Student Takeaways from the Transit Mapping Symposium

The students of Wayfinding 2024 were a lucky batch. As they learned about the intricacies of translating real-world transport systems into legible maps, they had the exceptional opportunity to hear directly about it from industry experts. Bringing together some of the most renowned wayfinding designers and enthusiasts from around the world, Professor Goffredo Puccetti hosted the Transit Mapping Symposium right on the NYUAD campus, where students could witness and engage directly with what they had learned.

The immediate reaction of every wayfinding student was awe at the opportunity to spend time with esteemed designers from all over the world, identified as “legends in the wayfinding field”, “the biggest names in the field of wayfinding”, and “new icons…to fangirl over”. The Mapping Symposium consisted of two main segments: a two-day conference on campus with individual talks and panel discussions and a day spent in Dubai, touring the city and the metro running through it. Professor Goffredo asked his Wayfinding students to attend, but those outside of the class joined too. Though they had class, students still attended whenever possible, filling the room with eager faces.

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Designing for Two Worlds: Yo Kaminagai’s Unique Perspective

Each student had unique takeaways and personal insights. From the talks, one speaker consistently brought up was Yo Kaminagai. Not only was he a key player in the modern Paris metro wayfinding design, his comparison of this iconic city’s transport with that of Tokyo’s was particularly captivating “since Yo Kaminagai considers both of these cities his home” (Alima). Alima was especially struck by “the necessity of integrating Signs, Objects, and Space, emphasizing the challenge of achieving interconnectedness among them”, as it was a challenge present everywhere. As Fatima reflects, this can be achieved by cognition in wayfinding: numbering, color-coding, and even sound, can “subconsciously guide you through your journey…[becoming] almost muscle memory to the user” (Fatima). In particular, many students showed fascination towards Japan’s use of music. Each station on the Yamanote line has a unique music track that subtly steers the user and “becomes a part of the culture itself” (Sheena)!

^{Yamanote Line Music Tracks (Source: Fatima Aljunaibi)}

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Hands-On Learning: Touring the Dubai Metro with Andrew Mead

Experiential learning truly sticks with students, and the constant reference to Andrew Mead and his tour of the Dubai metro is evidence of that. Titled “How I Got Squished Against the Cold Interior of the Dubai Metro w/ Andrew Mead”, Hubert’s blog outlines his encounters with Andrew Mead: first how his Hong Kong metro map inspired the geometry of his own hypothetical metro map, then the “surreal experience” of meeting him, hearing his panel, and getting a tour of the metro from the designer himself. As many students exclaim, it was especially impactful to hear about the use of artwork in subconscious steering, then the next day witness a painting of a horse directing metro users with the tilt of its head.

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Conversations that Stuck

Many insightful conversations occurred on the Dubai metro tour. Sheena recalls a conversation between Andrew Mead and fellow classmate Alima:

"Alima brought up a question to Andrew Mead: How does a designer go about choosing what elements to design from scratch and what to keep as is conventional, if a little boring? His answer was as catchy as it is wise: “Evolution, not revolution.”

Sheena broadens this point, drawing on Yo Kaminagai’s talk, to emphasize the importance of balancing locality and universality in design: to work within an established framework of legibility while being “flavored by local culture”. Hubert also mentions Andrew Mead’s disagreements with final design decisions, including an absence of hand grips near doorways. 

"He said while he understands the idea of wanting to nudge passengers to walk deeper into the metro cart rather than standing by the doorway as they enter, this meant passengers standing at the doorway during rush hour would have nothing but the walls and each other to hold onto. Of course he said this as he was squished against the same doors he was referring to.”

It can be informative to hear insights from designers during their planned talks, but in these direct interactions, students could dig into thought processes, challenges encountered, and see the human behind the work. From small moments of conversation, students caught words of wisdom, connected old learnings with the new, and came to truly internalize Wayfinding.

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Many More Takeaways

Students brought up many more of the tidbits that stuck with them. Yogesh Dandekar was praised for his efforts to create a comprehensive design for India–a country of overwhelming diversity and unique ways of communicating (Sheena)–and his consequent visual-based signage system, “Follow The Line,” which integrates color codes and graphics within the metro (Fatima). 

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The importance of geography was also highlighted by a small debate between Professor Goffredo and Ily Birman (Sheena). Their disagreement over how much maps should respect real-world geography stuck in students’ minds, revealing how designers can be at odds on design choices. Mariam Nada is quoted to firmly believe in the importance of keeping familiar geographic elements, such as the Nile in Cairo (Fatima). 

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Alima writes about how Sergio Luke’s vision on maps in the modern, digital world struck her as a new way of thinking. She sees value in “combining dynamic and static elements by refocusing”, especially on maps where information can be overwhelming to process at once (Alima). Sheena brings in an engineering point of view, noting how the tracks experienced differing elevation to aid in acceleration and deceleration. Her correlation illustrates how design permeates not just visuals but function as well.

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Looking Ahead

Reflecting upon their new knowledge and experiences, students had some suggestions of their own. Fatima shares her desire to “see art creep its way into the rest of the city”, perhaps in the form of “interactive or generative art…on the infamous long walk to and from the Dubai Metro Burj Khalifa station and the mall” (Fatima). Sheena brings up moments when Wayfinding students were critiquing wayfinding in real time, such as a bathroom door having a handle despite being a “push” door. And every student seemed to come away with newfound eyes, the ability to critically evaluate wayfinding systems and notice and appreciate the well-designed ones.

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With the Transit Mapping Symposium, students gained a new appreciation for the Dubai metro system and the built environment. They got to share meals and ride double decker tour buses alongside designers and see the world in a new light. As Hubert puts it: “Wouldn’t have it any other way, really.”

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If you’re interested in learning more, livestreams of the talks given can be found on transitmappingsymposium.org, and you can read directly about students’ thoughts from their blog posts here: Fatima Aljunaibi, Hubert Chang, Sheena Chiang, Alima Zhagufarova.