Environmental Graphics - The Velvet Principle https://thevelvetprinciple.com Wayfinding Consultants Wed, 16 Oct 2024 10:17:56 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 Investing in a New Wayfinding Scheme? Make Sure You Include the Back of House https://thevelvetprinciple.com/wayfinding-design-for-back-of-house/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wayfinding-design-for-back-of-house Tue, 23 Nov 2021 11:31:12 +0000 https://thevelvetprinciple.com/?p=3741 When designing a new wayfinding scheme, there is a tendency to focus on the main public spaces. Here we discuss why it's important not to forget about the back of house requirements and some tips for getting the most out of your investment.

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Investing in a New Wayfinding Scheme? Don't Forget the Back of House

When designing a new wayfinding scheme, there is a tendency to focus on the main public spaces. Here we discuss why it's important not to forget about the back of house requirements and some tips for getting the most out of your investment.
Large scale directional signs painted directly on the wall in the 20 Fenchurch St offices basement

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Early in my career I was an account manager for a well-known global consumer brand in the food and beverage sector, looking after luxury department stores, themed restaurants and several upmarket London hotels. So, I spent much of my time in places frequented by the rich and famous. However, the people I came to see were behind ‘Staff Only’ doors. Unsurprisingly the staff environments tended to be a world away from the glitz and glamour of the front of house. My residing memory is of dark labyrinthine, featureless corridors in basements and out of the way spaces. Fortunately, most of the time I was escorted and didn’t need to find my own way round.

Importance of a Back of House Wayfinding Strategy

Over the years The Velvet Principle has worked on several back of house wayfinding projects. Layouts are often shaped by front of house requirements and architectural constraints, making them difficult spaces to understand. Combined with the functional and uniform nature of the design, these operational areas can be challenging from a wayfinding, orientation and navigation perspective.

Rarely will these spaces be the exclusive domain of staff. Suppliers, prospective employees, servicing contractors will pass through daily, and even clients and customers may venture in on a frequent basis.  When you’ve got loaded trolleys regularly trundling up and down hallways, bumping into walls, leaving tracks on the floor, clearly the interior needs to be functional and easy to clean. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t create a welcoming environment that makes staff feel valued and presents a positive image to visitors. Given the current level of vacancies in the hospitality sector, an attractive working environment is increasingly a must.

Design Considerations

Front of house wayfinding signs in 20 Fenchurch St
Back of house wayfinding in basement of 20 Fenchurch st offices

Comparison between the front of house and back of house wayfinding in 20 Fenchurch St offices. The same font, graphic symbols and colour are used throughout the building, but the information is applied in very different ways to suit the environment.

The good news is it doesn’t have to be expensive. While consistency in terminology and graphic language between front and back of house is a must; the sign forms and materials should be appropriate to the environment. Wayfinding signs, featuring high quality bronze cast letters may be just what is needed to complement the interior finishes front of house. But will look seriously out of place in the more functional service corridors.

Supergraphic male bathroom identity sign painted onto the walls in the back office areas in 20 Fenchurch St
Large super graphic level identification back of house signs in 20 Fenchurch St offices

Super-graphics, painted directly onto the walls are used to identify different facilities and floor levels. As well as providing wayfinding guidance, the graphics add character and help enliven an otherwise functional area, in a cost effective way.

An example of this differentiation can be seen in our work on 20 Fenchurch St, a commercial office building in the City of London. Within the customer areas, the wayfinding information is communicated on stainless steel panels in a design that reflects the identity of the building. Whereas in the basement, which houses the operations staff and building services, large scale graphics are painted directly onto the walls. This ensures that the information is clearly visible and enlivens what would otherwise be a very dull environment, in a very cost-effective way.

The Benefits

When used appropriately the design of information and graphics implemented within buildings, have a valuable role in communicating the character and identity of a place. The staff and how they interact with customers are also a manifestation of the brand. Although staff selection processes and training are the key mechanisms for ensuring alignment, the design of the working environment has an important role in reinforcing the brand.

