by roads, building layouts, corridors and lighting, furnish cognitive maps that allow people to quickly grasp the environment. To furnish architectural clues:

Clearly identify arrival points

• Provide convenient parking and accessible walkways located adjacent to each public entry.
• Locate information desks within each public entry visible from the front door.
• Place elevator lobbies so they can be seen upon entering the building.
• Use consistent lighting, floor coverings and architectural finishes in primary public corridor systems.
• Situate memorable landmarks along corridors and at key decision points.
• Design public waiting areas that are visually open to corridors.
• Distinguish public from non-public corridors by using varied finishes, colors and lighting.
• Harmonize floor numbers between connecting buildings.

Graphic communication

Graphics, such as signs, color coding, maps, banners, brochures and Websites, provide orientation, direction, identification and regulatory information. To achieve effective graphic communication:

• Standardize names for all buildings, services and destinations, and display them consistently on all graphics applications.
• Use easily understood “plain” language.
• Size messages and signs appropriately for viewing distances.
• Select letter forms and color combinations that comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines
• Furnish generous spacing between letters, words and message lines.
• Provide standardized “you are here” maps of the project that include an overall map of the complex and more detailed maps of specific areas.
• Train attendants to mark individualized paths on hand-held maps for lost or disoriented visitors.
• Place maps at all parking exits, building entrances and major interior decision points.
• Orient maps with building layouts, such as denoting on maps that “up is ahead.”
• Establish consistency in sign placements and graphics layouts.
• Code areas by using color and memorable graphics.
• Use established pictographs with words to facilitate comprehension of written messages.
• Establish a floor numbering system that relates to a building’s main entry and indicate on directories which floors are above and below grade.

Audible communication

Audible communication, as interpreted through verbal instructions, PA systems, elevator chimes and water fountains, plays an important role in wayfinding. Recognizing that 50% of the American population is functionally illiterate (according to a recent study published by the U.S. Department of Education) and that another 15% possess other perceptual or cognitive impairments, audible communication fills an important role in any wayfinding solution. To establish effective audible communication:

• Install audible sounds at signaled intersections to indicate safe times to cross the street.
• At all public entries and information desks, provide attendants trained as professional greeters who are thoroughly familiar with the facility.
• Furnish self-help telephones at all information desks.
• Provide patient-transport personnel whose purpose is to guide visitors to their destinations.
• Standardize names for all buildings, services and destinations, and use them consistently in verbal communication.
• Equip elevators with audible chimes.
• Position audible landmarks, such as water fountains, at waiting areas.
• Employ audible signs to help locate information desks, elevators, rest rooms and other key destinations.

Tactile communication

Tactile communication, achieved by raised letters, Braille, knurled door knobs and textured floor coverings assists all visitors, not only the disabled. To incorporate tactual devices into a wayfinding system:

• Establish “shorelines” and “trails” between major destinations and information areas using materials having differing resiliency’s, such as concrete and carpet.
• Install “rumble strips” at the landings of stairs and escalators.
• Furnish knurled door knobs at all non-public doors.
• Provide a raised star symbol on elevator control panels to indicate the ground floor.
• Supply raised letters and Grade 2 Braille at elevators and on signs identifying permanent destinations.
• Install interactive audio-tactile maps at public entrance lobbies.

Consistent clues

Architects, designers and signmakers must work together from the beginning of a project to create a total environmental statement that provides consistent clues. So, the next time a client asks for wayfinding signage. tell them that wayfinding is not signage—it’s more.

We’ve seen these and similar signs before, and hadn’t paid much attention. But we got to thinking, what [...]]]> We’ve seen a couple of signs around town lately that left us scratching our heads. Both instances got us to thinking how very important it is to craft sign messages with care.

Look at these two photos:

We’ve seen these and similar signs before, and hadn’t paid much attention. But we got to thinking, what do these signs tell us? What do they mean? What are we supposed to tell City Light when we do call? We wanted to know, so we called.

