Wayfinding Design Experts Help Students and Researchers Navigate A State-of-the-Art Library
Corbin News Release
October 5, 2001
Traverse City, MI — Every detail of Ferris State University's new library was designed to help students and researchers find the information they need. Guiding users through the building is a comprehensive signage system designed to complement the building's dramatic architecture and facilitate access to those information sources. The new wayfinding program is the work of Corbin, a leader in the field of environmental graphic design, based in Traverse City, Michigan.
With 173,000 square feet of space, the new FSU Library for Information, Technology and Education ("FLITE") is three times the size of the university's previous library. It was designed by the noted New York architectural firm of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, in association with Neumann Smith & Associates of Southfield, Michigan.
"Clear, concise access to information is important in every building," said Jeffry Corbin, principal of Corbin. "In the case of the FLITE it is critical, as wayfinding signage has the ability to enhance this building's primary purpose."
The Corbin team was already well acquainted with the university, having developed a vehicular and pedestrian signage system for the entire 425-acre campus. University officials were counting on that familiarity to help visually integrate the designs for the new library into the rest of the university.
"From the outset, one of the architectural goals of the project was for this building to be self-explanatory and clear in terms of its organization," said Ed Neill, Ferris State University Architect. "The wayfinding solution complements the formality and logic of the building design itself."
The Corbin team came up with a simple wayfinding solution for the FLITE project that involved placing building directories at the entrances, floor directories at elevators and near main staircases, and stack maps at regular intervals throughout the extensive collection. The wayfinding system was also designed for easy and inexpensive updating.
"In addition to the careful execution of the wayfinding component, an equally important concern was to make sure that whatever we designed would complement the building architecturally," said Corbin lead designer Robert Brengman.
Sharon Hamel, assistant to the dean of the library and a member of the core design team for the project, appreciated the close working relationship between the architects and wayfinding design team. As a result, she said, the signage blends well with the architecture, from the simplicity of its design and maintenance to the use of similar brushed metal surfaces.
Corbin's experience working alongside high-profile architectural firms also helped. The firm has collaborated with acclaimed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava on signage for a major addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, and is currently working with Neumann Smith & Associates on wayfinding for the $69 million College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, at Detroit's Wayne State University. Corbin also teamed with Taliesin Architects in designing an identity for Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
"Landmark buildings such as FLITE leave a memorable impression on visitors by virtue of their exemplary architecture," Corbin said. "Well designed and effective wayfinding helps heighten that experience even further."
Jeffry Corbin's vision of a changing urban landscape led him to found Corbin, an environmental graphic design firm based in Traverse City, Michigan, in 1976. Since then, the firm has completed hundreds of projects for educational, health care, governmental and business clients across the country. Corbin's expanding scope of projects includes signage and wayfinding, interactive systems, Web sites, identity systems and print communications – all of them based on the philosophy that "access equals success." A partial list of Corbin's educational wayfinding clients includes Penn State University, The University of Michigan, Indiana University / Purdue University Indianapolis, North Carolina State University, Marquette University, Oakland University, and the University of Virginia. Other wayfinding clients include the cities of Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Indianapolis, University Health Network in Toronto, and Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) in Seattle.
Additional information about the firm can be found online at www.corbindesign.com.