HOW IT COMPARES:

Oasis of the SeasRoyal Caribbean International

Largest cruise ship in the world1,184 ft. long

Largest passenger airplane240 ft. long

Source: Washington Post

751 ft. longU.S. Capitol

Airbus 380

In December 2009, Royal Caribbean Interna-tional (RCI) launched Oasis of the Seas on her maiden voyage. She is the world’s larg-est cruise ship and is unique not only in her size, but also her function. It was the end of a two year journey for me of design exploration, trouble shooting, coordination, world travel, conference calls, thousands of emails, executive presentations, tight deadlines and last minute design changes. The final outcome was well worth the trip.

My role was lead manager, where I worked on all areas of the project, during all phases and communicated daily with client representatives. I was also a member of the design team that developed and executed wayfinding and venue sign systems and graphics. I managed the as-sembly of the sign package and production of the working drawings.

Our teams’ scope was to collaborate with proj-ect architects and executive management to design signage and graphics ship wide that included all wayfinding signs, public spaces, restaurants, entertainment venues and loung-es. We also prepared production manuals and schedules for all these areas that include the crew area and ADA signs.

Due to size of the ship, an entirely new system of wayfinding had to be developed that RCI hadn’t used before that includes touch screen navigation and the use of a color quadrant sys-tem that makes use of signage and art.

Oasis of the Seas arrives at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale for the first time. (Photo-RCI October 2009)

Central Park a real park with living trees and plants, has winding stone paths that take you to restaurants and retail stores. Shown here is the main gate fea-tured made up of organic leaf shapes.

The color quadrant system on a pedestal directory. The system divides the ship into four colors and all signs in those corresponding areas will match the quadrant color.

Boardwalk neighborhood is one of the first for a cruise ship with a large outdoor amphitheater and carousel. Wayfinding signs have playful design elements.

Our team played an important role in the development of the first touch screen navigation on board a cruise ship. It makes use of the color quadrant system and graphics found in the static sign system to keep all wayfinding unified and easy to use. The program will show you how to get to your stateroom and even let you know which restaurants aren’t busy.

Me with RCI’s design team in an empty Central Park. Plant and trees would not be planted until the ship reached warmer climates a year later. (Nov. 2008)

Me on board Oasis of the Seas in what would be a stairwell lobby once finished. (November, 2008)

Me on board Oasis on what would become the Board-walk. I’m standing approximately where the carousel would be located. (Nov. 2008)

Me on board RCI’s Independence of the Seas prior to her release for the Finnish ship yard. You can see Oasis behind me in her early stages. (April, 2008)

Oasis in dry dock long before her final paint job. She maxed out the dock. (Nov. 2008)

One complete fire zone ready to be raised and welded into place sitting off on the dock. (November, 2008)

We made several trips to Turku, Finland where Oasis of the Seas was built. A large shipyard held the massive shell of iron and steel in a dry dock during the three year process it took to build her.

Early design stage involved hundreds of draw-ings and sketches. The design team met sev-eral times a day in what we called the “War Room” to review sketches and concepts. We made use of many 4’ x 8’ foam boards to pin everything up on. We also built scaled models of the main elevator lobby and key signs out of paper to view flow of passenger traffic and to determine optimal locations. We made sev-eral presentations to the CEO and his executive board during this phase. Once the main design directions were approved we where able to be-gin working drawings phase of the project.

During the working drawings phase a 3000 plus page catalog was created documenting every sign location, message and specification for production and installation. Every file was downloaded to the ship yard servers for fabri-cators to use. This phase took 15 months and approximately 40,000 individual signs were built and installed when it was all over.

Peter Zorn building a 1:20 scale model of the aft lift and stair lobby. It was used to help study traffic flow and to locate all the primary sign in this area.

Typical working drawing produced for Oasis, used by fabricators to build signs.Picture of the “War Room”. All sketches and drawings pinned up and reviewed by committee here.

The wayfinding signage for this ship is very im-portant. Great thought was placed in develop-ing not only the look but the function. 5,500 plus passengers will need to be able to navigate the ship on any given cruise and our team took advantage of classic branding design, informational design and interactive media to maximize their experience.