When we called the number on the sign at left we got an automated attendant who, in their perfectly recorded computer perkiness, tells us to press 1 to pay our bill, press 2 to report an outage or get outage information, press 3 to for garbage, yard waste, and recycling services (City Light is part of Seattle Public Utilities), press 4 to open or close an account, or press 5 for web services, account balance, and higher than expected bills (which is an odd collection of things in any case).

But no option to report a flashing red light on the side of a building.

We took a guess that it might be related to an outage, so we pressed 2. Of course we got another menu of options but again no option to report a flashing red light on the side of a building.

Frustrated, we pressed whatever the option was to get us to a live person. We got Dustin and asked him what this sign meant and what were were supposed to tell him. Dustin had no clue!

Being the nice City Light employee he seemed to be, Dustin said he’d send an e-mail to one of the field offices. Of course Dustin, and consequently us, never heard from the field office. So we followed up again. This time we got the number of the field office. So we called the field office and, to our delight, got a live person on the line right away.

Oddly enough we didn’t get a direct answer. Apparently the flashing red light on the side of a building could indicate one of several things, something about ventilation or overheating perhaps; this person, who never told us his name, wasn’t sure. He did say that if the light was on (or flashing) and we called the posted number that we should be connected with City Light’s dispatch desk and they would know what to do once we gave them the property address. (Note that the address is not on the sign and might not be known to a neighborhood resident out walking their dog on a Sunday morning when they notice a flashing red light on the side of a building and decide to be a good citizen and call from their mobile phone.)

Just for the fun of it we called the number on the sign at right. This number, apparently, is the Seattle City Light outage hotline. The polite recorded voice said that there are no outages at this time but that we could enter the ten digit phone number of the outage location or stay on the line to speak with a service representative. So maybe this flashing light has to do with power outage; after all it is in the garage entrance to our neighborhood Trader Joe’s.

A Better Solution

At this point we don’t know what these lights indicate with any certainty. And we don’t really care (at least not much). But we do care about the message that is conveyed and the response we got—and how we might improve these signs and process.

First, if we were running City Light we would have a dedicated phone number, a hotline if you will, for these type signs.

Second, we would assign a unique four or five digit number (so it’s easy to remember) to the sign.

Third, we would reword the message to read “If light above is on (or flashing), call City Light at 000-0000 and report code 1234.” The code could be entered on the phone keypad or, better yet, spoken directly to a live operator. (And why not create a standard: red light on or red light flashing?)

This change in sign message and call handling process serves several purposes:

First, it tells the reader (and caller) specifically what to do. If this, do this and that. Simple. Direct. Done. No fussing.

Second, it sets up a discrete process for City Light. If a call arrives on this phone number then it probably means something specific.

Third, the code number eliminates confusion and saves time. No wondering what we’re supposed to tell City Light and no wondering what the address is of the property where the flashing red sign on the sign of the building is located. And we certainly do not need to know the ten digit phone number of the service location. (Remember, out walking the dog.) Everything City Light needs to know is embodied by the code that they look up in their computers.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that sign messages have to be carefully crafted so that they are considerate and respectful of their audience. You need to know who your audience is, what they need to know when they read your sign, and what action you want them to take. Be specific. Be direct. Be clear.

Seattle University made a bold move: combine admissions and alumni departments and put them in a new building with high visibility. The result was the Admissions and Alumni Building (“A&A” for short).

Smartly designed (literally and figuratively) by James Cary Architect, the A&A features a central Mission in Action gallery. Our task was to [...]]]>

Seattle University made a bold move: combine admissions and alumni departments and put them in a new building with high visibility. The result was the Admissions and Alumni Building (“A&A” for short).

Smartly designed (literally and figuratively) by James Cary Architect, the A&A features a central Mission in Action gallery. Our task was to create a display of leaders, heroes if you will, people who live the mission of Seattle University. The display needed to have impact: prospective students needed to be awed, parents needed to be reassured, and alumni needed to feel proud.

The result is six, very large (40″ x 60″, the golden rectangle) photographic portraits. To the side of each portrait is a series of smaller interpretive panels identifying the person, few “action shots”, and a blurb about them and how they are living the mission.

Deceptively simple, visually monumental, and personally inspiring, each portrait is designed to be changed out every three to six months to keep it fresh.