Prototype Changes

While waiting for the clients to look over my work, I began to experiment with my design, changing the material of the signs from a brushed steel effect to a slate grey. I did this for several reasons, one just being to give the clients the opportunity to choose the direction I should take in terms of my work, but also for visibility issues. On a sunny day the metal would give off quite a glare, which could prove dangerous when used on the road, while the slate would not be such a hazard.

This is a comparison which I showed the clients, and the white-on-slate design was far more popular as it provides greater clarity as well as less chance of causing an accident. This was the reaction I was hoping for as I was able to proceed with the redesign in that slate style.

It also gave me different ideas in terms of illuminating the sign. Before, I was to have spotlights on the floor in front of the sign providing a soft light but with the change in colour scheme I thought about incorporating the lighting into the structure. One product that uses a similar lighting style is the Apple Macbook, the Apple logo lighting up when the laptop is on, a technique that could be transferred to my signage designs.

 This is the outcome of the redesign of all of the signage elements, and I believe the white on dark grey provides greater clarity and visibility from distance. All of the signs use a tall freestanding structure similar to the Legible London examples (except the interpretation boards) so that they are easily recognisable as part of a set, and the branding adds to this too.


The typography of the signs is also uniform, using Helvetica Light which is kerned to make the text tighter, with different sizes to show the hierarchy of information. Lower case is used to remain in keeping with the logo design, and it provides an equal text layout.


All the icons used on the signs are as simple as possible, with the arrows just being triangles pointing in the certain directions and a basic walking man icon. This is to avoid the confusions that could arise from more pictorial elements.


The traffic signs are slightly different from the pedestrian signs and fingerposts, as I felt it was important for them to be visible from a greater distance and portray the necessary information in a shorter amount of time. It also has to introduce people to the Route to the Hills project and guide people into Malvern so I felt it was important that the brand identity was very strong which is why I chose to use the icon from the logo as the main part of the sign.