Final Outcome and Evaluation

The purpose of this wayfinding system is to communicate and guide graffiti artists or members of the public who want to see graffiti where the legal graffiti walls are. Being a wayfinding system that doesn’t appeal to a majority of the citizens of Leeds, the design was created Subjectively. This would allow the design to have two functions, one to act as a wayfinding system, and two, to be a work of art itself, to those who won’t use the system. With the combination of objective design and the ways in which the shapes involve an apex and base to show a sense of direction, the system can be discovered from all angles of approach, and doesn’t’ involve the public having to start and the centre point of all three graffiti walls. By incorporating layers (inspired from both DAIN and DeltaInc) and scanning the design in the design pattern, it creates a form of depth due to the shadows. The idea to use mirrors would prove successful adding a community feel.

Above are several examples of how the wayfinding system will look on different buildings. Overlapping corners and covering bare walls, the design is composed in a variety of different ways, making each wall unique.  The orange represents where the mirror acetate will be placed instead of the white negative space. The final wayfinding system will be printed and placed on walls using wheat paste and the mirrors will be places on top with strong adhesive glue. The mirror itself won’t be glass but mirror acrylic, which is a safer and longer lasting material to use compared to a glass mirror, which could become easily destroyed. The black lines will be applied with black paint; once again the final outcome itself will be made up of many layers, referencing DeltaInc work.  

The wayfinding system, realistically like graffiti will not last forever, through weathering and its permeable material the collage design will gradually wear away like the nature of graffiti, however the mirror acetate and black paint will remain, still being able to form the wayfinding system and maintain the outline of the Leeds map through the mirror acetate, still creating the community feeling, and still looking like street art itself. 

Evaluation

Throughout the Brief the conflict between the use of subjective and objective design was brought to mind many times, when developing my work. Originally I believed my overall design was rather subjective, however when developing the shape of my supergraphics and applying Fuitigers principles the supergraphics shares Objective values as well, following and applying rules to the design - this further deepens my opinion on how all design is subjective in their own quantities. 

Through research and development, my new found knowledge of artists, and design principles allowed me to confidently create my final outcomes with strong reasonings behind them. Re-assured by peer critiques, the wayfinding outcome was molded through opinion, design principles and research, forming a confident response to the Design Brief. If I were to be given more time on this brief, I would look at the various ways this piece could be applied to walls in detail, and find a way in which the design could with stand weathering and become preserved for longer. 

Also another thing that I should have looked at and taken into consideration is the public's opinion of the wayfinding system, as the peers in my crit all share relatively the same age, feeback could have been more varied by asking member of the public of different ages about the idea and the concept.