Ormthong Heritage
Wayfinding System, Hospitality
Purpose
Design a wayfinding system in a restaurant for a better navigation experience.
A part of the GRDS 358 Production for Print and Digital Environment.
Duration
3 weeks
Responsibilities
Researcher Observed the restaurant for user's pain points and brand analysis on Ormthong Heritage brand.
Graphic Designer Set the visual system for a cohesive production, presentation deck, and process report website.
Tool
Contextual Inquiry
Brand Analysis
Traditional Sketches
Digital Sketches
Google Workspace
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Key Takeaways
Spatial analysis: Observed the space and understanding the navigation challenges to find an opportunity to apply the solution within the limited space.
Material and mounting process: Learned about the practicality of the material and mounting option of signage in the real location.
On-brand solution processing: Identified the visual cues needed for navigation and balanced that solution with the design of the existing brand.
Research
I gathered the information about the space inside the restaurant from observation of the customers' behavior and struggles inside the place to build a design criterion and categories of way-finding elements needed to aids the customers. I also studied the brand to visually portray them cohesively and accurately.
Ormthong Heritage
About the brand
Ormthong Heritage is a Thai - Western
restaurant, which preserved the traditional taste of Thai cuisine in their recipes. They locates in the Silom Serene, a Boutique Hotel in Bangkok.
Images from - Ormthong Heritage facebook page - Trip Advisor
Images from - Ormthong Heritage facebook page - Trip Advisor
What is an issue?
My discovery at the restaurant.
The restaurant is small in size consider it is a part of a hotel. They only have around 50 seats and divides its areas into three sections: The store front and bar, the indoor dining, and the ourdoor pool side dinning. The parking on the lower floor and the restroom is in a alley behind the hotel front desk.
The pain points
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Challenging navigation
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Undefined spacial sectioning
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Lack of established branding in the decorations
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Challenging navigating raw ingredient menu.
An open space
The small space with low ceiling can create a suffocating atmosphere, especially when filled with customers. Having an open area helps relaxes them and create enough contrast to navigate the signs.
The stand out signs
Visual contrast is crucial element to navigate the space. The signs must have enough contrast for the customers to spot but blend in enough to not disrupt the visual space.
Brand and visual cohesiveness
The signs and decorations must contains the modern interpretation of the traditional Thai brand essence and work together as one to help the customers navigate the space.
Categorizing signs
The list of things we need.
To aids the customer's navigation at Ormthong Heritage, the wayfinding system must work together to create an open space and support the sign's visual contrast for the customers to find them when needed.
Navigation Aids
Floor Navigation
A kiosk style navigation panel that is compact and would not get in the way of the customer's and staff's mobility in the space.
Decorative Element
The restaurant's decorative elements relates to food but does not reflect the brand. Increasing the brand's image would leave more impression to the customers.
Wall Signage
The flat wall signage more directed towards the smaller hallway, especially in the entrance from parking, elevator, and restroom areas.
Reservation Signage
The customers have difficulty finding the table after calling in for an observation. Sometimes the staffs cannot completely guide the customers to the table due to the limited number of staffs.
Over-the-Counter Menu
An over-the-counter menu for the customers who are interested in finding raw ingredients. The space in front of the restaurant allow the customers to see the menu while waiting in the back in addition to the paper menu sheet.
Ideation in the sketches
Free-sketching
Enhancing the flow of an idea, I did a 15 minutes free-sketching to compile the ideas on the top of my head while focusing on the pain points from both the customer's and staff's perspective.
With the limited number of staffs, they have challenges in attending to the right customers. The monitor or calling button that will send the customer's order or notification directly to the right staff is proposed as a solution.
Decorative elements should have function given it is placed in a limited area. Here are the reservation signage an the wall decoration that promote the brand.
Signage outside of the restaurant is also important in merging the customer's experience of the brand into the interior area.
With the limited number of staffs, they have challenges in attending to the right customers. The monitor or calling button that will send the customer's order or notification directly to the right staff is proposed as a solution.
Visual Directions
The two atmosphere
Based the design on the original brand, I altered the hue of the palette and the application of the pictogram for a cleaner and more luxurious style.
Digital Mockup
Exploring the composition
Selecting some designs from the traditional sketches and further developed into the digital sketches with color.
Signages in the Environment
How would it look like?
This mockup gave me ideas of how the designs intergrade themselves into the environment in relationship to the users. The mockup let me check the contrast the signages have with the space and started to consider its application method.
Design Intent
From a Technician's perspective
The design intent help the design communicate with the technician to bring the design to life. It was a challenge trying to figure out the practicality of the design with the weight of the materials, anchoring methods, and other details that comes with the relationship between the design with its context.
