Studio Brief 1 - Wayfinding - Symbol Generation

Symbol generation for each of the locations on the Owl Trail

Leeds Tapestry

By cross hatching lines this represents overlapping stitches on material. By using a gridded pattern this reflects the material used to stitch onto. Playing with the idea of different stitches such as cross stitch and running stitch I have simplified these into a dashed pattern and x’s. A tapestry historically hangs from the ceiling and was displayed on a rail which is reflected in the bottom right symbol.By putting a square or rectangle around my ‘stitches’ this reflected the boundary of the material. By creating an arrow on an extended line I have tried to represent the joining of two materials. The use of an arrow that is above 45 degrees suggests slow and difficult movement (Frutiger) which suggests the difficulty and time consuming nature of creating the tapestry.

Millennium Square

By positioning a dot off centre it creates a sense of movement (Hoffman) which in this case reflects how people travel through the space. By creating a broken dashed square it both reflects the shape of the space literally as well as showing the access points used to move from one side to the other of the square. When  a line extends past the field of vision it becomes incomprehensible in terms of scale (Hoffman). By placing a line within a square this acts as a boundary and therefore limiting the scale of the space. A thick line is seen as a plain (Hoffman), which could be used to represent the flat area that Millennium Square is. Millennium Square is very open and spacious, to reflect this I experimented with various ‘boxes’ and openings. A ‘box’ with one opening suggests there is access but no exit. If there are multiple openings in the ‘box’ then this would better reflect the various access points to Millennium Square. There is a natural flow of movement between points (Hoffman) this would reflect the movement within the Square. By using a looping line within a square I have tried to portray a sense of recurrent movement within the space, with the square acting as a boundary (Frutiger). The bottom right symbols take inspiration from the monuments on which the owls sit on. The shape has been simplified further to form just a block shape.

St Anne’s Church

A triangle has been used to reflect the shape of the church. The triangle also points upwards which suggests movement in this direction . The use of a circle represents external recurrence (Frutiger) which in this case is used to signify heaven / God. By going to church you are able to connect to God. In these symbols I have tried to suggest a movement from Church on Earth to  God . A triangle in this way is also stable and permanent reflecting how a Church is long lasting. By connecting shapes this creates a link between the ‘church’ and heaven like a path to God. There is also a difference in scale with the shapes representing heaven / God being larger than anything on Earth in this case the triangle representing the Church. In some of the symbols the arrow uses the cross as both a religious pointer whilst creating a sense of direction suggesting the Church moves to God.

Leeds Museum

After visiting the museum I was struck by the darkness of the stone, I also found out that it was previously used as a training facility for mechanics so I associated words such as industry, Gritty, Stone and Wear with the place. To reflect the wear I associated this with texture, so by cross hatching lines I created a gritty pattern that reflected the buildings walls. The gridded system I feel is too regulated and not textured enough to represent what I want to. A transition from circles to block colour is used to reflect the change in use of the building over time. The dots create a sense of transition through the use of varying sizes and creates light and shade.

Civic Hall

The bottom middle symbol reflects the positioning of the owl in relation to the surrounding building. The owl was situated in an enclosed courtyard so I have used a ‘square’ to create a sense of boundary with the lines pushing in on the person/ dot in the middle.  The owl was found above the door to the building so I simplified this idea by representing the door as a rectangle and using a circle to reflect the positioning.

Town Hall

The top right symbol uses a triangle as arrow which points upwards. The line reflects the sky and acts as a boundary which the triangle is pushing up against. This reflects the buildings height, whilst the triangular shape also makes reference to the shape of the central tower. This sense of boundary and height is also explored using a column as a representation of the building.  The use of a square around another element reflects the town boundary with the town hall at the centre of the city.

Library

Making reference to an open book I have simplified pages to a set of lines creating a more abstract symbol .

Municipal Railings

When visiting the railings they were particularly hard to find, partly because of building work and also because of their size making the less obvious to see. When creating my symbols I focused primarily on the location of the owls which were by the side of the road in the entrance to the library.  In my symbols I have used lines to signify the road next to the railings and the rectangular shape represents t the recess where the owls were found. Dots and squares have been used to show the exact locations of the owls. Using a diagonal line creates a barrier across the space which creates a sense of the enclosed over hang as well as sense of the hidden nature of the owls. 

Leeds City Council

The building was the most dominant thing in the area so playing on this idea I played with contrasting scales between shapes. By placing elements inside a square this creates an imposing feeling like one shape has engulfed the other.  A triangle was used to represent the central section of the building with rectangles on either side to represent the columns on either side. A triangle creates a sense of stability and permanence because of its symmetry, it also signifies to people to ‘wait’ (Frutiger) which reflects how people stop to look at the building.

School Board

To reflect knowledge I used rectangles as a visualisation of a shelf of books. I also explored the concept of learning new things and growing understanding. To reflect this Idea increasing circles were placed centrally to each other showing growth over time, like a tree trunk. By using a small and large circle and joining these I aimed to create a transition from one to the next, which reflects growing and learning.

War Memorial

A square creates a sense of boundary and provides protection which reflects what the soldiers did in the war. The use of the arrow upwards creates confusion (Frutiger) which creates a sense of unease but may also make people reflect. A triangle is used as an expression of ‘wait’ can this also apply for a angle. The use of an ‘arrow’ over 45 degrees is slow, in this case upwards creating a peaceful feeling. The use of a circle signifies eternal recurrence (Frutiger) which could represent how people always take time to remember the soldiers and what they did. This also suggests a timelessness.

Height Symbols

Birds in various states of movement, form stationary and standing, taking off to flight. Lines have been used to reflect the ears or feet of the birds. These symbols further develop previous ways of signifying the height at which the birds are.