Signage varies in size and amount of informa-tion starting with the primary elevator directo-ries. These signs hold a complete ship’s direc-tory and maps, which show an elevation and deck plan. The signs then become progressive-ly smaller with less information as you get into the stateroom corridors. Once in the corridors, signs only display deck information and state-room numbers. The last sign in the system is the actual stateroom ID sign found on the door.

The ship was divided into four color zones. All signage within a specific zone used that color to help identify the zone. Also, a small accent on the signs points to the forward of the ship and also serves as a reminder in which way the ship is moving. Free standing pedestal directories are also found in key locations in public spaces and highlight information on a particular deck.

This system serves as the ship’s static wayfind-ing system and functions to get passengers from place to place. An additional wayfinding device was developed in cooperation with RCI that takes advantage of touch screen technolo-gies. The system uses the same static graphics and gives the passengers an interactive experi-ence. You can punch your stateroom number in and it will show you how to get there from where you are standing. Additional functions allow you to book shore excursions, dinner res-ervation and even find out general information of ship activities. These stations are located at the end of each elevator lobby and are also ac-cented with art inspired by the zone color.

Touch Screen Wayfinding System uses the same graphics and wayfinding principles.

Opposite PageBottom Right -Typical Stairwell directional sign in the greenquadrant. These signs contain less information than do the primary directories in the elevator lobbies. They only highlight the quadrant color a passenger is in and directs to only staterooms and venues on that deck. Bottom Left - Elevator directory found in the red quadrant.

Ship map on directory showing Central Park. Note the use of color on the ship plan to identify the quadrants.

Typical Elevator Directory. Silkscreened graphics on edge light glass. Light source housed in a mirror polished stainless steel cabinet that protrudes a decorative illuminated acrylic fin that glows in the quadrant color. This sign is located in the blue quadrant.

Central Park logo on glass doors as you enter.

Opposite Page Botton:Logos for the five neighborhoods. Logos appear on signage including directories and maps to identify the neighborhoods along with text. This gives guests a quick visual reference and is used whenever possible. All five logos were designed to represnt the area with one to three visual elements. The Royal Promenade uses the old style car because it appears on everyRCI ship.

Detail of information listed on the directory by deck, which includes neighborhood logos. All information is listed by a hierarchy, starting with the neighborhoods and their occupants and than any major attractions outside the neighborhoods within that deck. Every-thing is listed in alphabetical order within the categories.

Typical wayfinding sign in stairwell directing to Central Park. Sign located in yellow quadrant. Note the slight accent on the right of the sign that indicates forward.

Interior of elevator. Internally illuminated sign above door had neighborhood logos and digital screens with information streaming.

The ship is home to five very distinct areas, which have been designated as neighborhoods. We developed logos for these areas that ap-pear on both the static and interactive wayfind-ing systems. We also developed neighborhood specific wayfinding signage that only highlights areas within each neighborhood.

A final piece of wayfinding signage that is found on board the elevators acts as both static and interactive. We developed a subway looking sign that visually demonstrates deck and the neighborhoods that are found there. In addi-tion, small digital screens are running informa-tion pertinent to the deck and ship activities. Also, neighborhood logos are found next the call buttons within the elevator cab as a further reminder of the locations of the neighborhoods.

Elevator deck buttons have neighborhood logos to fur-ther help the passengers find their way around.

Identification of the guest stateroom is the last piece of the wayfinding package. The design matches the look and makes use of the same tools as the wayfinding signs used throughout the ship. A ship that holds 5,500 guests has many staterooms and an excess of 30,000 signs were needed for them.

Oasis of the Seas caters to guests with a variety of different staterooms and suites that vary in

size, location and amenities. Within each state-room, a set inventory of signs are used to aid the guest with safety, emergency instructions and standard hospitality information.

Most of the standard staterooms have either a balcony view of the ocean or a balcony view of either the Boardwalk or Central Park. Also in-cluded are upgraded Suites on higher decks that include views of the Aqua Theater off the aft of

the ship. Not new, but not to be excluded are the Presidential and Royal Suites which are found on higher decks. Identification signs for all these include use of the color quadrant sys-tem. However, the Presidential and Royal Suites get an additional upgraded sign to mark the entrance. All signs within either the staterooms or suites use the standard set of signs.

