Cooper Hewitt
Cooper Hewitt
// Research + Wayfinding
Problem
As the Design Intern at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, I chose to initiate a self-guided project beginning with a question:
Why can’t visitors can’t find their way to the admissions desk?
Examining this complexity – including historical architecture, contextual cues, multiple points of entry, and the lack of a linear path – and with the help of observational research, I identified several key areas of confusion:
The fence along 5th Ave, often expected to be the point of entry like many of the other museums on Museum Mile
The Garden entrance, which features a large Cooper Hewitt sign and a set of rules with no other information
The Café entrance, often overcrowded and busy, which is two sets of stairs, a hectic shop, and around the corner from the admissions desk
The terrace doors, the historical rear entrance to the Carnegie Mansion, which are now blocked off
Research
I then looked into institutional history (including the existing wayfinding system designed by Pentagram), the patchwork of adopted signage solutions, and marketing user research. In conversations with various department heads, I looked at overarching goals, past ideas, and visitor research. I also looked into academic discourse and case studies from other cultural institutions to get a feel for ideas around best practices; overarching concepts surrounding wayfinding, navigation, and orientation; as well as established solutions working for other institutions.
Solutions
A holistic solution to a flawed system nearly always looks like many small interventions. With the problem and research in mind, I started to look at design solutions to increase the efficacy of the Museum’s wayfinding system, formulating several conclusions:
A map outlining the secondary entrance visitor route with the most common areas of confusion highlighted. For a more experiential view of the space, please see this 360º view available on Google.
1 / Leverage Existing Signage
The first obvious spot to include navigational information was the fence around the Garden along 5th Ave, which features several massive signs without any clear directions. The signs are reprinted regularly to promote seasonal events and special exhibits, so the addition of directions is simple, logical, and cost-effective.
Selected iterations of the fence banner redesign process. Given the context, many visitors expect the Museum entrance to be along 5th Avenue and instead encounter Cooper Hewitt’s fence. The added directions to the fence signs help visitors orient themselves to the Carnegie Mansion entrance on 91st Street.
2 / Provide Relevant Context
The garden entrance, a perplexing secondary entrance to the Museum and private park in its own right, presented another opportunity to help visitors navigate. The existing sign featured no information beyond a set of wordy rules – actually orienting visitors with an explanation or map makes logical sense. Again, these signs are regularly updated due to natural weathering and could easily feature contextual information.
Mockup of proposed Garden entrance sign, which includes added information about the Garden and Museum.
3 / Expand the System
The tricky part became finding thoughtful system expansions that didn’t shout at visitors. Because the Garden and Café area serve as pseudo-public spaces, visitors are more than welcome to enjoy either without visiting the Museum. Any signage should then encourage museum visits without interrupting their experience.
While I initially played with ideas that would match the Museum’s branding with increased flexibility in terms of context and scale, it quickly became apparent that any solution would need to adhere strictly to the existing system as soon as it entered the interior of the Museum.
With this constraint in mind, I considered alternative goals of wayfinding. I loved the idea that wayfinding could be a way of creating moments of discovery for visitors, that effectively doing my job could not only inform but actually entertain. This concept, along with the Museum’s goal of highlighting the collection, led to the seemingly obvious conclusion of using designs from the archives to accent the signage. This sort of vinyl wallpaper features the collection, draws attention to useful directions, and delights both the casual visitor and navigator alike. This solution also helps form sort of navigable landmarks for visitors along the winding path to admissions.
An early iteration of the expanded system. This system could be applied in vinyl both on the garden paths as well as the wall of the Café, emphasizing either the Museum or specific destinations depending on context. Ultimately nixed for lack of compliance with the existing system.
By adding a simple plinth sign to the Café doors, we manage to create a wayfinding landmark, highlight the collection, and orient the visitor all in one step.
Previous sign placed in awkward spot and easily overlooked – collection wallpaper draws the eye to the sign.
The Terrace tends to be an area of exploration as well as confusion. The goal of this sign is to encourage the former while clarifying the latter.
Final Thoughts
This project provided insight into the challenge of designing a viable wayfinding system, made all the more fascinating by the plethora of constraints, from physical architecture to fiscal responsibility to bewildering bureaucracy. Though the suggested solutions are inherently practical, the use of graphic design to help navigate space forms a fundamental piece of communication, a way of creating identity and atmosphere in addition to just navigation.
Many thanks to Ann Sunwoo, Laurie Bohlk, Wendi Parson, and Meagan Mahaffy for all the help and support on this project.
Image + Collection Credits
Cooper Hewitt. Cocktails at Cooper Hewitt: Coco & Breezy featuring Zak Leever © 2018 Scott Rudd. Facebook, 13 July 2018, https://www.facebook.com/cooperhewitt/photos/a.10156498921826764/10156498924411764/?type=3&theater.
Sidewall, Beetle, 2016; Designed by Don Flood (American, b. 1962); digital print on mylar; L x W: 457.2 × 132.1 cm (15 ft. × 52 in.); Gift of Astek Inc.; 2016-21-1. http://cprhw.tt/o/U2rRR/
Sidewall, A Leopard of My Very Own, 1967–68; Manufactured by Philip Graf Wallpapers, Inc. ; USA; screen printed on paper; 115 x 75.5 cm (45 1/4 x 29 3/4 in.); Gift of Philip Graf; 1969-53-1. http://cprhw.tt/o/2CEN6/