Studio Brief 01 - Experimenting with colour and composition

With the colour choices in mind, I applied the colours to a range of entrance signage based on the primary research I conducted to see how successful each combination is.

The decision to retain the same text format within the signage is to see how well the colours work in combination initially. To help emphasise the theme of vibrancy and to offer visual balance, there were additions of secondary colours that complimented the background's of each sign. The colours were chosen with high contrast with one another to maintain clear legibility. 

The use of the secondary colour is beneficial in creating a hierarchy within the signage. This was a key issue with the existing signage in Tropical World. The use of differentiating colour also help in structuring the information presented. For example in light green, because the black text is of a darker shade to white, the white stands out more on the sign and therefore puts emphasis onto the important information of the opening hours. The contrasting colours also put emphasis onto the logo, reminding visitors of where they are and subliminally imprinting the image into their mind. The decision to centralise the logo's two words is to help direct the readers eye onto the information and to keep in format as well.

 

Despite the relative success of the colour choices in conveying vibrancy and creating a more substantial information hierarchy, the overall design of the signage still looks flat. Nothing in the design format is that engaging for the reader, the only aspect that garners their attention are the colours. To help combat this issue, I thought of incorporating some of the plants into the signage that are seen throughout the zoo. 

In keeping with the zoo’s name, I decided to design the signs around the theme of tropical and vibrancy. The colours schemes are meant to produce high contrast engaging the reader while keeping legibility. The overlay of the tropical plants are there to excite the existing plain, flat designs while giving the reader an idea of the range of flora within the zoo. The range of flora used give the zoo ample variety in order to create a variety of signs that show off each one without repetition. 

With the application of the flora onto the signs, there is a danger to visually over complicate the designs, lowering the legibility. The placement of the flora needs to be unobtrusive to the information on the signage as well as making the sign more visually interesting. The reason why the lighter colour is chosen for the sign board is because of legibility issues. 

Due to the size and shape of the placed flora, much of the sign becomes covered in its overlay. Combine this with the white font, the legibility drops and will become an issue if the sign was to be seen on a sunny day or from a distance. Therefore a lighter coloured background is more appropriate. 

These 2 colour combinations take inspiration National Rail's Wayfinding Guildlines on how signage should adapt within different sections of an environment. Therefore these colour combinations represent how the signage could be adapted towards each section of the zoo. Since there is an aquatic area and a desert esque area, the colour combinations presented are related to those. Blue being associated with water and the pastel brown with dark green representing the sandy desert ground and cacti. These exact signs however won't be placed in and around these areas. This is an experiment to see how well the colour combinations look like with body copy.