Studio Brief 1- Wayfinding - Initial Ideas

Initial idea development 

A feather could mark the spot in which to stand for the best view point. The sign would stand infront of the viewer and a line would extend from the spot up to the correct height on the see through section of the stand, marking the position of the owl on the building behind.

Feathers could be positioned beneath where the owls are like they have moulted. These would be placed on the floor and wall like they were floating to the ground.

Lines could be used to mark the height of the owl in relation to the building, this would separate the area into sections e.g. on the ground, at eye level or up high.  An arrow or something similar could then rise up to the correct point at which the owl is.

Based on the owl of an eye this abstract symbol could be used as a way of marking the spot where the owl is. It would act as a way of pin pointing the location. The use of a circle means that the viewers focus can radiate towards the centre of the circle (Hoffmann) this could work well in drawing the eye towards the spot.

Based on the flight of owls I could use different symbols to represent the height at which the owl is located. For example a perched owl would suggest the owl is low down, an owl rustling its wings would be at mid height and a flying owl would mean the owl would be up high. Here I have simplified the shape of an owl by using a circle as its body and semi circular lines as representations of the wings.

During my research I found that owls have binocular vision which allows them to judge distances very accurately. This idea I thought would functional well as a visual means of creating directional symbols. An owls binocular vision extends outwards allowing for a large scope of vision, it also means that the two eyes work in unison to create a larger field of sight. In these symbols I have used a circle to represent the owls head and the arc to represent the field of vision. The line in between the two shapes shows the line of sight of the bird.

Owls can turn their heads so they can see behind them, so following on from my initial directional arrows  I begun to explore how I could represent patterns of movement. Straight lines represent moving forward with the circles showing intersections in streets. The curved sections play with the idea of an owl turning its head in the correct direction, representing either a left or right turn.

Things needed to move forward:

-        Find information on each of the buildings e.g. historic and architectural

-        Experiment with feathers, physically and creating symbols

-        Photograph the locations of each of the owls

-        Begin to create coats of arms for each of the places