Critical Debates in Design: Task 2 - Wayfinding System

As we are all familiar with the city, museum and metro sign systems over the world, with small differences in choice of font/colour scheme/positioning, they are all the same. Some are better, than others, probably because certain colours/fonts can interact with people's perception better than others. Nevertheless the environmental sign system, that I found interesting and worthy to present is the system for the Eureka Tower Car Park in Melbourne, Australia. It was created by a Hamburg based designer Axel Peemoeller while working for Emery Studio. 






This project won several international design awards. The graphics aimed to help drivers find their way around. 


"The distorted letters on the wall can be read perfectly when standing at the right position while driving." 


I think, that this is interesting and not common way of way finding in such boring environment as a parking place. Although I see some reference to Paula Scher's design of staircase, which has the same idea of stretching 2D object such as letters in a 3D environment. 
Another thing, that is interesting is the designer's site, which is quite interactive and not that influenced by boring flash. You can check it here. And read an interview with him.

Paula Scher's design for staircase

Another type of wayfinding is more known as navigation. It is the ancient wayfinding system of the sea. Many new lands were discovered and for many years this was the only way for orientation while sailing. In the Mediterranean sea ships used several techniques. Some of them included staying in sight of the land, they learned to rely on the wind, and try to analyse it's tendency. The Minoans of Crete learned how to use the position of celestial objects, especially the Ursa Major constellation and the Ursa Minor later on. 
The Arab empire contributed a lot to navigation. Travelling by sea was very important for them, so they invented a device called kamal - it is a celestial navigation device that determines the latitude. The first known use of it is known to be the 9th century. This allowed sailors to start longer journeys and not be tied to the shore. 
Around 1040 and 1117 the magnetic compass was already in use as it started from China, and allowed masters continue their right course despite the weather conditions and limited sky visibility.
An important part of navigation are the Sextant and Marine Chronometer. In order to follow the right longitude the Chronometer has been used to write down the exact moment of  measurement with the Sextant, which is used to measure the elevation of celestial bodies from the horizon.  
In more recent days - 1930s and 1940s a radio direction finder or RDF has been used, as radio waves are an easy way to navigate far from shore. It serves as a radio version of a lighthouse.