Index

To get things started I decided to produce a brain storm conceptualising ideas that ranged from the crazy to the already existing.

I put 'train & joy brief' in the centre and worked on this topic.

I came up with 14 different ideas, not all of them realistic but it was a starting point and something to work with.

My top ideas ranged from a themed train station, sensory changes, an interactive lounge and colour systems.

expanded ideas

After I finished my brain storm, I took my top 4 realistic ideas and expanded on them.

1) Themed station idea - Everything in the station would have a set theme e.g. themed furniture, themed smells and themed music/sound.

2) Sensory changes - Singing when door opens, timed air fresheners and colours that affect mood.

3) Interactive lounge - Moving images, chairs change colour, tabletop game and fun music.

4) Colour systems - Scan ticket, this will show you a colour, follow arrow to platform.

Existings ways of bringing joy to stations

Network Rail Build a temporary Urban Oasis for passengers at London Bridge station. The idea behind this was to help commuters escape the hustle and bustle of their daily commutes.

Those in need of a moment of tranquillity can find it in four temporary public gardens created using materials recycled from the recent RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival.

Henry Johnstone, business and operations manager for Team London Bridge, added: “We are delighted that the New Forms gardens have been so well received by the public and are grateful for Network Rails support in making it happen”.

Pros & Cons of London Bridge Oasis

This particular project caught my attention as it gives the public a short experience of joy at a train station by utilizing it's spaces. It also has a big overall impact particularly on the public's mental well being, as it implements peace and tranquility.

I already considered this concept before I came across this project, as this effect is something I want to achieve with my idea.

(Right: A table of the pros and cons I thought of for this exisiting way of bringing joy.)

The Aesthetics of Joy

The 'Platfrom for joy' brief mentions Ingrid Fetell Lee's webiste 'The Aesthetics of Joy'. I thought this was important so I did what was suggested and came across an artcile called 'The power of colour in unexpected places'.

Train stations aren't assossiated with being joyful colourful places, so I thought this article could be of use.

A specific section caught my attention, which refered to the Norweign 787 Dreamliner, in this plane you can change the colour of lights (moodlighting).

I did not realise that planes had this kind of technology, so like the article suggested this was colour in an unexpected place.

In my expanded ideas I wrote about sensory changes and in particular moodlighting, so I felt that my project was heading in the right direction after reading this article.

The idea

My idea is to use different coloured lighting and sound to create assets for a visual and sensory tunnel experience (light installations) to reduce stress due to distasteful spaces.

As commuters aren’t at stations for long periods of time, it's all about how you can add an element of joy in the short time frame they are there.

I felt the best way to do was to target commuters senses, in particular sight and sound. I ruled out touch and taste, as these two require time which commuters may not have. I may come back to smell later on.

Fine tuning my idea

I fine tuned my idea by picking a specific area of the train station, the area that I chose to focus on was station underpasses. I picked underpasses as this space could be used to create an immersive tunnel experience.

Idea name

The idea behind the name for my light installations came from combining the 2 main elements required to create this experience. These being 'installation' and 'train station'.

The'stallation' part of installation sounded very similar to station, I therefore decided to combine the two which resulted in 'trainstallations'.

Idea strapline

I wanted my strapline to express what my installations would do for commuters in a short catchy phrase.

I did this by writing down the main elements of my experience and then rewording them so that they would rhyme.

The end result being "Taking the strain off of the train".

(Right: written ideas for the strapline.)

Light installation primary research

Firstly, I decided I should research existing light installations to gain knowledge on the technology. I realised that I could use my past experiences to help me do this. Whilst in Japan I visisted an interactive light installation experience run by the camera company Epson called Teamlab Borderless.

This experience delivers a change of scenery, a burst of purple flowers here, a shower of sunflowers there, even while standing in the same spot.

Step back into that same flower forest later and the seasons have changed. The museum is not called 'Borderless' for nothing, the art moves freely.

Forest of Lamps

Weightless Forest of Reasonating Life (ft friend)

Forest of Flowers and People (ft friend)

At Teamlab Borderless there were a variety of interactive activities as well as the installations.One in particular that caught my attention was an interactive slide, When you slide down it the assets you touch exploded or bounced away.

