City of Port Phillip Creative Wayfinding

The City of Port Phillip was awarded a funding grant by Creative Victoria as a part of a greater vision to support and revitalise local creative industries throughout Victoria. This was to be done through creative wayfinding strategies that would increase awareness of, and traffic to, the vibrant creative industries across St Kilda and surrounding areas. The signage is intended to increase foot traffic and tourism throughout St Kilda’s Arts sector. The wayfinding was to be creative, innovative and inspire people to stop and admire, whilst enhancing the general look and feel of St Kilda’s streets.

Moving beyond typical utilitarian wayfinding design, this project addressed the brief by bleeding into the realm of public art. Spread across the St Kilda Art’s Precinct, the four signs act as sculptural beacons to attract the attention of pedestrians. An initial risk identified, was the requirement for panels to be updated due to potential vandalism and future venue name changes. This was addressed in the early design phase, applying unique industrial design solutions, executed with cutting edge fabrication. The result is a permanent sign base, with a series of separate printed panels that can be easily and cost effectively replaced.

Inclusivity was a major design consideration within the project, with extensive prototyping and research into accessibly communication design. Using symbols and graphics as a visual language in addition to the written names, to depict wayfinding destinations. Increased awareness of St Kilda’s arts venues has formed positive sense of belonging and connection to this thriving creative community. Additionally, through the adoption of cutting edge fabrication techniques and a minimalistic design, Arterial were able to minimise material usage and therefore wastage. The use of steel panels within this minimalistic sculptural design enabled the use of steel, making the wayfinding durable and replaceable.

This project set out to address three core sustainability values, Human, Social and Environmental. The first consideration of the signage was to design with all ages and abilities in mind to improve accessibility. Through extensive prototyping and research into accessible communication design, Arterial developed an outcome that not only meets international standards but exceeds them. An example of the this, is the playful forms that are mimicked across all the signs, along with an oversized sculptural ‘walking person’ at the top of each sign, establishing a recognisable sculptural motif, visible from a significant distance. Along with improving the general look and feel of the St Kilda precinct, the project increases awareness to the walkability of St Kilda, leading to increased pedestrian movement between arts venues. This in turn affects the social experience within the local community, particularly who choose to engage with creative and community-centred businesses. The project also addresses the pressing issue of increased car usage and traffic congestion throughout Melbourne’s outer-city suburbs. Introducing attractive pedestrian wayfinding, contributes to the City of Port Phillip’s overall vision to “be a City with lower carbon emissions”. Clearly displaying walk times to key destinations, provides incentive to choose walking over driving.