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FINAL MAJOR PROJECT

graphic communication

Project Ideas

Rebranding a Theme Park (Logo, Website, Park Map, Ride Logos)
Video Games (Poster, Cover, Logo)
Design a Phone (Brand Logo, Box, Adverts, 3D Phone mockup)
Make an App (New Social Media, Game)
Make Memes
Book about Memes (History, Guide for Boomers)
Design Bus / Train Map
Trading Cards / Card Game (Like Top Trumps) - for Theme Parks
New Monorail System for Bournemouth, Poole & Christchurch area, or Dorset as a whole. (Logo, Website, App, Maps, Signs, Contactless Card). To improve transportation around the local area. Make it more futuristic

Idea One:

Monorail

Something that continues to bother me is how rubbish the bus services are around Bournemouth & Poole; They are always late, slow & claustrophobic. My idea is for there to be a brand new transportation system around the area that could expand the whole of the county, or maybe even further. Monorails are very futuristic looking as well as being quiet and environmentally friendly, as they are electrically powered. The Monorail would be built above roads, so it won't get in the way of any existing buildings. For this idea, I will create a new company who would operate this monorail, similar to More Bus (Morebus.co.uk, n.d.), Yellow Busses (Yellowbuses.co.uk, n.d.), and South Western Railway (Southwesternrailway.com, 2017) etc. This would involve making logos, websites, signs for the stations, route maps, contactless cards, leaflets and an app. A new, high tech Monorail system would improve the local area by reducing congested traffic on the roads as more people would like to take the monorail. Therefore, with less cars on the roads, there will be less fuel emissions, which will help the environment.

Idea Two:

Theme Parks Card Game

I had an idea to make a card game, as it would last me ten weeks. I came up with the idea of making it themed to Theme Parks, which is one of my interests. The game would be very similar to Top Trumps (Toptrumps.com, n.d.), where you would pick a category of the ride's stats (speed, height, inversions etc.) that has the highest number and hope its higher than your opponents number of the same category. I like this idea as I love theme parks and would like to create a game similar to this. This idea has a few problems however, as I would have to use images of the rides from the internet, which wouldn't be my own work. The other problem is it doesn't have much meaning behind it, being just a fun idea that would only appeal to me and other Theme Park / Rollercoaster enthusiasts.

Monorail Research

Existing Monorail Systems

Walt Disney World Monorail

One of the most iconic monorail systems in the world is the Walt Disney World (Disneyworld.co.uk, n.d.) monorail system located in Florida, USA. The system has three lines: the Resort Line, the Express Line, and the Epcot Line. All three lines start at the Transportation and Ticket Centre (TTC). The Resort line stops at five stations; Magic Kingdom Park, Disney's Contemporary Resort, TTC, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.The Express Line follows the same track and route as the resort line however only stops at the TTC and Magic Kingdom Park. Finally, the Epcot line stops at the TTC and Epcot. The system operates 12 "Mark VI" trains across the three lines. The trains can reach a top speed of 55 mph, but average at around 40 mph. The track length is 14.7 miles long and each train is 203 ft long.

Las Vegas Monorail

The Las Vegas Monorail (Las Vegas Monorail, n.d.) travels the length of the strip with stations at the major hotels. There are seven stations which are: SAHARA Las Vegas Station, Westgate Station, Convention Centre Station, Harrah's & The LINQ Station, Flamingo & Caesar's Palace Station, Bally's & Paris Station, and MGM Grand Station. This system uses 9 Bombardier Innovia trains and runs of speeds up to 50 mph.

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Wuppertal Schwebebahn

This is a different style of Monorail, The Suspended Monorail, located in Wuppertal, Germany (Schwebebahn.de, n.d.). The Suspended Monorail could actually be better than the normal monorails, as they could be placed above roads, as to not get in the way of anything. This system utilises only one line but stops at 20 stations, and carries 82,000 people daily. Surprisingly, this system is 118 years old, opening in 1901. If a new modern version of the Suspended Monorail opened, it would most likely have a smaller support structure.

View Map

Idea Three:

Social Anxiety

I thought of this third idea later than the last two ideas. I was planning on doing the monorail idea but after reading articles about them, turns out most cities don't like them as they are too expensive. I have now had another idea to do with Social Anxiety which is something that I relate to. I like the idea of making a book with different people's thoughts and stories, as well as coping methods. One of the things that people who suffer with Social Anxiety can face is loneliness or not being able to talk to anyone, so this book could be a good alternative to read other people's stories or thoughts. Other ideas that could be good would be an app, website, daily messager.

