The West End is a neighborhood located northwest of downtown Cincinnati, it is home to over 6,000 residents and many important historical and cultural figures of the city. I developed the West End bus shelter design while co-oping at the City of Cincinnati's Department of Transporation and Engineering.
The City of Cincinnati partnered with residents of the neighborhood, The Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses Center, Metro, and Xavier University to make improvements to the Linn St Streetscape for the West End Neighborhood. The improvements included multiple phases, I was asked to help with the graphics for new bus stop shelters that would also share information on important historical figures and buildings in the neighborhood.
Existing Neighborhood Identity
Initial Design Direction:
The first direction I explored took most inspiration from the red and blue rectangles from the existing gateway sign.
After reviewing with my supervisor and visiting a real bus shelter that is the same model as the one that will be built in West End, I decided to move the historic figures to a 'side panel' of the shelter, that is perpendicular to the street.
Second Design Direction:
The second direction I explored used angular and pattern design elements, to create an energetic and uplifting feel. I also incorporated color and the collage aspects found in the "West End Legacy" Mural.
Third Design Direction:
Expanding on my first direction of using just red and blue, I tried making a type- focused application.
Fourth Direction:
For my last direction I wanted to try something shaped and pattern based, that felt more connected to the original gateway sign.
The first iterations of this direction were well liked by the other partners working on the project, but I thought that overall it felt cluttered and lacking in cohesion. I reworked the composition with just black and white shapes to find a good balance and then added color and texture to those bases.
Text iteration
Marker Poles
To help show how the bus shelter design language could be further used for neighborhood branding, I worked on some marker pole concepts.
Refined marker pole concepts for final two design directions.
Final Presentation
My last contribution to this project was a presentation on the design systems created for the West End's bus stop shelters.