Few customers may venture into the back of house, but it’s where your staff are likely to spend all or a significant portion of their working day. If it looks like you don’t care enough about them to invest in their working environment, there is a risk it may translate in their interactions with your customers.

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The post Investing in a New Wayfinding Scheme? Make Sure You Include the Back of House appeared first on The Velvet Principle.]]> Biophilic Wayfinding Design https://thevelvetprinciple.com/biophilic-wayfinding-design/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=biophilic-wayfinding-design Tue, 14 Sep 2021 15:17:00 +0000 https://thevelvetprinciple.com/?p=3333 What are the benefits of biophilic design and how can wayfinding and environmental graphic design contribute. In this post we explore the evidence and discuss the different components that make up biophilic design

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Biophilic Wayfinding Design

What are the benefits of biophilic design and how can wayfinding and environmental graphic design contribute. In this post we explore the evidence and discuss the different components that make up biophilic design
Examples of biophilic principles applied to environmental graphics

Examples of indirect experiences of nature in biophilic design.  Representations of nature used to enliven interior environments. 

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We’ve previously discussed the contribution of good wayfinding information design to wellbeing. Whether it’s by encouraging more active forms of travel or reducing stress that comes from being lost.  But what about the design itself?

Health & Well-Being Benefits of Biophilia

There are several academic studies that have found a positive corelation between productivity and happiness with exposure to nature. This has led to a growing interest in biophilic design within the built environment. We were keen to explore if and how we could employ biophilic design principles within the design of wayfinding systems.

Records on recovery after cholecystectomy of patients in a suburban Pennsylvania hospital between 1972 and 1981 were examined to determine whether assignment to a room with a window view of a natural setting might have restorative influences. Twenty-three surgical patients assigned to rooms with windows looking out on a natural scene had shorter postoperative hospital stays, received fewer negative evaluative comments in nurses’ notes, and took fewer potent analgesics than 23 matched patients in similar rooms with windows facing a brick building wall.

View Through a Window may Influence Recovery from Surgery – Roger Ulrich, Chalmers University of Technology

What is Biophilic Design

If you’d asked me a couple of weeks ago what biophilic design was, I’d have probably mumbled something about plants and indoors. Digging deeper I’ve discovered that there is an awful lot more to it. What’s more, a fair number of our previous projects have incorporated elements of biophilic design.

Experiences with nature are at the heart of biophilic design and these fall within three categories, direct, indirect and experience of place.

Direct Experience of Nature –this relates to direct contact with elements of the natural world. Extending beyond plants to animals, water, light, air, temperature, changing seasons and embraces all the senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell and feel. It’s about designing buildings that offer views of nature and landscapes rather than brick walls; incorporating water features and planting; implementing building management systems that allow for variable air flow, temperature and light.

Indirect Experience of Nature – as the name suggests this refers to representations of nature. This can be as obvious as images of nature; design of biomorphic forms; use of natural materials or materials with a patina (or similar) that reflect the passage of time; and patterns. Patterns can include direct representations of nature, but also highly ordered geometric/fractal patterns.

Experience of Place – includes addressing primitive instincts by providing clear views so that we see what and who might be approaching; as well as smaller, more hidden spaces for some quiet reflection. Of particular interest to The Velvet Principle, including wayfinding cues that enable people to move freely without anxiety and imbue a sense or security. At the other end of the spectrum are spaces that provide bit of mystery and encourage exploration.

From the quick canter through the principles of biophilic design, wayfinding consultants have an important role to play in the experience of place. Equally in the design of forms, graphic content and material selection. But to truly adhere to biophilic principles requires an integrated design approach that considers the building as a whole; and is contextually relevant to the environment. So if the project is based in a desert, the design inspiration needs to be drawn from that landscape rather than a tropical rainforest.

Want to Find Out More?

For more detailed and authoritative discussions about biophilic design principles – here’s a couple of papers that you might find interesting.

14 Patterns of Biophilic Design – Terrapin Bright Green

The Practice of Biophilic Design –Stephen R. Kellert & Elizabeth F. Calabrese​

View Through a Window may Influence Recovery from Surgery – Roger Ulrich, Chalmers University of Technology

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