What is Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is a long-lasting and overwhelming fear of social situations. It's a common problem that usually starts during the teenage years. For some people it gets better as they get older, although for many it does not go away on its own. It can be very distressing and have a big impact on your life, but there are ways to help you deal with it. Social anxiety is more than shyness. It's an intense fear that does not go away and affects everyday activities, self-confidence, relationships and work or school life. Many people occasionally worry about social situations, but someone with social anxiety feels overly worried before, during and after them. (nhs.uk, n.d.)

Symptoms

You may have social anxiety if you:

dread everyday activities, such as meeting strangers, starting conversations, speaking on the phone, working or shopping
avoid or worry a lot about social activities, such as group conversations, eating with company and parties
always worry about doing something you think is embarrassing, such as blushing, sweating or appearing incompetent
find it difficult to do things when others are watching – you may feel like you're being watched and judged all the time
fear criticism, avoid eye contact or have low self-esteem
often have symptoms such as feeling sick, sweating, trembling or a pounding heartbeat (palpitations)
have panic attacks, where you have an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety, usually only for a few minutes

London Transportation

Primary Research

The London Underground

London Underground's history dates back to 1863 when the world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, opened between Paddington and Farringdon serving six intermediate stations. Since then the Underground network, affectionately nicknamed the Tube by generations of Londoners, has grown to 270 stations and 11 lines stretching deep into the Capital's suburbs, and beyond.

The development of London into the preeminent world city during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries would not have been possible without the mobility provided by the Underground. (Transport for London, n.d.)

Tube Maps

We visited London on Tuesday 25th February 2020, where I had my first experience with the London Underground. We used the network quite a lot through the day which gave me lots of opportunities to take photos of maps and the experience of using the tube as a whole. From Visiting London, I will now also consider having this monorail system a train system like the tube, as well as making parts of it underground. I very much enjoyed using the maps of the tube to figure out which train and direction we needed to go in, and found it very easy after a while. The Underground maps are very clear and easy to understand, which is helped a lot by the colours for each line, as this makes it very clear to know which line you're on and which stops link to other lines. The main London Underground map has all 11 lines in one map, but when you board a train, you get a map of that line, which shows the stops, and connections to other lines.

Click each Image for more Research

The Tube is being upgraded...

In this official Transport for London video, the company announces new upgrades to the London Underground to make the system more efficient, reliable and comfortable. The biggest change is the introduction of 192 new trains to the Circle, Hammersmith & City, District and Metropolitan lines. These trains will have bigger capacity, air conditioning and will be completely walkthrough. These modern trains will also feature live updating screens which will announce which station is coming up next and if there are any delays. Another new feature that has already been integrated into stations on the Jubilee line, is the introduction of glass walls along the side of the station, that will feature doors adjacent to the train doors. This will make the stations a lot safer as it will prevent people jumping onto the tracks or dropping litter.

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs to investigate the meaning of signs and how they communicate a message.

"There are three main areas which form what we understand as semiotics; the signs themselves, the way they are organised into systems and the context in which they appear." (Crow, 2010)

" In English speaking countries our four-legged friend is called a 'dog' whereas in France it is 'chien', in Spain 'Perro', in Italy 'cane' and in Germany it would be 'hund'. What this shows us is the relationship between the signifier 'dog' and the thing signified (picture of a dog) is a completely arbitrary one." (Crow, 2010)

"All that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another." (Crow, 2010)

"A sign is something which stands to somebody for something in respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person and equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. The sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object." (Crow, 2010)

Three Categories of Signs;

Icon - Resembles the sign. A photograph could be described as an iconic sign as it resembles physically the thing it represents.
Index - There is a direct link between the sign and the object. Smoke is an index of fire.
Symbol - No Logical connection between the sign and what it means. They exclusively rely on the reader having learnt what the connection between the sign and its meaning. The Red Cross is a symbol we have learnt to mean first aid.

Three Levels for signs;

Firstness - The Sense of something, a feeling or mood.
Secondness - Level of Fact, the physical relation of one thing to another.
Thirdness - The Mental Level, of general rules that bring the other two together in a relationship.

Paradigm - "The two basic characteristics of a paradigm are that; 1. the units in the set have something in common. 2. each unit is obviously different from the others in the set.

