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DESIGN RESEARCH REPORT
Designing maps to improve orientation for persons with low cognitive mapping skills
Final report for graduate design course in Design Research Methods. My design goal was to make the results of an academic research project visually interesting.The project involved research into how effective map design and orientation could improve navigation through urban spaces for persons who self-identify as having a poor sense of direction and low cognitive mapping skills.
All type is set in the Fedra family, by Slovak type designer Peter Bil'ak. Headings, sub-headings, pullquotes, sidenotes, and captions set in Fedra Sans. Body copy set in Fedra Serif A. -
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Front cover of report. The title begins on the back cover and wraps around the saddle-stitched spine. -
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Back cover of report, with another view of the wraparound title. -
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Report abstract. Heading set in Fedra Sans, with all body copy set in Fedra Serif A. -
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Table of Contents. Headings and table information set in Fedra Sans. -
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Introduction.
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Opening spread of Literature Review. The layout uses an asymmetrical two-column grid, with an additional outside column for sidenotes. -
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Detail of Literature Review opening spread. -
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Second spread from the Literature Review. The diagram explains the anchor point theory of navigation. -
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Third spread from the Literature Review, featuring an image with an overlaid pullquote.
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Detail of yet another spread from the Literature Review. Kevin Lynch’s elements of imageability are explained using maps of downtown Toronto.
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Section break, with quotation from Kevin Lynch’s 1960 work The Image of the City — still the most important book ever written on the subject of wayfinding.
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Opening spread of Project Methodology section. To the right is a sample questionnaire using a Likert scale.
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Section break, with a quotation from German graphic designer and typographer Otl Aicher, best known for designing the pictograms for the 1972 Munich Olympics. He also designed the Rotis type family, loved by some designers and hated by others.
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Opening spread of Supporting Information section, containing consent forms, questionnaires, photos, and other supporting documentation. -
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The colophon, on the last page of the report.
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