Study task 1: Final Video

Video Screenshots:

Using the cross to try and stop people from using the door that leads out to the terrace.

Using the arrows to direct people to the last entrance barrier.

Using the cross as a stop symbol to make people use only one side of the stair case.

As a group, we were testing the use of mass and how effective there were at gaining the publics attention and if they recognised them as signs and not just a 'piece of art'. We successfully directed students to the end barrier when entering Leeds College of Art and stop people from walking down particular sides of the stair case. The attempt to stop people from using the door to the outside area of the building didn't work very well as people know that the door is available for use and out of habit didn't really notice the mask as being a sign to stop them from using the door.

"Modern humans probably have a more spontaneous relationship with the straight line than with the curve. Daily encounters with level ground and with all kinds of constructions are primarily based on the two principles of horizontal and vertical. We appreciate rounded forms with the senses rather than the mind"

- Fruitiger, 1989

Our choice to use a circle as the shape of our sign came from the research into Fruitiger as he found that as humans we react to circular signs in a more spontaneous way than to those with straight edges. This is important as we are intervening in areas that people wouldn't even think twice about what direction they take as it is a repeated daily task for them.

The context of where we conducted the intervention is the only element that would improve the findings of our idea, or at least provide a comparison. The reactions from the students within the art school may not have been the same as if we had done this in public. This is because the art students may expect things like this to be going on and may have thought it was a fine art project or something similar. In the context of LCA is may have been considered art, but in public it would have become a sign. 

When watching the other videos, a few important events allowed me to reflect upon some other considerations that I may need to have when designing my sign system within Leeds. A bright yellow sign that one group used made children stop, but not adults. This suggested that the bright colour and the fact that it was at their eye sight may have caught their attention and not the adults. When designing my wayfinding system, I will need to decide on the target audience so that I can think about things such as eyesight and colour.  

Another group made a zebra crossing out of paper to try and get people to stop at it before walking over it. The material choice really impacts how people respond to the intervention as many stepped around it because they didn't want to ruin the paper. The road choice is also important because it was a busy section of path that lots of people use daily to get to one particular place, they may not have observed the new sign as they just expect the route to be as it is every other day. The most successful way to get people to recognise a new intervention is to place a physical object that will obstruct someones pathways in the hope that they will look at it and then follow the directions it is trying to give.