The Lofts are the newest suites and are found on the highest deck of the ship. They are two level apartment style living spaces with large two story glass windows with ocean views. The Lofts are branded with unique graphics for the identification and directional signs. Inte-rior signs use the standard set of signs used throughout.

Entrance to key card portected loft cooridoor.

Presidential Suite door sign. Glass and marble sign with pin mounted polished brass letters.

Picture from insdie a Loft Suite, high living on the high seas.

Typical stateroom plan with sign locations. As you can see the average stateroom has many signs. The color of the signs were determined by the wall color on which they where mounted. Signs are visible and complimentary to the interior color palates.

A staple feature on board every RCI cruise ship and also present on board Oasis is the Royal Promenade. Twice as wide and nearly twice as long then on past ships, is reminiscent of a typical city street. It has several retail shops including a jewelry store and various merchan-dise outlets. It also has a couple of different coffee shops, a pizza parlor and specialty des-sert shop. It also includes several entertain-ment venues including a karaoke bar, a cham-pagne bar and a Latin- style dance club.

Royal Promenade serves as primary point of entry at the beginning of any cruise. It is the first place guests walk into upon first boarding. There are several information kiosks and it also houses the primary guest services desk.

The newest and most amazing feature is Rising Tide. It is an elevator bar that moves up and down from the floor level and up into Central Park three decks above which sits on the ceiling

of Royal Promenade. The base of the bar serves as a light and water show while the bar is situated in Central Park. Large sky lights also let in natural light to guests.

Typical sign panels within Royal Promenade to help guest as quick reference to the ship direction and main attractions.

Opposite pageA shot looking forward from underneath Rising Tide elevator bar.It is shown in the up position sitting in Central Park three decks above Royal Promenade.

Aft entrance into the Royal Promenade has an arched raceway with fabricated polished stainless steel letters inter-nally illuminated with color changing LED lights.

Champagne Bar main sign. Polished metal letters mounted to edge light etched polymer.

Opposite pageTop - Boleros Latin style dance club and lounge. Large brass channel letters with led light source. The design challenge here was to work with a curved fa-cade and two story deck.Bottom - On Air Karaoke bar. We worked with the architect to develop a theater style marquee entrance sign to hold large graphic panels and information.

Sorrento’s Pizza Shop. Architecture was a firehouse brick facade to mimic a city feel. Large block style letters are reminiscent of a more historic looking, city style signage.

Cafe Promenade - Coffee and sandwich cafe. Above is the Schooner Bar overlooking the street level.

Entertainment Place it is the second neighborhood on board Oasis and is primarily home to late evening clubs and entertainment venues such as a jazz, comedy and night club, an ice rink, a casino amd theater.

It is found on deck 4, the forward area of the ship. The main entrance into the neighborhood is through the Royal Promenade at a grand set of stairs at the forward end.

This is a new area on board RCI ships. The ar-chitects wanted to create a club type district by grouping these specific venues here; by doing so they created an adult focused entertainment zone during the late night hours.

Blaze is the night club and has a fire theme. Signs are designed to look like raw iron cut with a blow torch.

The main theater on board Oasis is the Opal Theater. This main marquee style sign is designed to be a giant tiera with a large inset stone.

Aft entrance to Casino Royale on Deck 4. The casino has several other entrances with similar signs. All are internally illuminated with color changing LED’s. Logo design was an update of already exsisting logo on board other RCI ships.

Entrance to Entertainment Place at the top of the the forward stairs on Royal Promenade.

What cruise ship wouldn’t be complete with out an ice rink? Studio B is just that. This sign is located above primary entrance into the rink. The venue has skat-ing shows with a theme of fire and ice. The sign uses specific warm and cool colors to add to the theme.

Sign located above the entrance to the jazz club.

The first of its kind on a cruise ship Boardwalk is just that, a carnival themed area complete with a working carousel, face painting, ice cream and donut shops, and mid-way style games and food.

