Yas Mall. Public Space Analysis

     For this blog assignment I chose YAS Mall and the connected theme park Ferrariworld. The mall and theme park are located on YAS Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE. YAS mall is considered an upscale luxury mall, it is enormous at 2.5 million square feet. https://www.yasmall.ae/en/about-us. The way-finding and signage throughout the mall is very well done. As gigantic as this place is, it would be very easy to get lost. All the signage is in dual language: English as well as Arabic,  Icons and symbols are also used. This is a multicultural destination and people from all over the world come to visit.

Coming into the car park the signage is clear and concise,easy to navigate. 

Plenty of signs and they are categorized

There is signage and way-finding everywhere. Directional arrows show the different major zones of the mall. The placement was in every decision making junction and clear/concise wording in both languages along with symbols for necessity areas.

Every lift(elevator) had signage posted outside

These standing signages were at every stairwell junction

                  Instead of text, Symbol Icons were used. Big and bold and also placed over the                      entrance as well as a vertically sticking out from the side so you can see while walking.

Double sided maps were placed at beginning of entrance to major zones of the mall. Clearly labelled and color coded depending on each floor and type of shop

These standing touchscreens were not only ongoing video ads but they are also interactive maps when touched.

My Analysis

Since I have known this mall for almost 2 years I have seen a lot of change. One of the issues it originally had was there was not enough specific signage. They had split the mall up to into 4-5 zones with a whimsical name like Palm Oasis. Nice name but has no context to whats in the area. It was very confusing getting around since this mall was so massive. There are only a few info booths, it was frustrating.  About a year ago, they changed the hanging signs to describe more specific areas like major stores. They also added hanging fin signs as well as a front outward facing signs for most stores so they are more clearly visible. The over style of the signage is muted yet classy, using warm rich tones and metallics. It is very consistent throughout. From these pictures, it does look like it would be difficult to read, but in person I assure it is not. At this time my only criticism is that the interactive signs do not have a sign on it saying that it is an interactive map.  Most of the time it is playing ads.

This mall also has a major theme park attached to it!

See my analysis of Ferrari World here