Rough Sketches

Below are my rough coloured sketches for the information sign and the directional sign:

Above is my directional sign for this brief, I will use the font Bliss 2 Regular as this is the font that the university use for all of their graphics, I discovered this when I searched for information about the universities identity (the link is below).  I thought that by using the university font then it would not only be recognised to the public as being a university building/campus but it would also continue with the rest of the universities identity. On the simplified map that I am going to create, there will be colours symbolising the different sections of the campus and then those sections will represent the colours on the directional sign, this would mean that the user would be able to use the colours instead of the actual wording.

http://www.worcester.ac.uk/documents/Identity_Guidelines.pdf

This is the contents of the rough information sign, it will include a mapped out version of the lake and then pin points (almost like notice board pins) and then there will be an image of the animal/fish with the name and a small bit of information such as a fact about them. The heading of "Lakeside Wildlife" would be in the font of Clarendon Roman which is the font that the university use as a heading font. This again, like I mentioned above would enhance the universities identity. My inspiration for this design was taken from the circular walk that was one of the session tasks which can be found later on in my blog. Research of other informational sign boards also allowed me to come to this rough conclusion. The animal titles and the information about them will be in the font Bliss 2 Regular.

The above are some examples of my idea on different types of informational boards to work out which one would look better.

Contemporary Information Signs

Below are information signs that are deemed as being contemporary rather than traditional. They feature more thought going into the background and the actual build of the sign. Although most of the below do feature wood, they are designed in a way which makes them slightly more contemporary than the signs in my previous post. Many include a background, a headline stating what the information board is about (this gives the viewer an oppurtunity to stop and read it or to walk away depending on the topic of the board), a main image (usually in the centre) and images and text around the outside of the board.

Traditional Information Signs

The below images are examples of traditional informational signs. They all have some element of wood in them as that is what gives the sign a traditional element to it, the information on the board usually isn't too bright and normally features a white background with text and images laid on the top. These information boards main aim is to portray information to the person reading it which means that it does need to be information heavy to some extent but the key is to not go too overboard with the text and to focus on the images portraying a similar amount of information.

Signage for Children & Adults- Little Owl Farm Park

I recently visited the Little Owl Farm Park and I took photographs of the signage present at the park as I thought it would be useful to analyse as it is targeted at both adults and children. As this park wasn't particularly big, there was no map based by the reception, the only map present was on the back of the leaflet that was given, the directional signs were good enough to not need a map or multiple maps dotted around the park

I thought this sign would be useful to use at some
point as there is a lake which is deep water and
this issue would need a warning sign.

They have used the well known icons in most
cases on this sign and then arrows to show the
directional element of the sign.

Cartoon animals are put in place as mascots and decoration
for the children as the adults probably wouldn't be interested
in this element of the signage, they would be more interested
in knowing where things are and how to get there.

Traditional Directional Signs

The below are a few examples of what are deemed as being traditional directional signage. They all feature arrows, whether they are actual arrow icons or whether the arrow is worked into the sign. A good factor about the traditional arrowed sign post is that it is standard as a sign and it is known by most in various different countries. I am going to take some elements of the traditional side and mix them with my contemporary style ideas. All of the below signs feature white text on a coloured background which is usually a dark green. By having the dark green colour, it fits in more to the surroundings meaning that it isn't an eye sore to the general public.

These types of signposts are usually high up which means that it wouldn't be suitable for disabled/wheelchair users or children as they would have to constantly look up to see the directions. I think that although these directional signs are extremely useful, they don't necessarily apply to the type of signage that I am trying to create so in conclusion, I am going to take certain elements from this traditional style such as the white writing on the green sign posts to avoid it being an eyesore. This way, I could incorporate some of the universities fonts and elements but use a green/brown wooded background

Contemporary Directional Signs

Below are some picture examples of directional signs which are deemed as being of a contemporary style. Pretty much all of the examples that I found have arrows which have been stylised, be it thin arrows or arrows with curved edges or colour schemes. I have discovered that most (not all) of the signs host the logo/company name at the bottom of the pile of directions. I can only assume that this is the case because people would be more interested in the directional element than the big logo. I'm not sure how this would work for the Lakeside task because it needs to be suitable for younger kids and disabled people, if it was high then the important element which is the directional signs wouldn't be easily seen. If a sign like the above was on the ground then I think having the logo and "Lakeside Campus" text at the bottom would be beneficial as there wouldn't be too much emphasis on it but it would still be known.

Colour schemes are another important element to think about as the new Lakeside Campus doesn't have a scheme. It would be presumed that this campus would just follow on the same scheme as the rest of the university campus' which an example can be seen below. The client seemed to want something more woodland-y with a strong hold on nature. A solution, in my opinion, to this would be incorporating both into one or taking aspects of both and putting them together.

All of the examples below feature metals or plastics, no wood is used which would be the element from the more traditional and woodland theme.