At Teamlab you have the time to explore and experience everything, allowing you to really immersive yourself in the exhibits and get stuck in.

But at a trainstation not a lot of people have the time to participate in an interactive activity. So I wanted to try and incorporate the interactivity in a way in which they don't have to delay their commute. They are unknowingly participating so they can still appreciate the interactivity even if they do not have the time for it.

Idea sketches for light installations

I sketched a couple of possible ideas for themes for my tunnel experience, I did this to help get a feel for what ideas I could have for my final idea.

All of my ideas incorperate nature, not only does it look appealing, but nature has been proven to reduce stress in people. So this is why I want my installations to be nature based.

(Right: Idea 1- Blossom creek.)

Aquarium tunnel

Pond life

Hana garden

Concept art development process

I decided to make a concept piece on Blossom creek to get a feel for what one of my possible ideas would look like in an underpass.

I did this using mainly primary images I had, I then maniupulated these images to create my idea in Adobe's Photoshop.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Primary research - Clapham Junction survey

I decided to carry out my survey at this station as I knew from experience that this station had an underpass. Also, this was the only station that I knew of that had a underpasses that was relatively close to me.

This is the underpass that I will be using for all of my future design work ands for my prototype.

I had a strategy when it came to getting commuters to answer my survey, I knew from experience that at Clapham certain platforms had waiting rooms with cafes.

I felt that commuters would be more inclined to talk to me if they were sat down waiting for their train, instead of trying to catch rushing people in the underpass itself. So this is where I carried out my survey.

I found it easier to approach commuters than what I had thought, majority of the people I asked were happy to talk to me and answered my questions. Although for a couple of the surveys I forgot to mention I was a student so they gave me very brief answers or they had to rush off and catch their train.

I asked each person 4 questions: 1) “What have your experiences been like when you walked through a train station underpass”? 2) “What are your thoughts and feelings when walking through the underpass?” 3) “What are the problems that you find with walking through the underpass?” 4) “What ways do you think your experience in the underpass could be improved?”

Survey 1 feeback

1)“Okay except for rush hour”.

2)“Catching my train or when I need to get off of one”.

3)“None, over crowded, I use the bridge instead”.

4)“Build another bridge”.

Survey 2 feeback

1)“Distastful” .

2)“How quickly can I make it out of the underpass” .

3)“Nothing special” .

4)“Build more bridges at a higher level” .

Survey 3 feeback

1)“Fine” .

2)“Which platform I need to get to” .

3)“None” .

4)“It is okay as it is” .

Survey 4 feeback

1)“It is fine, but it can be quite crowded”.

2)“Am I going to make my train?” “It is quite gloomy, it could be jazzed up a bit”.

3)“Ugly and gloomy”.

4)“More colour it needs jazzing up”.

Survey 5 feeback

1)“Fine, Busy, Angry people”.

2)“Angry/aggy sometimes, I need to rush to get to my train”.

3)“People, Over crowded, underpass is narrow, Stairs up and down system does not work”.

4)“Brighten up area to make it not so gloomy.” “More tasteful and colourful.” “Bring day time to the underpass, if they had a budget use aromatherapy oils in the tunnel”.

Survey 6 feeback

1)“Manic, not very light, weather conditions not suitable” e.g. rain & snow, The platform is bigger/wider than the underpass.

2)“Bit crowded, everyone is rushing, overpass is different from the underpass”.

3)“Manic, not very light, weather conditions not suitable” e.g. rain & snow, The platform is bigger/wider than the underpass.

4)“Platform sign need to be more visible, the odd few shops in the underpass need to put up on the platform”.

User flow experience diagram

During a lecture I mapped out our user flow experience, this was to help produce 'how might we questions' for our case study.

I had 3 different users; commuter who enter the underpass, commuter who leave the underpass and station staff. I then mapped out their experience if my tunnel experience was real.

(Sticky notes are 'how might we questions'.)

Storyboard of user flow experience

The images below are my storyboard of how the commuter would interact with the light installations in the underpass.

Image one is the basic user experience flow, it shows the commuter walking into the entrance of the underpass. They will then walk through the tunnel until they reach the stairs of their desired platform then catch their train feeling happier.

Image two is an extra step in the user flow experience, this is only if the commuter has enough time to interact with the installations. This is where the commuter has the opportunity to touch the installation assets.

