The GOAL
What is Voronezh Chamber Theatre? First of all it's 17 actors and 180 performances per year under the artistic direction of its founder Mikhail Bychkov. In 2014 the theater moved from rented premises into its own beautiful building.
Our team was challenged to develop navigation and signage for auditorium, backstage and lobby of the theatre.
The journey from objective formulation to installation of the directional sign system
took 462 hours and consisted of 4 main steps.
The first step was researching the premises of the theatre that was still under construction. The floors, glass, some walls and finishing still had to be done.
Research consisted of three parts:
1. Making up a list of the main points that are important to visitors and employees of the theatre.
2. Analysis of the visitor paths, which helped define the placement of navigation signs.
3. Creating a list of terms that will be seen on navigation signs.
2. Analysis of the visitor paths, which helped define the placement of navigation signs.
3. Creating a list of terms that will be seen on navigation signs.
As a result of the first step we decided
on directional signs and their placement.
Visual concept that we presented was based on the navigation sign systems of factories, warehouses and other industrial buildings. It perfectly fit the theatre loft style interior.
We considered 8 font families and finally chose Frutiger navigation font designed for directional sign system for Charles de Gaulle Airport.
After choosing the right font we started looking for composite solutions and designing icons and overall style of the sign system, it’s size and proportions. In addition to providing navigation function we were challenged to consider the art and history of the theatre. We ended up with hundreds of files with various navigation signs. We printed them out on the huge sheets of paper and glued them to the theatre walls to test different font sizes, their legibility and position. As a result of our hard work the navigation sigh system turned out simple and legible.
Installation of navigation signs can not be overstated. We eliminated plastic and other cheap looking materials right away. We didn’t want to just fill up the space with signs, it was important to make navigation a natural part of the theatre environment and to some extant its decoration. Michail Bychkov’s thoroughness in selecting interior and exterior materials passed on to us and we were very strict, especially to ourselves. We talked to several production companies and eventually opted for a graffiti artist UN2ONE, who brought our mockups to life.
Before installing the sigh system, we developed exploded views of all floors, which helped avoid misinterpretations.
We monitored installation together with the theatre representatives and were deeply involved throughout the process.
CUSTOMER REVIEW
"Voronezh Chamber theatre is not a standard project. A lot of different companies and people were involved in its construction. Manufactura was one of them. Their team professionally and clearly understood our goals and requirements. Mikhail Bychkov, the theatre director, is a perfectionist; he always strives for the best possible results. During this long journey of our joint work, there was a need to make alterations and changes several times. Managers at Manufactura were always polite during meetings and negotiations; they responded to all comments and change requests easy and on time. We started with font selection, looked at several options and settled on a good professional navigation solution. I like the result of our joint work. The signs are legible; we found the right balance when they are not too large and not too small. I believe they make navigation inside the Chamber theatre easy and pleasant. Based on the rave reviews about the building architecture, in which navigation plays a very significant role, I can conclude that we achieved the right result. The Chamber theatre has become one of the most iconic places in our city."
Oleg Tkachenko
Theater manager
Theater manager
—
CREDITS
Manufactura IT Production & Graphic Design developed present navigation and signage for Voronezh Chamber Theatre. Manufactura provides services in the field of mobile and web development, creating of UX/UI and graphic design. The company portfolio includes there are projects for major Russian brands, educational institutions and political parties. In 2015 Manufactura entered European and the US markets.
Art Direction DMITRIY SIDOROV Design PETR TULINOV, VLADIMIR STEGANTSOV Management DENIS KHNYKIN,
DMITRIY PROVOTOROV Photography TOLIK BOEV, DMITRIY PROVOTOROV
© 2014 Manufactura IT Production & Graphic Design
© 2014 Manufactura IT Production & Graphic Design
This case on FACTORYMN.COM | Contact Us HELLO@FACTORY.MN
