Studio Brief 1 - Wayfinding - Finalising Colour

Modifying designs and adding colour

Filling sections of the pictograms with a marker meant I could create balance in tone for a black and white version of the system. These areas could also be replaced with colour later on to create similar contrast.  When digitalised the black areas merged with the black outlines creating a mixture of area and outline. This worked in some cases but in others it looked clumsy meaning there wasn’t consistency within the designs.

For my system, I wanted to make reference to heraldry because of the owl’s link to the Leeds Coat of Arms. In previous experimentation, I used the heraldratic colour scheme however I found that these colours sometimes didn’t work very well together in such simple designs. Instead I have decided to use a swatch from the original Coat of Arms. Using the yellow, blue and black meant that there would be consistency across the symbols as well as making the reference to the past.

The black against the blue did not create enough distinction between the two. The blue was used as a way of signifying the sky in some designs and the cream colour represents the land which suggests a frontal perspective.

When using white within the design as a block colour it is not as distinct and becomes lost against the cream, so these would need to be outlined to define them more.

By outlining the white areas this has emphasised the shapes more however the lines need thickening to create more distinction.

When using a black outline with the black and blue areas the pictograms became very dark. These could instead be outlined in white to create contrast.

By outlining the designs in black and including white areas, this created more balance in colour and elements.