There’s a lot to like about these signs:
1. Consistent use of a highly legible typeface.
2. Attractive visual design.
3. Clear, polite writing.
Nice Zoning Signs from the University of Houston Libraries
Jan 23, ’12
6:00 AM
Walking Paper
A library design consultancy, shop and blog by Aaron Schmidt-
I’m Responsible for This
Hi. My name is Aaron. Thanks for reading my site.
Comments
Aaron,
I usually agree 98% with your design inclinations… and I guess this one is in the 2%.
To me, there’s a weird issue here with the colors chosen. The red/yellow/green reflects a traffic analogy that I think is at best, confusing, and at worst, stereotypes certain kinds of interactions as exciting ones to “move” on and others as restrictive dead ends. Couldn’t they have picked slightly less loaded colors? I don’t think the go-slow-stop analogy holds up here.
You know, this thought crossed my mind. In the end I thought that green = “go/do what you want,” yellow = “warning/caution,” and red = “stop (talking)/restricted.
This seemed reasonable to me, and *maybe* it is even reasonable that the system privileges or encourages the Business Zone if they’ve decided they want to be a place of conversation more than a place of quiet.
In the end, my justifications might be more subtle than the weirdness you point out so they certainly may have been better using less loaded colors.
And also, thanks for disagreeing! :)
I also find the color choices problematic insofar as some of them match up with the colors of the wings on the right, and some of them don’t. So at first glance I presumed the red wings were given over entirely to silent study, but then I realized that there were no green wings, and even now after several looks I’m not sure how the space designations on the left relate to what I presume is the building layout on the right.
Adrienne. I’m 100% with you on that. And like Sherry, I like the writing too.
I thought it was a bit confusing too, but I liked the choice of words and phrases. Our library has noise level designations, but we went with graphics and words. We used in-house drawings of people working together at a smartboard to indicate that conversations were permitted, for example.
Thought I’d offer a pointer to the signs from the Gould Library at Carleton College, which has a typically quirky and witty take on signage.
Nice find, Stephen! I’ll have to post those. Thanks a bunch.
I love this. Lately I’ve been using libraries as coworking spaces and so I’d like to suggest that the digital version of this would be helpful. Take, for example, the main branch of the DC public library. I can see that they have wifi, but don’t know what kind of spaces they have available to me if I’m working with a colleague and we need to talk.
Awesome blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Fantastic.
Trackbacks
One Trackback