Design concept of a transport map of Irkutsk – case of the Adict agency

In Irkutsk, a transport card has been introduced on municipal public transport – buses, trolleybuses and trams.

We will not go into organizational, technical or economic details, but will talk about what is close to us – design.

This is what the transport map of Irkutsk looks like now

Anyone can buy it for 100 rubles and proudly carry it in their pocket.

What happened?

First, let’s look at what’s wrong with the map from a design perspective.

Contrast and readability: White text has low contrast to the gray background, which may make it difficult to read, especially in poor lighting conditions or for people with visual impairments.

Fonts and Typography: The font used may not be the best choice for small text on a map. There also seems to be a lack of consistency in the typography, which can be confusing. An accent font from the 19th century?

Branding and Identity: The map does not contain strong branding elements that would help establish a connection with Irkutsk and its identity. Over the past 10 years, there have been several approaches to developing the identity of Irkutsk: from the famous “Irkutskness” to work on creating a design code for the tourist center of Irkutsk.

Color palette: Colors do not reflect current design trends and may not be optimal for passengers, including those who have difficulty distinguishing colors or have poor vision.

We can continue further about the use of space, iconography, hierarchy of information, etc.

Separately, we note that the layout was not made professionally: notice how the background shade on the map is different, which indicates that the designer did not bother much with preparing the layouts.

All these little things add up to the big picture.

How could it be done?

First, let’s think about who will mainly use the card? 80% will be made up of two groups:

1. Schoolchildren and students: Young people often depend on public transport to get to and from school.
2. Aged people: regularly use public transport, as they often have travel benefits and may not have personal transport or the ability to use it.

2.1. People with Disabilities: City residents who need accessible transportation equipped to meet their special needs.

If we focus solely on the visual design of the card, discarding materials and functional features, we can highlight the following design criteria:

For schoolchildren and students:

Vibrant and dynamic colors: Using a bright color palette can attract youth and reflect energy.

Trendy design: Incorporating popular visual trends or stylized images that reflect the interests of youth.

Minimalism: Modern trends often follow clean and simple designs, which may appeal to younger users.

For older people:

High contrast and large font: Ensures text and graphics are highly visible by using contrasting colors and large font sizes.

Clarity and Clarity: The design should be free from unnecessary embellishments that may obscure the basic information.

Simplicity and clarity: Images and icons should be clear and easily identifiable to avoid causing confusion.

General principles:

Understandability: All text and graphics on the map should be clear and easy to interpret.

Visibility: you need to make the card easy to find among other cards or things.

Local identity: the use of images and metaphors that are easily recognizable and understandable to a wide audience, including young people and older people, and also associated with Irkutsk.

Now let’s look at the current design again:

And let’s imagine what the transport map of Irkutsk could look like if not all, but some of the criteria listed above were taken into account.

Here we used a pattern developed for the design code of the tourist center of Irkutsk, elements of which can already be found on the streets of the city (often near bus stops).

The result is a stylistic refrain that connects different functional elements of the urban environment. Design code begins to work comprehensively, and not just decoratively.

And as part of the card design, we follow the rules of the design code and the use of a color palette for promotional elements.

Let’s add more identities

Why not go back in time and use what we consider to be successful results of work on the identity and branding of Irkutsk?

Icons of the 355th anniversary of Irkutsk, which are still found in the city today

Irkutsk? Easily!

For schoolchildren?

In order to make the design more alive and customized, we turned to Irkutsk designer Yaroslav Ovsyannikov, who conceived and is actively implementing the sobolzhiv project. As part of this project, famous and not so famous Irkutsk artists create illustrations in which Babr, the symbol of Irkutsk, does not eat sable, but is friends with it. Look what happened:

Instead of a conclusion

In this article and work, we wanted to show how important a systematic and comprehensive approach is. It is equally important to involve professionals because their experience helps you avoid many mistakes and create a product that is not only beautiful, but also functional.

It is extremely important to include society itself in the process of developing socially significant projects. Feedback and suggestions help make the design more relevant to real needs, increase its attractiveness and popularity among ordinary people – those for whom this design is created.