Design for connecting rivers and people

Research Projects and Initiatives

Recent Studies at Faculty of Design

Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design
SOGABE Haruka, Associate Professor

I aim to create good relationships between people and objects in everyday life through my public design work.

Designs that take into account the role and positioning of river signs

Rivers should be used as familiar places for daily rest and relaxation, and there are rules and etiquette that each user should follow to ensure that everyone can use the river comfortably and without serious accidents, etc. River managers send messages to users by putting up signs to encourage them to use the river in a pleasant and safe way, but are the signs really doing their job of getting the message across to users? there were doubts as to whether the signs were really doing their job of getting the message across to users. So we worked with river managers to design easy-to-understand river signs.
Signs on rivers can be divided into three categories: regulatory/educational signs indicating rules and etiquette, information and interpretation signs directing and explaining river facilities and the history and nature of the area, and name signs indicating the name of the river or facility. The majority of signs are regulatory and awareness signs, many of which consist of a combination of illustrations and textual information, making it difficult to convey the meaning of each message. It could also be argued that the use of different illustrations for the same message made it difficult to understand that they were the same message.
Based on the characteristics and positioning of each sign, design rules were established for regulatory and educational signs to convey a clear and understandable message to users. The basic policy for information and interpretation signs and name signs was to make them part of the local river landscape as they provide information specific to the area.

Fig.1 Regulatory and awareness signs use a combination of two squares as the basis of the sign. Each square contains a pictogram indicating an action and a message. Depending on the content of the message, regulation, and awareness signs are divided into three levels - prohibition, warning, and awareness - and color rules are defined for each sign. (left) Basic rules for regulation and awareness signs (right) List of regulation and awareness signs

Fig.2 The basis of the design of the name signs is to incorporate local materials, shapes, etc. as motifs in the signs. In some cases, this makes it possible to discuss the issue with local people. (left) Shirakawa River Name Sign (center) Mikuma River Name Sign (right) Kikuchi River Name Sign

Related organization
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kyushu Regional Development Bureau

■Contact
Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design
SOGABE Haruka, Associate Professor