Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Early Actions Committee commissioned the designer to design outdoor furniture and signage infrastructure that would meet the needs of a variety of users and visitors to the park while creating a visual identity for the national park.

The research question that evolved from this commission was how to develop a visual language of materials and forms expressing the philosophy and ethos of the national park while creating products that were easy to use and be understood by visitors to the park. In many products ease of use and visual identity are not always compatible, the aim here was to create a set of design guidelines that would satisfy both the user’s interaction requirements with the product while simultaneously satisfying the creation of an identity for the park.

A number of user observations were made to determine how visitors to the National Park would interact with each other and with the furniture and signage. Research was conducted into a range of users with a variety of abilities to determine their potential interaction with and use of the products.

The research outcome was a visual language that expressed the creation of the park from the four existing regions as well as the park’s ethos of social and environmental responsibility through the use of locally-sourced natural materials. This visual language incorporated forms that made the products easy to use while also expressing how to use them.

Installation of the work began in July 2002 and was launched publicly on 29 July 2003 at the Callander Tourist Information centre.

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