As part of our Identity Systems course, we have worked on creating a Corporate Identity as well as a Wayfinding and Signage System for the famous Spreepark in Berlin. This concept has been created in collaboration with Emma Joutjärvi and Jakub Krehel.
Spreepark is a historic amusement park in the south-east of Berlin from the GDR times, which has been closed in 2001. Since that time, it has been closed to the public and hardly taken care of. The park is surrounded by an aura of mystery and has become famous all over the world.
What struck us the most when visiting Spreepark was how untouched it was. The rides stood there for decades, the way they were left. Nature has overtaken many parts of the structure sand and created life of itself. The way it stands now, Spreepark has become it‘s own ecosystem with different plants and animals using it as their new home.
The day we visited, it was a particualrly gloomy, dark and foggy day which has just added to the mysterious atmosphere and aura that fascinates so many people. The park has become famous all over the world and is a unique place in itself, drawing in many people and causing them to enter under any circumstances.
Chaotic nature as well as the structural remains of the park have inspired us for this idea. The way that these broken metal structures crumble and interact with the nature surrounding them and the new plant life that has grown over time captured our attention like nothing else.
Even though now nature seems to have overtaken, there are still remains from the past, in which humans seemingly dominated the space and created order, system and control in a natural environment by creating paved paths, structures and fences.
INSPIRATION
Keeping these impressions and the feeling of Spreepark in mind, we wanted to come up with something contemporary, however also keeping an essence of the old. We liked the aspect of mystery and adventure. Exploring the space was a fun experience as every turn yielded something new and unexpected and we wanted future visitors to get the same feeling.
Our main goal was to create a branding and wayfinding system incorporating these aspects. It was suppposed to be chaotic so it gave the visitor the choice to explore at their own pace, however controlled enough so it actually functions as a wayfinding system, leading the way and giving directions.
The main idea was not to obscure the view onto the rides and the park itself, while keeping the viewers engaged with our designs. We drew our main inspiration from pipes, scattered across the city of Berlin, appearing at building sites. They are visually striking, as they are large and brightly coloured, often suspended above streets, following walkways and constantly changing positions in spaces, while indirectly interacting with their environment.
Part of our concept was a set of icons, each representing a different iconic ride at Spreepark. I created these icons from scratch, so they represent the rides as closely as possible.
The first set of icons has hard, sharp edges and varying line thickness. I made these according to our group’s ideas and input and we all loved them. However, as our concept evolved and matured, we started having different ideas about how to incorporate these into our design. Since our concept consisted of pipes or wires, which would run across the park, we decided to work on these icons and make a second set, based on these pipes. All throughout the project, we always wanted to preserve the playfulness of Spreepark as a theme park, however bring it to a new, sophisticated level.
The main idea for the new icon set was that each icon would consist of one, continouos line and show a slightly more abstract version of each ride. In the further design process, we would not have to attach signage to our pipes, but the pipes would be colour-coded and create these icons as 3-dimensional sculptures. Each icon would be made in a way that the 2-dimensional icon of each ride can be seen as a flat image from a certain perspective. From any other angle it would be distorted and take on interesting shapes, interacting with the viewer and its surroundings.
LOGO & TYPE
The logo and typography are based on the wayfinding system, creating a visual language connecting to the wires which would be scattered across the park. The logo itself is held as a simple S made out of 3 lines, and the word itself becomes progressively more complex, making the lines intertwine and question the boundaries of 2-dimensional typography in terms of legibility and perspectives. Just like the physical wires, the typography seems chaotic at first, however it follows a particular system and organizational concept.
The typography shows a certain level of playfulness as well as complexity. Its usage is versatile and striking, being immediately recognizable no matter its appearance or surroundings. The mockups show possible applications for signage around the park, as well as merchandise beyond the park. The poster mockups showcase a potential marketing visual language.
As a final step we made multiple mockups and renders of how our designs could be incorporated into the park and how they would interact with their surroundings.
Special thanks to my team colleagues, who have delivered amazing results, my teacher who made all of this possible and the lovely people working on Spreepark, who have given us this special opportunity to visit the park!
