Design to me was always something I was critical of. Even if I didn't know how I was making those decisions. I probably still have a copy of my old resume fresh out of college somewhere laying around. I was applying to a Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn for a bar-back job and I think I used every color and gradient I could find under RGB. Well I didn't get the job because I didn't live nearby and then kinda said I lived in Staten Island, which was still far. In actuality, I was still living in Jersey with my parents and was staying at my girlfriend's grandmas house...in Staten Island. However, the resume did stick out to them and they loved it, as ostentatious as it was.
I worked many odd jobs since graduating, but the one worth mentioning here is my time I spent at the David Zwirner Art Gallery as an intern. It was a lot of coffee runs, artist requests, and some light art handling. Besides being an overworked intern, I was still surrounded by beauty. And it wasn't necessarily the art pieces themselves. It was the layouts they constructed from temporary walls, essentially transforming the space into something completely different depending on the exhibit. I was trusted to build tiny models of the layouts, with smaller replicas of the art to be displayed. I loved it, the aesthetic and even down to the paper that was used.
Fast forwarding a bit, I got a job at Viacom doing digital production work. It would be my home for many years, and still is even now as I work early mornings there to pay for my studies. We were given the the design tasks when the design team was too overwhelmed or not available. Whether it was a massive promo at the top of the site for the most recently aired episode or a "macro" –they were just memes, really, I got a sense of digital design by looking at the templates and fonts used.
Now, here, this Visual Language course is tapping into the light brushes I had with design in my life. It's nice to give definitions and context to things I've been seeing in my head all these years. Occasionally I'll listen to 99% Invisible and Roman Mars nerd out about designs of all shapes and forms.
Anyway, on to travel. Planes, airports and the entire experience involved. I wrote an anecdote in one of my letters asking the school for more money (and if you are reading this, please help me more NYU) about how I'd like to change the experience of flying. Something so beautifully advanced as traveling around the world in under a day above the clouds should not be associated with the stress of long queues and the florescent glow reflecting off peoples disgruntled, anxious, or emotionless faces.
The tradition that permeates at every airport around the world since their first conception. The Boarding Pass, your ticket to the sky. You'd think it'd be like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a golden ticket to something humans have always dreamed of. And maybe if you asked me to do this redesign a 6 years ago I would do something of that nature. But now I have more practical things to consider. What is the most important information that you need to get to your destination. How can you can you create a system that is universal whether you look at your pass, your phone, the screens hanging from the ceiling, the words being called over the loudspeaker, the signs, the maps, the security checkpoints...all of it.
I decided to group information sources together by section. On the left hand side it goes down by what I felt was the most important information first. In many cases things change at the airport. Your flight number is important because that is what is being called on the loudspeakers and on the monitors. Gates change all the time, and having that the main focus can be confusing. It's important but I wouldn't but it on the #1 spot because well, what if it changes and you are in a rush and just quickly glance at your boarding pass and go to the wrong end of the airport? I kept "subject to change" because I feel it's vital information. Seeing a plane takeoff without you is sad. I've flown standby and had this happen to me at Vegas, where I drank a double Gin and lost $20 to a slot machine before they found another seat for me on a plane to go back home. Let's just say the interaction with man at the desk was similar to winning the lottery.
Board time is also important, because once you arrive at your gate, you should know how much time you have before you need to get on the plane. You can browse the shops, go to the bathroom, whatever you need to do, because you have your eye on the time. Departing and Arrival times are more for planning, you shouldn't go by departing time because again, you might miscalculate and end up begging people in the security checkpoint if you can cut them. The destinations are also listed everywhere so anytime there is information being recycled in other forms I think it sticks in the head of the user more.
Now comes the second column. What the hell are those numbers? Do you need them? Probably not for normal travel. This is the information that an employee there would find useful. It's not just about making your end of the transaction easier, but helping their job will make the whole interaction better. Lost a bag? I'm assuming that's your baggage number. Security checkpoint? All they gotta do is look at that section to get the info they need to help you.
The right side always confused me. It made your boarding pass larger than your passport, which I see many people (including myself) use as a bookmark so when they go through security everything they need is on one page. But back to the length, it gets torn and messed up in your pocket or bag and just looks a little tattered after a while. That's not classy. Ever hand in your homework to a teacher all crumpled up, or a resume? No, so why do that here?
But since we are working with the template, let's have a hypothetical situation. If your main boarding pass gets separated from this appendage on the right side, I put in the basic information you need to still figure out how to get around. A more simplified version of the left side will still help you. Maybe you actually want to use that perforated line and tear it off to keep the tab in your wallet. Well, that decision is up to you!
Here is a little peak on what went behind my design process:
Ta da!
Oh, and here are my expressive words! Not much to say about them except animation would make it pretty cool.
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