Codes - "As we can see from these examples (Road Sign) some of the paradigms have a fixed number of units to choose from; the alphabet, the number of weights in a family of typefaces etc. These types of paradigms are made of codes which are called 'digital codes'. These types of codes are easy to recognise and understand as the units are clearly defined.

Competition

Transport Companies

The origins of morebus can be traced back to 1916, when a bus company called Bournemouth & District Motor Services was founded; this became Hants & Dorset Motor Services in July 1920 as the network of routes expanded. The Southern Railway bought into the company in the 1930s and Hants & Dorset became state-owned in 1948. From 1 January 1969 Hants & Dorset became part of the National Bus Company, and in 1972 the bus livery was changed from the longstanding and familiar green to poppy red. Hants & Dorset was broken up into smaller units from April 1983, one of which was the Wilts & Dorset Bus Company whose area of operation included the present morebus network and sister company Salisbury Reds in Wiltshire. The Wilts & Dorset Bus Company was bought by its local management team in 1987, and has been part of the Go-Ahead Group since August 2003. The more brand, with its distinctive blue livery was first seen on the Poole to Bournemouth m1 and m2 routes in 2004 when an investment of £4 million was made in a fleet of 30 new Volvo single-deck buses, and has subsequently been rolled out across the network. Contactless payments were rolled out across the network in 2017; another major technological advancement and improvement to the customer journey after introducing Wi-Fi and USB chargers some years prior. (Morebus.co.uk, n.d.)

Click each image to see research about More Bus' Design style

The tramway predecessors of the company that was to become Yellow Buses started trading in July 1902. By 1906 the tramway system had reached its full extent, although further vehicles were added up to a maximum fleet of 131. In 1913, following a referendum, trams began to operate on Sundays afternoons and it wasn’t until 1926 that the first Sunday morning trams ran too. The first bus services started as ‘feeders’ to the tram in 1906 and were expanded only on this basis until 1930 when the bus fleet was doubled when the Borough expanded to take in Kinson and Holdenhurst. In March 2011 the ownership of Yellow Buses moved to RATP Dev when the merger between Veolia Transport and Transdev prompted RATP to withdraw from the shareholding in the capital of Transdev in return for a transfer of assets equal to the value of its equity investment (25.66%). Sixteen Transdev-Veolia companies and 6500 staff members joined RATP Group through its subsidiary RATP Dev, which focuses on managing transport network operations in France and internationally. We introduced a service linking Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch over a century ago, in 1905, using open-top trams with wooden seats. Today we are still operating the same through route, but it is now faster, more frequent and uses modern luxury buses with leather seats, Wi-Fi and USB ports. (Yellowbuses.co.uk, n.d.)

Click each image to see research about Yellow Buses' Design style

South Western Railway is a joint venture between FirstGroup and MTR Europe, two of the world’s leading train companies. With about 235 million passenger journeys a year, the South Western franchise covers urban, suburban, regional and long-distance routes between London Waterloo and south western England, including Bristol, Exeter and Portsmouth. South Western Railway has some of the busiest routes in the country, operating nearly 1,700 services each weekday. Over the next 7 years, we’ll be investing in our network, our people and the community to deliver high quality, safe and reliable services which meet the needs of customers and the communities we serve. By December 2020, our £1.2 billion investment plans will bring longer, faster and more reliable trains with 52,000 more seats, across the morning and evening peak every day at Waterloo. On long distance services, existing trains will undergo a full refurbishment, improving comfort levels and returning to service looking like new. (Southwesternrailway.com, 2017)

Click each image to see research about SWR's Design style

Monorail Values

Five positive values that my Monorail company will have include:

Fully Eco-Friendly - Monorails are fully electric and produce no emissions, unlike trains or buses. Even electric trains produce some emissions.
Quick Travel - Monorails are a fast way of travelling, with the fastest monorail/train, the Maglev in Japan, reaching speeds of up to 373 mph.
High Capacity - Monorails can carry a lot of people. This depends on the amount of trains on the system and cars on each train. New monorail systems are completely walkthrough, with no gaps in the train, which means you can fit lots more people inside.
Efficient - If the system has enough trains, you can get one every couple of minutes, making it very efficient.

Typography

Futuristic Sans-Serif Fonts

Hover over each font to

view my thoughts on it

Conthrax Sb Regular

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