FINAL MAP
SJSU as a public and private space.
There is a significant number of homeless around the campus that impacts the student experience. For example, the library is a joint public and university space. Thus, homeless people hang out in the same space where students study. Some students feel threatened by their presence. At the same time, some students and professors are homeless and need food assistance themselves. I wanted to contrast this with the University’s effort to create student communities, activities, and engagement.
Design Choices:
I included images of students and homeless people because pictures are more visceral than icons and text. The images are within the blocks – a metaphor for being part of the landscape.
Blue and yellow are SJSU’s colors. Helvetica is one of it’s approved fonts for marketing.
I wanted to keep the base map as “real” as possible so I only made few alterations to it.
THE ORIGINAL FIVE FORCES
San Jose State University is a community of more than 35000 students, staff, and faculty members. It’s also part of the downtown San Jose community. Thus, there’s a blend of forces that impact its space and people.
Buildings in Decay
SJSU was founded in 1857. It’s compacted within a 19 square blocks in downtown San Jose which limits its growth and renewal. A number of buildings are in poor shape. Some lack proper heating and air conditioning. The map helps visualize the age of the buildings and how the SJSU has been built over the last century.
I decided to use the color spectrum to help visualize the age of the buildings. The oldest buildings are in red followed by red-orange and so on. This shows when and how the campus has grown in chucks or sections.
My first iteration included different texture gradation. However, I didn’t like how it looked visually and didn’t feel it was necessary to depict the decay of the buildings. Also, it wasn’t consistent with the rest of the design.
Public Space
A number of large apartment complexes have been built in downtown San Jose in the last decade. Unfortunately, there’s very little open space for people enjoy. Dog owners use SJSU as a “park” to exercise their dogs and allow them to relieve themselves. Also, street vendors selling snacks take advantage of the open campus and concentration of customers.
I decided to use metaphors of people and place them where I observed the activities taking place. Using black differentiates the metaphors from the other forces. Also, the people metaphors are in the act of walking. I added the grass element because dog walkers use that space. (I wanted to illustrate the dogs peeing but decided against it :).
Safety and Security
There have been a number of high profile incidents including a sexual predator and an assault that heightened the security risks on campus. Emergency call boxes and video surveillance help keep the space secure.
Downtown San Jose has a large homeless population who sometimes enter the space. Though not a threat – there’s a sense that homeless people are not welcomed on campus.
I used familiar metaphors for the call boxes (red = emergency) and video camera (blue = police). The circle around the video camera implies its visual range.
Student Community Spaces
SJSU is largely a commuter campus; most students live far off campus. There are spaces for students to congregate and meet with friends or clubs. The Student Union and 7th Street Avenue is the central location for student gatherings and activities.
I used metaphors for activities: pool, soccer, and juggling. I decided to use dots to convey concentration of students in areas where student congregate. The areas are supplemented with pictures of students in those areas. I used yellow for the dots because it’s one of SJSU’s colors.
Transportation
Besides cars, most students come to campus by foot, bicycle, or bus. Also, there are Zipcar stations and bicycles for rent.
I wanted to communicate important information on this map especially bus numbers and bike rack locations. Also, I leverage the principle of picture superiority effect by illustrating the buses and bikes.
Hi, Davidson. It’s clear you put a lot of thought and effort into this map. As someone who works at a private college located downtown, the forces that impact your campus are really interesting to me. There are homeless shelters across the street from my campus, but I’ve never seen anyone on campus. I think that would have an impact that would not be easy to visually display, but you’ve taken on the challenge of showing the intangible tension that your forces create. The photos of happy social college students mapped near homeless sleeping sites is a jarring contrast that is complicated by the facts and headlines you included. I went from wondering about perceptions of safety and worth between students and homeless people to wondering about students/professors as homeless people.
Paul – your feedback is on point. And the suggestions are great! Thank you!
Great insight on the Buildings in Decay. The 100-year-old buildings, at least one of them, is considered historic. I like the idea of differentiating the historic buildings from the other buildings.
Also, I like the recommendation of conveying the feeling of the space. This will be challenging to figure out but I’d like to try.
Hi John. Good questions! The camera diameter is a metaphor for their range. The cameras are in a black opaque bubble so it’s difficult to tell where they are facing. I assume they rotate. My icon was similar to the real camera but it didn’t resonate so I changed it to the more common/familiar icon.
The grass spaces have been marked. The other spaces are concrete. I wanted to isolate the grass because that’s where the dog walkers go.
I hope this helps. I have tried to be critical as requested, but helpful too since I believe in providing solutions when presenting problems! Let me know if you have any questions about my feedback, and good luck with Part 3.
Base Map
I find the actual Google map has too much _other_ information and that detracts from *your* content. I have found that mapbox.com lets you quickly build out your own style of google map, including color and removing labels. Might be helpful!
Buildings in Decay
Excellent force, very unconventional and shows broader thinking. I like the color scheme, but have to ask why you chose red for oldest? Red usually denotes danger or negative, while my perception of old buildings is beauty and heritage—so just a different take on potential color choices perhaps.
Public Space
The green really helps visualize what is public space. As we learned on our design critique session, icons aren’t really helpful without context. The dog walking icon makes me think that either they’re the only place I can walk my dog, or they’re doggy toilet areas that I should avoid if walking. Not sure what the other icon is. With this specific force, I’d perhaps encourage to think beyond the use of the public space. Maybe how it feels to be in that space? Relaxing, windy, people-watching, secluded. Or how it relates to the age of the building, tying in with the previous force?
Safety & Security
I like the icons on this map for the reasons mentioned in our critique. The camera icon, whether intentional or not, shows how that force dissipates with range. The legend helps understand what both icons are, so I feel icons are appropriate here. Again, this might be a good force to use “feeling.” Does it feel safe in certain areas. Is that safety perceived by you as a male? How do females perceive that area? Elderly or Infirm? Commuter students vs. local students?
Student Community Spaces
I like the icons here since they’re self-explanatory. The inset pictures are a nice touch, but actually make me more curious since they only provide a wee bit of info. Pursuing my feeling feedback, since it is intangible and that’s the approach I seem to feel Jesse wants us to go, this may be another force that you can use the type of area as a colored overlay: calm, busy; loud, quiet; confined, secluded; male, female; studious, entertaining, etc.
Transportation
What immediately struck me here is that footpaths might be a good addition to your public spaces force, since it’s a connecting force. with this force, I wonder if there are certain demographics that use specific transportation forms, or certain lines that transport specific demographics that could be mapped out?
Hi Davidson, Appreciate the contextual information and the labeling of the location, many of us missed that. One thing I was wondering, do the cameras really show that diameter, are they rotating or something? If not I think it would be telling to show what direction they point in. That might begin to constructive a narrative. For the public space one I see you talked mostly about grass space, are they all grass spaces? If not it might be helpful to differentiate. Great job thus far!