Way-finding and interpretive design at Balls Head Reserve and the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability.
I recognise the Cammeraygal and Wallumedegal people who are the Traditional Owners of the Land on which this project is situated.
Balls Head Reserve and the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability is a valued community site with rich histories. In this project, I sought to represent the community’s strong environmental activism and the significance of Balls Head Reserve for ceremony, connection, ritual and storytelling.
There is a sincere need for wayfinding and interpretative design in the location. Research showed that the current graphic interventions are dated and fail to acknowledge the site’s continued and growing significance for its users.
Much of the site’s history is untold. The design pays homage to these hidden histories while paving the way for the site’s evolving role in the community.
The modular frame captures the graphic style that is applied for all other signage. The frame would be made of painted steel tubes with painted steel sheets. The information would be printed on the steel sheets by dye sublimation.
The icons on the map inform the signage system throughout the site. These signs would be made from recycled ink cartridges. The Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability recycling initiative offers users the opportunity to drop off “trickier” items such as ink cartridges, batteries and light globes for recycling. The Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability could partner with Melbourne based company, Lousy Ink, and their partner Close the Loop to repurpose these ink cartridges into signage for the site.
The modular frame at Balls Head Reserve would display information on the site’s history, provide a map and initial directions and house the visitor’s book.
The board would capture the essential information so that with this in mind the users can explore the site at their leisure. There is no right way to explore the site so the signage acts like breadcrumbs nodding to nearby landmarks and loosely guiding the user’s playful exploration of the place.
The boards can be customised and updated to accommodate for changing information and details. The style of the boards is inspired by the organic shapes
of the environment and the graphic design of the Bauhaus movement.
A key consideration for this project was how to incorporate participatory design. This led to the design of the visitors’ book. Visitors can share stories and memories in the book (or upload images/videos to the QR code) and every 6 months these entries would be collected and curated into a piece of public art at the site. The public art pieces would be documented and become a reference of the site’s evolving role in the community over time.
Wayfinding design
Balls Head Reserve is most easily accessed by walking from Waverton train station. The wayfinding design guides the users to the reserve through the Waverton village shops. Along the route, the signage encourages users to stop off at local cafes, bakeries, the local bar, the grocer or the pizzeria. The destination signage at Balls Head Reserve are large letters made of the same recycled ink cartridge plastic as the icons shown above.
