SATOSCOPES part two — first pass at sketching a scenario

Sorry about the blurry photos… Hopefully one can still read my lousy handwriting and decipher something from my even lousier sketches!

I also did a few quick sketches to experiment with format, typeface and type size yesterday. The smaller format of the two, which was roughly 100 × 100 mm and that had type set at 24/26 pt in all caps, seemed to be the most appropriate in terms of functionality (has to be discreet and semi-public) and visual appeal.

Almost every signage project starts with the client, often an architect, often requesting an all-uppercase solution, as if capital letters are somehow studier of safer! The reality is that lowercase letters are essential for text readability because they produce more distinctive word shapes, which is especially important in signage, where environmental factors come into play. (…)

What wayfinding designers ignore at their own peril is considering the breadth of a type family. A single sans serif may be useful for a handsome sign prototype for which you can cherry-pick the copy, but it doesn’t anticipate a later need to introduce secondary text or distinguish one type of sign from another. A signage program (…) requires even more typographic versatility, as do less glamourous signs like elevator indicators, which designers tend to ignore.

(p. 79)

— Jonathan Hoefler, in The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places

This makes me considerably (!) reconsider my use of an all-caps typeface—I didn’t use it for it to be ‘sturdier’, but to be able to set it (near) solid. But I think Mr. Hoefler had a really good point here. I’ll definitely consider it in my choice of typeface(s) and the way I set it. And concerning the unglamourousness, well a lot the content that’s going to be displayed might be useful, but a lot of it might be very mundane, too.

Reference

Gibson, David (2009). The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places. New York, NY, USA: Princeton Architectural Press.