We welcomed students from University of South Wales’s Interior Design course to our HQ as they embark on a “live brief”; to enhance visitor experience at an active visitor attraction.
We’re collaborating with USW to create a live brief for their 3rd year students, supporting them as they work through their ‘Competition and Exhibition’ module.
The brief encourages students to consider the importance of wayfinding, branding and signalling to enhance visitor experience.
The Interior Design course at USW prepares students for work in the design industry as creative, considerate, professional designers, who are focussed on the experience and wellbeing of the user, and mindful of their impact on the planet. It was a pleasure to talk to them about our experiences, and to hear about their initial concepts for the site.
In our industry, we often find that internal and external environments are designed without consideration being given to wayfinding, signalling and branding at the initial stages of a project.
The success of a designed environment should be judged on the useability of the site, the ease and enjoyment the site’s users experience. Visitor safety and navigation should be the focus from initial concept and design stages, not an afterthought.
Materials, positioning, useability and how the wayfinding and signage scheme can connect people to the environment is always our focus, and it’s fantastic that USW were keen to work with us on a brief that recognises this.
Michael Kitchin, Managing Director at Morgans Consult, said of the collaboration:
“Wayfinding, signalling and branding schemes are often overlooked at a project’s concept stage, so I’m delighted to see that USW is using this vital element of site design as the basis for their Competition and Exhibition module.
“The students’ enthusiasm for this brief was evident, they were inquisitive about our material samples and manufacturing processes, and seemed to really value the opportunity to speak to and get feedback from our team.
“We’re looking forward to working closely with the students over the coming weeks, and a to seeing their initial concepts develop.”
After welcoming the students, they were given an overview of our industry, the challenges we face on visitor experience projects, and how important it is to consider wayfinding and branding at the outset of a project.
We discussed how materials can be used to connect a designed environment to the world around it, enhancing the heritage and character of the site, while communicating complex information in an engaging way. A key consideration for this and any project is the importance of using sustainable solutions including locally sourced materials and fixing methods that minimise any impact on the environment.
The students were given a tour of our manufacturing units, where they had an opportunity to talk to our workshop team about materials and production processes.
The students then spent the afternoon with our design team, talking through their initial concepts for the project, getting feedback and input from our industry experts.
Heddus Davies, Module Lead at USW said:
“Having agreed a collaboratively set competition brief with Morgans Consult we were kindly invited to visit their studio part way through the project.
“Our students found the visit, presentation and mentoring sessions with the designers a very valuable experience.
“This has given them a fantastic insight into a specialist area of design and will hopefully inform their work looking in particular at project identity, detailing and assembly.”
Over the coming weeks, we will continue to support the projects, giving guidance and offering further opportunities for the students to spend time at our HQ, with one-to-one access to our design and manufacturing teams.
Find out more about who we are, explore our previous projects or get in touch if you’d like to discuss how anything mentioned in this article could help your business.