Image three is another extra step in the user flow experience, again this is only if the commuter has enough time to interact with the installations. this is where the commuter has the opportunity to stand against the wall and allow the projector to project the assets onto them.

1) User flow experience

2) Extra step (if commuter has time)

3) Extra step (if commuter has time)

Reenactment of user flow experience diagram

Whilst I was at clapham I thought I would reenact the user flow experience by acting it out in the underpass.

( Right: Image reenactment of interaction with the installations- this would be an extra step carried out if commuters had the time.)

Commuter enters underpass

Commuter walks through installation

Commuter walks up to platform feeling less stressed and more at ease in distasteful underpass

Commuter exits train & walks down stairs

Commuter walks through installation

Commuter walks to exit feeling less stressed and more at ease in distasteful underpass

This quiet underpass leads up to platform 7 and 8.

I decided to take pictures of this specific underpass as it has plain walls and was completely empty.(Unlike the main underpass.)

I thought this would be good for when I came make my prototype, as this will easily allow me to be able to apply my assets to that area as it is a blank canvas. Also, I will not have to worry about figures getting in the way and having to edit them.

Empty underpass image 1

Empty underpass image 2

Empty underpass image 3

I thought I would also reenact out the interactivity on the stairs leading up and down from to train platforms.

( Right: Image reenactment of interaction with interactive stairs installations- commuters would tread on the assets and the assets would then react in some way.)

Technologies to make my idea

Projection mapping

What is projection mapping? - Projection mapping is the display of an image(s) onto a non-flat or non-white surface.

How does it work? - Projection Mapping uses projectors to map light onto any surface turning common objects and surfaces either flat or 3D into interactive displays.

What devices are required for projection mapping to happen? - Any form of projector and projection mapping software or Adobe's After effects.

What technologies and devices do teamlab borderless use to create their installations? - Teamlab use a total of 524 Epson projectors, (including those held in reserve) these projectors are used across the Mori Building to bring approximately 60 works of art to life. The projectors include Epson EB-L1105U units, EB-L1505UH high brightness units, EB-700U ultra-short throw units as well as a variety of different lenses.

Epson EB-L1105U units

EB-L1505UH high brightness unitss

EB-700U ultra-short throw units

Themes & asset ideas

For my tunnel experience I decided that I would have 2 main themes which would be two seperate light installations. These two themes will transition between one another after a period of time in the tunnel experience.

Firstly, I will be deciding on the chosen themes and then taking these and developing the assets for these themes.

I decided that I would take my top 3 ideas forward from the brainstorm, then after developing those see which of the 3 work most to take forward to develop even further.

Brainstorming ideas for the underpass -

When thinking of ideas I had to bare in mind that the ideas I come up with have to be nature inspired and must include calming colours.

My initial ideas started with nature and animals, from there I jotted down ideas for changing seasons, under the sea, a under water city, a beach idea, a cherry blossom idea and a coral reef idea.

Brainstorming ideas for interactive stairs -

After I finished brainstomring themes for the tunnel I then went on to brainstorm ideas for the interactive part of my light installations. I am factoring in the issue of the up and down system for the stairs that does not work. Therefore making a light installation that tackles this.

Interactivity Deer park- Deers travel up and down the stairs or stars/constellations making up and down arrows.

Interactivity Coral reef - Schools of fish making up and down arrows or using crabs.

Interactivity Blooming gardens - Groups of flowers or butterfly making up and down arrows.

Top 3 ideas for assets

Using the ideas from my brainstorm I came up with my top 3 themes for my assets. These were: Deer Park, Coral reef and Blooming gardens.

I decided to go with these 3 ideas as they were all very different from one another, but all fitted the criteria for colour and were nature inspired.

For each of the 3 ideas I decided to draw out a scene to help visualise what these themes could look like. (These ideas are below.)

Deer park

Coral reef

Butterfly & flowers

Development of my top 3 ideas

Storyboards -

Deer park - This theme is about a deer couple who stumble upon each other one night and fall. This scence will be displayed in many different variations starting at different times

Coral reef - This theme is is a constant loop of 3 main scenes, these scenes consist of a coral reef drop off, manta rays in the open and whales in the deep.

