Wayfinding Options Follow Up
The City of Tacoma hosted a meeting last week to try and unify the various wayfinding efforts in town. In that meeting, the fine folks at Rusty George presented several potential ideas for guiding people around our town.
Here are some of the ideas:
(click on the photos for larger images)
What do you like or dislike in the proposals?
We definitely need something. All it takes is money …
Previously on Exit133
Filed under: A-Future-Tacoma
20 comments
N NSHDAskNot July 22, 2008
I think they look pretty sweet as is. I would give them the green light for production.
N NSHDscott July 22, 2008
Looks nice! I like the bottom one with the cutout top best, and could see that trend continuing with cutouts of the MoG cone, the Murray Morgan, etc. I like the top one with the mast-look second-best. Very professional yet friendly, and quite easy to read.
I’d suggest they include distance (in number of blocks) by each one. And they better fix “Wright’s Park” before they build them!
Hey commenter #1, are you my long-lost twin or what?
C Chris July 22, 2008
Light rail? Bus routes?
Transit systems are of great concern to pedestrians who don’t bring their cars along.
I intacoma July 22, 2008
These are solid! I do like the idea of having distance
D Dan July 23, 2008
Isn’t it supposed to be “Wright Park”? Not “Wright’s”!
E Erik B. July 23, 2008
They look pretty good. Color coded for areas.
They also look to have a special bonus feature of telling people where they are as indicated boldly at the top of the sign rather than simply a dot on the map.
Also, it helps finally brands each area of downtown more Tacoma can build more local identity.
R RR Anderson July 23, 2008
the silhouette cut out of the guy in the wheelchair might be unnecessary, though the back tire circle might make a good bike hitch.
D David Boe July 23, 2008
Why do we need wayfinding signs when we don’t yet know where we are going? Maybe these should wait until the City has completed the Master Plan for downtown BEFORE the order is placed? It would be a shame to direct innocents down the wrong path – per current standard…
C crenshaw sepulveda July 23, 2008
Now I know how to get to Sesame Street.
K kc July 23, 2008
I agree with David Boe to some extent. So then the signs need to be flexible, easy to adjust!
E Erik B. July 23, 2008
Why do we need wayfinding signs when we don’t yet know where we are going?
I am afraid that’s asking too much of a sign or a city. Each of us are going to have to decide on our own where we wish to go.
The best the signs can do is help us determine where we are and how we can get there.
M Marty July 23, 2008
Great Feedback!!!
To answer a few comments:
The sign plates will be interchangeable. So as primary or secondary destinations change so can the sign posts.
The pedestrian map will be easily updated and could include rail and bus routes.
Another idea was to embed a brass compass in the concrete to orient visitors to North.
Personally I like the “Mast Style” It draws upon our rich maritime history and could be easily used anywhere in the City.
B broadweezy July 23, 2008
Looks pretty snazzy. My only suggestions would be to make the I-5 sign larger (or at least more visible for drivers).
Also it might help the pedestrian to organize the destinations by direction (i.e. all Northward destinations first, followed by all Southward destinations, followed by all Eastward destinations and so on) – this would make it faster or easier for the pedestrian to find thier destination and direction instead of scanning getting lost in arrows pointing in various directions.
Also the sign kiosks would be a perfect place for transit/bus schedules and taxi phone numbers.
J J. Cote July 23, 2008
I understand the need for signage for out- of -towners, etc.
I question the lack of priorities.
Our streets are a fricking mess and they use a large % of the gas tax funds to pave alleys. We can’t hire enough police officers to enforce laws such as fireworks, red lights, speeding and handicapped parking violators.
Sure, they all look real pretty. But, what sense does it make to direct people onto streets that they can’t drive on for the potholes? Why direct people tp neighborhoods that have no sidewalks to walk on? Or into neighborhoods that are not safe for lack of police coverage?
Priorities. It’s about priorities and this is pretty damned low on the list.
M Mofo from the Hood July 23, 2008
I don’t mean to state the obvious but words have been superceded by images.
In order for the signage to communicate to the broadest possible audience, each panel should display the destination as a silhouette, a simple line drawing, or a photograph.
Each sign post should offer an audio-video device that guides a patron in any world-language and maybe a few alternate languages like Koine Greek, Latin, and Elizabethan English. Additionally, a video assist of the destination would serve to clarify any contemporary language ambiguities including word inversions and acronyms.
Each sign post should offer telephone service. Another helpful feature to add: a drinking fountain.
J Jbal July 23, 2008
These are a vast improvement over the proposal we saw a few weeks ago. The references to ship masts and other industrial iconography is much more appropriate for Tacoma.
There have been some good suggestions already, with the transit maps and compasses. My only other thought is that the signs are a wee bit busy. Do we really need those banners off to the right? I never think those things capture anything meaningful or interesting about a city.
N NSHDscott July 23, 2008
At first look I didn’t notice those banners that Jbal @ 16 mentioned. I could do without those too, especially if they are anything like the current banners that scream Buy! Sell! with ’80s-style graphics, or the other horrible district banners around downtown!
J Jake July 23, 2008
My concern is the neighborhood designations for each sign.
Theater District: Will the north border be 7th Street even though some businesses on 6th and Fawcett say they are the Theater District and there is a banner on a pole that says it.
Stadium District: Will Stadium go by its official boundaries to the south (2nd Street) or will they go ahead and claim down to 4th?
St. Helens Neighborhood/District: Identity is growing and many businesses/residents use the name but I don’t think it is official with the city.
UWT/Museum/Union Station District: What will that be called?
M Mofo from the Hood July 24, 2008
Color coding maps and related signage offers an effective and efficient method of identifying locations.
Given the acceptance of this method of communication by marshalling abstract symbols and fields of color, I propose to further extend this method of designation from the abstract to the concrete.
For every location that is designated on a map or sign with a representative color, I propose that each correlative building or section of real estate follow form by equivalent color coding.
M Mofo from the Hood July 25, 2008
The necessity of wayfinding signs in Tacoma is a matter that requires much sober analysis.
We all know from stories passed down from generation to generation that lost travellers are people that are often tired, hungry and thirsty.
I’ve already proposed a sign specific drinking fountain, and the necessity of that doesn’t require any more explanation at this point.
So beyond that, the issue of hunger is one that can also be remedied quite easily. Again, much like the previous devices that I’ve suggested @15, the device that I propose to address hungry travellers is a simple device. What I have in mind is a food canister unit fastened to the sign post. Imagine the surprise and gratitude of a hungry and lost traveller who approaches the sign and is met by a canister of free Trail Mix that dispenses into a perpetual self-filling tray.
Lastly, the issue of tired travellers is again easily remedied. It doesn’t require much of an imaginative leap to consider ultilizing Tollefson Plaza as a travellers rest stop. In this instance alone the usefullness of wayfinding signs may produce verifiable results almost immediately.