Sara, a long time user of PAM, is a designer with Brandculture. She has worked on projects in major healthcare, transport, and education facilities. Most recently working with us on the $1billion revamp of the University of Technology Sydney. A recent convert to PAM we wanted to talk to her about her work and experience in wayfinding.

How long have you been in design?

“I started working as a graphic designer in Milan about 10 years ago. After my master degree, I became very interested in wayfinding. Almost two years ago I joined BrandCulture where I had the great opportunity to learn more about this fascinating world, and work on great projects.”

Has working in the industry been different in Australia and overseas?

“I’ve found out that in Australia there are more companies specialising in Wayfinding and Environmental Graphic Design while in Italy, in most cases, it seems a niche for architecture firms.”

What’s drives you most in your design work?

“Emotion and logic are the two elements that drive me in my design work.
I love finding the right balance between beauty, meaning, and function. Developing a beautiful concept is not enough  everything needs to have a sense of meaning in order to serve the functionality. In order to do that, I see myself deeply emotionally involved with each project while I’m developing the concept, then the logic tends to be more predominant while developing the strategy and the design development.”

What’s your least favourite part of the day to day?

“I don’t really have a particular least favourite part of the day. Maybe finding my coffee cup empty could be a very big disappointment during my day.”

Advice you can give to other designers?

“Be open to challenges. Without a challenge, it is difficult for a designer to evolve. Sometimes we need to get out our comfort zone and take some risks. To be able to live in the information age we need to keep ourselves up to date. The design world is continuously evolving, as well as the technology we use to apply our creative and technical skills. We should be ready to keep learning and discovering. And last but not least, always work with passion.”

How has PAM changed your approach?

“I started using PAM during my very first site visit. I was walking among the site with just my smartphone in my hand without carrying clipboards or pens. I could see the floor plan of the building and add assets using geographic references. It was so easy that I couldn’t imagine any other way to do it. Seeing all the photos uploaded directly to the right location on a floor plan made all the review and analysis after the site visit much simpler than scrolling through hundreds of photos in one folder and having to manually organise them.”

Which PAM features are most useful to your role as a designer?

“The geo-referencing feature makes it possible to see the sign assets located in the right location, which makes the process faster and very organised. With PAM, communication with the client is also made much easier and more efficient. The software offers a live feature that allows clients to log in and give feedback on each specific asset in real-time. This keeps communication between major stakeholders open throughout the whole process and increases productivity and efficiency.”

What’s the future of wayfinding in your eyes?

“Wayfinding is a process, which aims to solve a spatial problem related to reaching a certain destination, and perhaps also returning from it, but what is also important is the experience that the user has along the journey. So to understand what the future of wayfinding looks like, it is important to understand the modern world we live in. I believe the future of wayfinding should be more digital and accessible. With the use of digital devices nowadays, the user is starved for information. Technology can help the user not just navigate from point A to point B but also personalise their journey. The user’s perception of wayfinding is based on psychology and cognitive science, which involves the use of all our senses, hence integrating more digital technology in wayfinding techniques would create a more accessible and inclusive experience.”