A Study on Color Preferences for Wayfinding in an Open Public Space

Color could be considered as an effective design element to create easy ways to find and reach specific places in a space. There are some studies that include the usage of color coding to analyze effects of color on finding specific or defined areas in designed spaces. Current study focuses on color preferences of students while they are designing an open public space. The experiment was conducted in Başkent University and total of 67 students participated. Participants were second year design students at the department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. The given design problem was firstly creating a maze as public space in total of 1000 m2 area. As a second step, students were asked to integrate color codes on their maze design public spaces to guide people for finding exits in an easier and more preferable way. After the design process were completed, design solutions were analyzed with statistical analysis. In the findings of the analysis, most preferred color choices and methods with codes that are created by students were analyzed. In conclusion, most successful methods were highlighted to give information for designers who consider about design solutions to improve design qualities that lead people to find their ways.

Keywords: Color, Wayfinding, Public Interior Space, Preference

Color could be considered as an effective design element to create easy ways to find and reach specific places in a space. There are some studies that include the usage of color coding to analyze effects of color on finding specific or defined areas in designed spaces. Current study focuses on color preferences of students while they are designing an open public space. The experiment was conducted in Başkent University and total of 67 students participated. Participants were second year design students at the department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. The given design problem was firstly creating a maze as public space in total of 1000 m2 area. As a second step, students were asked to integrate color codes on their maze design public spaces to guide people for finding exits in an easier and more preferable way. After the design process were completed, design solutions were analyzed with statistical analysis. In the findings of the analysis, most preferred color choices and methods with codes that are created by students were analyzed. In conclusion, most successful methods were highlighted to give information for designers who consider about design solutions to improve design qualities that lead people to find their ways.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Color, Wayfinding, Public Interior Space, Preference