Principle Centered Design: An Overview

Environmental graphic design (EGD) ventures beyond mere aesthetics, orchestrating a symphony of experiences that empowers our engagement with the built environment. Beyond simple enjoyment, users should connect with a place through meaningful experiences that resonate with them.

At RSM Design, our work is guided by a Principle-Centered Design approach, meaning that universal principles are at the center, guiding everything we do. We believe that it is our task to discover these principles and align our design process to them. These principles are fundamental truths that inform decisions we make, putting human needs at the center. 

Albert Einstein wrote, “The significant challenges we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein’s lifelong passion for physics was sparked at the age of four when his father showed him a small compass. The needle of the compass, always pointing north, showed him there were underlying forces and principles that explained how the universe operates. By understanding these principles, we can start to advance the design problems and challenges we are confronted with in the work that we do. 

Kevin Lynch’s foundational concepts of paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks play a role in how we think of and interact with environmental graphic design. Our concepts of Certainty, Variety, and Delight also contribute to our whole-person paradigm approach, resulting in spaces that are engaging, meaningful, and navigable. Through EGD, we are able to create layers of experience that enhance how we interact with our surroundings.

Clear, intuitive wayfinding systems achieve Certainty in the built environment. Maps, arrows, labels, and symbols make a place decipherable to its users. This gives visitors a sense of comfort and security by making sure they can move through spaces with confidence and ease. It encourages exploration and discovery by reassuring them that they won’t get lost.

A common example of this is the wayfinding system used in airports, where travelers are guided effortlessly from check-in to boarding gates using clear signage and directional cues that reduce hassle and frustration. At RSM Design, we used identity signage and directional wayfinding to provide Certainty for travelers at New York’s Grand Central Terminal, effectively guiding users while also providing a branded experience that pays homage to its historic roots.

Variety in design brings together various aspects of scale, color, pattern, and form to create an enriched environment. That very diversity can transform mundane places (often a result of too much Certainty) into vivid, dynamic experiences.

Consider the new dining hall at UC San Diego’s Sixth College. RSM Design employed Variety to create five different branded restaurant experiences which were at once unique to each place’s menu and a cohesive whole. From the living green wall at Crave, to the fluid typography and neon sign at Noodles, to the vibrant and playful mural at Wolftown, each restaurant’s environmental graphic design designates it as its own individual space.

Variety keeps the built environment from being monotonous and provides a range of experiences within one place. Variations in design can segment the overall space into small, delightful experiences, which keep visitors engaged and moving to other areas with curiosity and a sense of discovery.

The Delight element instills that “wow” factor into a space, be it whimsical sculptures or unexpected murals. Art and playful design elements produce surprise and joy, resulting in emotional connections that make lasting impressions on visitors.

An excellent case in point would be the mural at Ovation Hollywood. RSM Design worked with Geoff McFetridge to create a playful black-and-white mural on the new archway, welcoming visitors with a moment of Delight.

Pleasurable elements in EGD do not only create an astonishing visual appearance, but also evoke emotional involvement. They transform ordinary spaces into extraordinary ones, offering a resonance that reaches people on a deeper level. This connection motivates visitors to revisit and recommend places through word of mouth, extending the delightful moments they experienced there.

With these concepts in mind we must ask ourselves, how do we create meaningful and engaging environments that can be explored while still ensuring users can navigate comfortably and intuitively? Kevin Lynch, the author of The Image of the City, provides a model to classify key points in an environment that allow users to understand and move through a place.

• Paths are ways of facilitating movement, creating an organizational framework to follow.
• Edges create boundaries, organizing a space by restricting movement in certain areas.
• Districts are smaller sections within a space which can be entered and exited.
• Nodes are junctions within a space that offer multiple options to users.
• Landmarks are identifiable features of a space that help to orient users.

By considering these key points in our projects, we can ensure we can provide users with the Certainty they need to find their way, Variety to highlight transitions and inspire discovery, and Delight to make their experiences meaningful.

In RSM Design’s work with environmental graphic design, we connect people with places in meaningful ways, engaging the whole person through four intelligences: Mental, Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual. Addressing such intelligences in EGD creates places that resonate on many levels to ensure a deeper and more holistic connection with the built environment.

• Physical Intelligence (PQ): Engagement of the body through intuitive wayfinding and interactive spaces promotes physical exploration and activity. By providing Certainty with clear wayfinding systems, users have the sense of security needed to engage in discovery. Especially in parks and public spaces, this is visible in the inclusion of play areas and walking trails.
  
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Designing spaces that allow people to congregate and connect creates the conditions that foster emotional engagement. Placemaking elements, specialty graphics, and public art enrich the built environment, encouraging users to pause, enjoy, and share their experience. Open spaces, seating areas, and communal art installations promote interaction and communal experiences of Delight.
  
• Mental Intelligence (IQ): The built environment should get users thinking about where they are and their place in it. This can be introduced through educational components like plaques, historical markers, and interactive displays, which facilitate learning and growth. Sharing the story of a place enriches its visitors’ knowledge, understanding, and experience of it.
  
• Spiritual Intelligence (SQ): Spaces that emanate meaning and purpose resonate on a spiritual level. Through thoughtful design and discovery, we are able to highlight the special spirit and voice that makes a place more than just a physical location. This allows users to develop a deeper connection to the built environment and understand its larger meaning.

The voice and spirit of a place are discovered from within; they aren’t invented from the outside. We initiate collaborative conversations among clients and communities to uncover the inherent meaning and purpose of a place. At RSM Design, this process—referred to as “visioning”—allows us to share a story that rings true within the community that uses a space by creating environments that are authentic and meaningful.

Research and discovery are critical to the process. In order to uncover a project’s unique voice, we must ask ourselves: Who uses the space? What do they need from this place? How is it affected by the terrain and weather? What is its history? Its roots? What does it mean to the local community, and what could it mean?

After gathering ideas from stakeholders and our own research, we translate those ideas into a strong understanding of the community and its identity, needs, and values. That understanding is clarified, ultimately producing a unified and well-articulated vision.

With this as our guide, along with our Principle-Centered Design approach, we can produce design solutions that are creative, strategic, and synergistic to make the vision a reality. We seek continual feedback from stakeholders and the community along the way to make sure the built environment is authentic and effective.