Colour the way

A University campus can be an incredibly complex place. A suburban campus like The University of Queensland - St. Lucia, is not only an enclave within a city but is in many ways a city within itself. Spread over 114 riverside hectares Queensland’s original ‘sandstone’ University is populated by over 50,000 students, and 7,000 staff. While veterans of the University have become familiar with the site, each year new students descend on the space pre-loaded with the usual new student anxiety. This is often exacerbated by the stress of finding your way around a puzzling and foreign campus.

At Dotdash our role was to develop a consistent and logical wayfinding strategy and shape that into a signage manual. A strong wayfinding approach could then be applied to the University supplanting existing signage. 

The first step was to impose a clear hierarchical system that would be applied holistically and filter down to the smallest element. The campus was divided by its two main entries, North and South, and then each of those were subdivided into distinct precincts. The six colour coded precincts make up the backbone of all the signage.

Directional signs feature the name and colour of their home precinct while providing a smaller band of colour for destinations in neighbouring precincts. Coupled with a progressive directional approach, where only major buildings and transport are listed, the signs are unencumbered by message overload.

Set amongst the backdrop of a growing campus featuring both heritage and contemporary architecture, the new wayfinding system weaves its way around buildings, open space, and pathways. Colour coding and consistent messaging alleviate confusion by informing where you’re going, but also where you are.

Project Lead: Domenic Nastasi
Project Team: Juri Yamamura, Ida Molander, Peter Rudledge,           Irené Ostash
Photographer: Florian Groehn, Larraine Henning Dotdash