Storywalls

An inspirational signage system for Vara municipality

Client

Vara municipality (university project)

description

The assignment for this project was to create a signage system for Vara municipality, a small town in southwestern Sweden, that would work as a ”we”-profile to strengthen the Vara brand, internally as well as externally. Main target groups are inhabitants and visitors, and the relevance for Vara’s interpreted brand should be clearly understood and communicated.

Storywalls is a system of signs that aims to tell the viewer the story of what is or could be happening at the destination, describing it with expressive visuals. Through life size depictions of people performing actions related to the place that the sign indicates the signs communicate activity and inspire people to seek out the good things that Vara has to offer.

I was inspired by street artists working with stencil technique because of its striking graphic feel and visible nature. The stories that are the focus of the signage are told through visuals. I want to include a measure of humour wherever possible, since there is in my opinion no more straightforward way to inspire and activate people. The signs should also be integrated into the environment as much as possible, for aesthetic and practical reasons: I don’t want the signs to become a too dramatic contrast to the quiet town of Vara.

A further requirement of the brief was to include signage for current events going on in the town. Facing the station, a wall painting depicts two persons engaged in conversation, with no directional indication. When an event draws near, a poster is put up on the wall, covering the upper half of the wall-people, changing their actions to showcase the event that is being promoted. Additionally, there is space for an event calendar, that goes into a little more detail about numerous happenings in the town over the next couple of months.