The Urban Information System is the first of its kind in Poland. It has given a consistent graphic identity to the names of streets, neighbourhoods, house numbers and other key elements of the cityscape. It is the very complexity of this task that the designers of the Design Association consider to be the biggest challenge of the project, arguing in an interview for Culture.pl that:
No one in Poland has done such a comprehensive study before. For the first time, we are dealing with a system for a big city which combines road information, directional information for pedestrians, downtown streets and address information. The system also includes maps and so-called 'information modules' about interesting locations. It was also to introduce paid commercial information.
The members of the association, Grzegorz Niwiński, Jerzy Porębski and Michał Stefanowski, preceded their work with a thorough analysis. Not only did their research encompass the space of the city, but it also included sociological and historical studies, so that the resulting design would best integrate with the existing urban fabric and accurately depict Warsaw. The team focused mainly on functionality of the project. The designers recounted:
It's hard to talk about formal inspiration. The design of the system is based on very firm and well-documented technical and functional assumptions.
The font choices and colours were dictated by a desire to maximize the clarity of the text:
We have chosen a font with a large internal white space, condensed so it would easily fit onto the boards, with a slightly increased distance between the characters. All of these features guarantee readability. The colours – blue, white and red – have been selected for the system by way of a compromise between the habits of Warsaw's residents (white and blue have been used before), their visual attributes (contrast), and the search for modern and noticeable visibility.
The only deviation from this colour palette is employed in the Old Town and in the Royal Route area: in order to highlight these special sites, the designers used a brown colour.
In 1998, the project was recognized and awarded in I.D. magazine's 44th Annual Design Review. In 2007, it won the first prize in the Bramy Kraju – Miasto dobrze umeblowane / Country’s Gate – City Well Furnished competition. The characteristic red and blue signposts have become anchored firmly enough in the minds of residents so as to become items of numerous citations and appropriations. Their recognizable design has been used in the promotional materials of election campaigns, as well as to advertise urban apartments. For the city of Warsaw, the Design Association has also created urban furniture on the Royal Route (awarded in the Bramy Kraju competition in 2008). The design team has also been working on visual information systems for other Polish cities. Their project for Bielsko-Biała was hailed as the project of the year by the Association of Graphic Designers in 2012.
Author: Agata Morka, January 2015, transl. GS