Blooming gardens - This theme consists of lots of groups of flowers covering the walls and groups of butterflys touching the flowers. These flowers will then start to lose their petals and eventually disappear. A new group of flowers will replace this once all petals/flowers have floated away.

Sketches of assets -

Deer park - For this theme I sketched a variety of deer in different movements, as this will help me if I decide to take this theme forward and make a working protoype of this installations.

Coral reef - For this theme I sketched different body movements of how a manta ray moves through the water. Like with deer park, this will help me if I decide to take this theme forward and make a working protoype of the installations. I also drew a couple of sketches of whales, I will do the same movement development for these assets if I take this idea forward.

Blooming garden - With Blooming gardens I took a different approach, I firstly drew each chosen flower by itself then drew them in groups of the same flower. From this I then drew what the petal of each flower would look like so I could then use these for a later sketch. (This later sketch was each single flower exploding.) I also drew different flying movements of how a butterly will look when travelling, as this part of the installtion will move also.

Theme concepts at Clapham Junction -

For each theme I wanted to create a rough idea of what each one would look like in the underpass to see which themes work the best. Taking the best 2 ideas forward to develop further. For each theme I sketched the empty underpass at Clapham Junction and then coloured them in with marker pens creating the themes in the tunnel.

Deer park storyboard

Deer movement sketches

Deer park tunnel idea

Coral reef storyboard

Manta ray sketches

Whale sketches

Coral reef tunnel idea

Blooming gardens storyboard

Butterfly sketches

Different flower asset sketches

Blooming gardens tunnel idea

Asset development

Top 2 themes

The top 2 themes I decided to go forward with were Coral reef and Blooming gardens. The reasons why I decided on these 2 was:

Coral reef- This installation theme caters to the more calming requirements as it uses soothing colours, music and animal assets.

Blooming Gardens-This installation theme caters to the more vibrant requiremnts as it uses bold colours, vivid lighting, magical music and nature assets.

Choosing the art medium

Here I started to experiment with different medium brush types. I did this to discover which brushtype would be best fitted for when it came to painting my assets.

I made these examples in the shape of fish (Coral reef themed) in an apple ios application called Procreate. Procreate in an alternative to Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator, but specialises in mainly painting and drawing.

Coral reef assets

Manta ray assets

I decided to make a quick animation with the manta ray assets that I drew.

This was to show the movement of the manta rays and how they would move on the walls of the train station underpass.

In my storyboard the manta rays travel in groups, so I recreated this by having a group of 4 manta rays in the animation.

whale assets

I also decided to make a quick animation with the whale assets that I drew.

This was to show the movement of the whales and how they would move on the walls of the train station underpass.

In my storyboard, the whales travel in groups, so I recreated this by having 2 whales in the animation.

Fish assets

After creating the manta ray and whale animations, I made a quick animation with the fish assets that I drew.

This was to show the movement of the fish and how they would move on the walls of the train station underpass.

In my storyboard, the fish travel in groups, so I recreated this by having a school of fish in the animation.

Crab assets

Interactivity stairs assets

For the interactive part of my installation I decided to create an animation of how the crabs I drew will move up the stairs.

This was to show the movement of the crabs and the up and down arrows they are carrying on the stairs in the underpass.

I thought I would make a short animation to show how commuters would interact with the assets whilst walking up and down the stairs.

(For the sake of this animation, the commuter is walking up the stairs.)

The crabs carry out their usual movement like in the animation above. But when a commuter steps on a crab, the crab gets spooked and disappears by scuttering to the side of the stairs and disappears

Background scenery without assets

Coral drop off (Fish)

The open (Manta rays)

The open - The deep (Whales)

The deep (Whales)

The deep - Coral drop off

The shallows (crabs)

Background scenery with assets

Coral drop off

The open

The open - The deep

The deep (Whales)

The deep - Coral drop off

The shallows (crabs)

Visual representation of Coral reef at Clapham Junction underpass

Final concept image of Coral reef

(Light installation in the tunnel.)

Final concept image of Coral reef

(interactive light installation on the stairs.)

Blooming gardens assets

Butterfly assets

For the interactive part of the Blooming gardens installation I decided to create an animation of how the butterflys will fly. This was to show the movement of how the butterflys will travel on the underpass walls.

