Wayfinding Avatars

I did these a while ago just after I came back from Tokyo.

I was walking around, imagining a better system for finding my way to the right train. The English signage is pretty good but there are about 30 different subway lines run by different companies so you sometimes have to change stations get from one line to another. It’s very idiosyncratic and complicated. I was thinking about a system where fish matching the colour of the line you want are swimming along and you can follow them. The fish are travelling at the right speed to meet a train. If there’s a fish going really fast you know the train is coming very soon and that, to get it, you will need to run.

The idea is that you see a fish and tuck in behind it to follow. When the train comes, the fish swim onto the train. Maybe they disappear - or maybe, if you’ve specified a destination and need to change trains, the fish stay on the train and change colour to match the new line. They get off at the right station and you can follow them to the next train.