Frost*collective and BrandCulture collaborated on the major overhaul and redesign of the wayfinding and signage systems for the city campus of The University of Technology, Sydney.
With an increased student intake and a number of major urban developments in the Ultimo precinct, UTS needed to create a visible presence in the urban landscape. To define a clear direction they invested in a city campus masterplan, focusing on a comprehensive wayfinding strategy and unified signage system.
To satisfy the users’ needs, Urbanite were engaged to develop a strategic wayfinding document and signage system. After the development Urbanite partnered with BrandCulture to identify strategic opportunities to improve the user experience while delivering the prototyping, production and installation phases.
To implement the masterplan, BrandCulture developed a proprietary online signage planning and management system called PAM (Physical Asset Manager), which allowed all project stakeholders to collaborate live on problems and solutions. By linking a live wayfinding platform to PAM it ensured that a comprehensive database of destinations is always current. BrandCulture created a mobile web app to allow users to search for destinations whenever and wherever they were with their personal devices. These seamless access to up-to-the-second information has greatly increased the student experience.
The challenge in this project was the restructure of information across all of UTS’s buildings, the implementation of a strict information hierarchy and the future proofing of the new information system. To solve this problem, BrandCulture recommend an interchangeable magnetic parts and not using a proprietary systems. It allowed for a modular design that complements the essential rigid information hierarchy.
With sustainability high on the agenda, the use of an online planning and approvals system reduced big amount of paper work and gave users the ability to collaborate remotely and limit the numbers of meetings and travel required. Moreover, it allows instant identification of all instances of a message when destinations move, directly addressing the prevalence of legacy messages across campus.
The result is a cutting edge wayfinding system with readily available technologies, greatly improving the student experience. This project is a gold winner (announced this week) in the 2015 Sydney Design Awards and a triumph for collaborative design projects, congratulations teams!
BrandCulture Team
Managing and Creative Director: Stephen Minning
Design Manager: Nick Bannikoff
Senior Designer: Jeremy Tombs
Technology Designer: Steven Plummer
Technology Consultant: Meld Strategies
Frost*collective & Urbanite Team
Executive Creative Director: Vince Frost
Head of Environments: Carlo Giannasca
Design Director: Bridget Atkinson
Senior Designer: Charley Bromley
Designer: Katie Bevin