I thought I would make a short animation to show how commuters would interact with the assets whilst walking up and down the stairs.

The butterflys will be in groups forming arrows. (The example of this is in the animation below.)

The commuter can then tred on the butterflys if they wish to do so and this animation is a representation of what would happen if they did.

This animation shows what the butterfly arrows would look like projected onto the underpass stairs.

Flower assets

This animation shows how the butterflys and flowers assets will interact with one another in the underpass.

Once a butterfly touches a flower it will slowly start to fade away in the form of petals. Another flower will then replace it and pop up in the tunnel but at another location.

Scenery with assets

Flower assets scene

Butterfly assets scene

Butterfly & flower assets scene

Visual representation of Blooming gardens at Clapham Junction underpass

Final concept image of Blooming gardens

(Light installation in the tunnel.)

Final concept image of Blooming gardens

(interactive light installation on the stairs.)

Accompanying music

For my tunnel experience I needed to make audio clips to accompany the installations.

The light installations will have transition periods, this is where the theme of the installation will switch. I needed to take into consideration that the audio clips must fit each installation theme.

From my feeback I recived with my surveys, it was suggested that I needed to make calming and thereputic music. But also make music that is suited to each theme

I did this by finding calming audio clips online and combing them with other calming audio clips.

Blooming gardens music

For my blooming gardens installation I wanted to create magical and calming audio to accompany this.

I did this by combining twinkly and zen like music, I feel that these 2 brought together create a magical zen like garden atmosphere.

But as the same time, the music is quite up lifting. Which I feel will accompany the bright and colourful assets quite well.

Coral reef music

For my Coral reef installation I wanted to create a piece of audio that incorperated water sounds and reminds you of being at the spa.

For this I used deeper and more delayed sounds, but not so deep that the piece of music was no longer calming.

I added sounds of rain and ocean waves as the backdrop noise for this piece of music.

I also added little snippets of twinkly audio from the blooming gardens audio clip. I did this so that the piece of music wasn't too deep and became depressing.

Blooming gardens audio clip

Coral reef audio clip

Testing my idea - Clapham Junction survey

After completing my final installation pieces I decided to go out and test them back at Clapham Junction.

This was to determine if my idea resolves the problems stated at the beginning of my project.

I did this by asking commuters questions: 1) “Do you feel that my idea would improve your experience of walking through an underpass?” 2) “Do you feel that my idea would improve your mood walking through an underpass?” 3) “Do you feel that my idea solves the issue of the up and down system on the stairs to the platforms?” 4) “Do you feel that my idea combats the 'distasteful' feel which underpasses have about them?” 5) “Do you feel that my idea would bring joy when walking through an underpass?”

survey 1 responses

1)“Yes”. 2)“Yes, the space would. no longer be depressing”. 3)“Yeah”. 4)“Yes, especially with younger children”. 5) “Yeah”.

survey 2 responses

1)“Oh yeah”. “A lot more vibrant and exciting”. 2)“It brings cheerfulness & relaxation”. “Music relaxes you whilst you walk through the underpass”. “Interactive parts could be fun & would boost moral”. 3)“Yes”. “As long as people follow it”. 4)vYes 100%”. 5) “Yes it certainly would”.

survey 3 responses

1)“Yes, very much so”. 2)“Yes, the nature images are calming with the music”. 3)“I don't know if it will solve it, but it is a good idea”. “It has the potential to work if people follow it”. 4)“It would no longer be gloomy, as it brings colour”. 5) “It would definately”.

survey 4 responses

1)“Yes I do”. 2)“Yes, as installations combined with the music is uplifting”. “I would feel chirpier”. 3)“Yes it does, the installations make it clear where to go”. 4)“Yes, the installations lighten up the underpass and look nice”. 5)“Yes”.

survey 5 responses

1)“Absolutely, 100 percent”. 2)“Walkiung through the underpass is very stressful”. “I feel my anxiety would reduce with the use of the sound effects and light installations”. 3)“Yes, it would reduce confusion”. 4)“Yes, I find them dirty and depressing”. “Your idea would change the space of the underpass for the better”. 5)“Yes, I would look forward to my journey to and from work”.

RSA Project

The brief

The problem

The solution

Brainstorm