How does public signage impact our wayfinding capabilities? Just as spoken language is a form of communication, visual communication is just as crucial for expressing ideas and emotions. With this premise, a group of urban planning students developed their graphic fluency by studying transit mapping and representation. Using the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA) Metro Rail as a base map, students engaged in a series of exercises to consume, critique, and produce a compelling graphic presentation.

Adobe Illustrator and SketchUp were the primary tools utilized in producing deliverables throughout the semester. Using several transit maps from other U.S. cities as a precedent, students developed proficiency in interpreting, understanding, and visualizing graphics as urban planning professionals.

Over the course of the semester, students uncovered their own graphic style and translated it to create public maps and signage. Viyona Chavan, an MUP student with a background in architecture, describes the course as a graphic storytelling process, producing illustrations through the lens of the NFTA user.

Students expressed that modeling the downtown environment was an exciting way to study and improve the NFTA system and an effective way to learn more about the City of Buffalo.

Student: Viyona Chavan

Faculty: Kelly Gregg

Term: Fall 2022

Course: URP523

Program: MUP