Wayshowing in Hospital

This paper describes the causes of the wayfinding problems in hospitals and suggests ways to solve them. The paper is by and large based on the author’s personal experience and observations. Several causes make wayfinding in hospitals difficult. One group of causes concerns the complicated environment. Another group of causes concerns the users, a broad group out of which several constituents have reduced sight, mental and other capacities. The combination of a complicated environment and possibly weak wayfinders calls for carefully planned wayshowing

Book Review: Laws of Simplicity

Abstract John Maeda (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2006) Review by Per Mollerup, Designla

Marks of excellence : the history and taxonomy of trademarks

296 p. : ill. ; 30 cm

Man-Made Answers to Man-Felt Needs

Abstract Artifacts are man-made answers to man-felt needs. Researchers and authors have described the answers, needs, values, processes, and economies involved. This article synthesizes and expands on some of their findings. Do artifacts answer needs? Not always. Sometimes, the process leading to an artifact rather than the resulting artifact is the answer to a felt need. This is the case when artists create because they must create. The product becomes a by-product. Sometimes, industrial products are questions rather than answers. They ask, “Won’t you buy me?” rather than announcing, “This is what you asked for!” This article does not distinguish between artifacts resulting from supply push and those resulting from demand pull. Rather, it acknowledges that there are good answers and not-so-good answers to the needs of intended users

Handen: som visuelt medium og motiv (The hand as visual media and motif)

Abstract not available in English

Simply put

While society tends to become more complicated, trademarks seem to have become simpler. Whether this is because of changes in taste, or the increasing pace of life, which makes fast identification essential, it seems that design and corporate professionals increasingly recognize that simplicity is a virtue, and that sometimes less is more. The early Danish functionalist designer, Knud V. Engelhardt, noticed that if designed objects have edges that are too sharp, these will be rounded off as time goes by. Speaking figuratively, the same can be said about trademarks. If trademarks begin with elements that hinder communication without adding anything useful, these elements will be smoothed off in time