Client: Department of Transportation

OBJECTIVES

1. Create a series of maps

2. Each map to have a clear point for the location’s stop

3. Each map to show a perimeter of 2 miles from the stop

4. Local businesses to be featured on maps

5. Iconography and color palette to reflect businesses

6. The logo, bus location, and Legend should be prominent on maps

MY ROLE ON PROJECT

For this project, I served as the student team lead, sitting in on meetings with the marketing department from the DOT with the Design department chair from CCSU. In my role as team lead, I oversaw the design and production of each of the maps, delegating different design areas to the students who participated in this project. The overall design team can be seen in the header image of this page.

Excerpt from the Spring 2015 edition of the CCSU Courier

When CCSU Central Design students first heard about plans for the CTfastrak, they had no idea they would end up creating a high-profile component of the region’s new $347 million rapid transit system.

To help improve mobility and manage congestion in the I-84 New Britain to Hartford corridor, CTfastrak was launched in March as Connecticut’s bus rapid transit (BRT) solution, offering the speed of a rail system with the flexibility of bus service, providing passengers convenient point-to-point service to their destination via a dedicated, bus-only guideway.

In the spring of 2014, officials from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) reached out to Central Design (The Department of Design’s in-house studio) asking if students could create a series of large-scale, colorful, wayfinding maps–one for each of the dedicated transit line’s 10 stations.

Starting with little more than a technical map of each area and some general instructions from DOT, the class, under the guidance of Assistant Professors of Design Eleanor Thornton and Tina Rice, dedicated thousands of volunteer hours creating and revising the wall-mounted maps depicting the new busway line, nearby buildings, and stop-specific businesses and local attractions.