The Boardwalk is the third neighborhood and is geared towards the younger passengers. It also has childrens shops and a playground. Other food venues include a seafood restaurant and Johnny Rockets, a fast food burger joint.

The greatest feature is Aqua Theater which is a large amphitheater off the end of Boardwalk. During the daytime guests can swim in the pools which transform at night into a high dive water show. The amphitheater is open to the ocean; on each side are rock climb-ing walls that go up several decks. While on the Boardwalk you can look up to open sky since the ship from this point is split.

Free standing directional sign post made to match the theme. Typical information acts as a quick reference for passengers to direct to restrooms and major ven-ues on board.

View of Aqua Theater.

Art piece as you walk into the board walk.

Johnny Rockets burger joint. We used the logo to de-sign a clock that is synchronized with the ship clock.

Entrance into Boardwalk is spanned by a midway style arch with chasing lights and channel letters that shift colors.

Ice Cream Parlor sign at overhead entrance. Smaller letters have LED lights inbedded within the acrylic and allows the entire letter to glow.

The Rock Climbing Wall Identification on the Boardwalk level directs guest upstairs. There are two walls, both of which are dentified in the same way on the opposite side.

Previous PageTop Left - Seafood Shack front facade and signage. The sign is designed to look like a worn sign. The res-taurant theme is a sea side surf shack.Top Right - Donut Shop ID sign.Bottom Left - Ice Cream Parlor Tower Identification. We worked with the architect to develop typography for the tower.

Aqua Theater ID sign at night. There is another one mirroring this one on the opposite side. The sign structure is designed to mimic the ship architecture and dive platforms.

Close view of the map. The design vision was to cre-ate tactile graphics on the map similar to a bronze casting. The map frame is designed to match the main gate feature.

Right - Custom designed post and panel directional sign. Inspiration came directly from New York City’s Central Park signs. The post itself is designed to hold climbing plants. The top lights up for visibility at night. There are three posts positioned at decision points in the park.

One of four cast maps that are positioned in the correct orientation allowing guests to quickly orient themselves.

Main gate feature of Central Park. Designed for photo opportunities, the gate resembles iron work with custom designed light post.

Bottom Left - Picture from pool decks down onto Cen-tral Park.

The fourth neighborhood and another first for a cruise line is Central Park. A living breathing park, it is probably the most unique feature on this and any other cruise ship cur-rently sailing in the world.

Our team spent time developing signage with the design team and landscape architect that included free standing maps, sign posts and a grand entry gate feature.

The park is home to high end retail stores and restaurants, including a wine bar and Rising Tide, the elevator bar that comes up from the Royal Promenade.

150 Central Park is a high end restaurant with classic art nouveau architecture. Entry sign was designed to compli-ment the ornate overhang and organic supports. The sign is edge light and illuminates at night.

Window graphics for Giovanni’s Table. It is a high endItalian restaurant.

Opposite PageChops Grille is RCI’s stable brand steak house and is found in Central Park.

Park Cafe is a more casual dining area where passen-gers can get food 24 hours a day.

The Pool and Sports Deck on Oasis is not new but for the first time is classified as the fifth neighborhood and has very specific areas branded for all ages and activities.

There are four separate pools that are desig-nated for specific activities including the H2O Zone for children, Sport, Main Pool and new the Beach Pool. We designed logos for each that also matched the overall design feel we created for the entire area. The Solarium found on this deck is an adults only pool with a Bistro that serves buffet food by day and formal dinner at night.

Lastly, the Sports Court has the new Zip Line which spans nine decks above the Boardwalk and two surf machines now straddle the back end of the ship.

Flyover view of the pool deck with themed pool areas visible. The Solarium is visible forward. (Photo RCI 2009)

One of the entrances into the Solarium Bistro, the adults only swimming area and restaurant.

One of the pools in the Solarium, the adults only swimming area..

Wayfinding map at elevator lobby for quick reference of the sports quart area.

Right - Zip Line starting point. The Logo was created match the theme of the entire Pool and Sports Deck neighborhood.

Typical pool rules signs designed to hold up against the open air and salt of the open ocean.Below - The four logos created for pools.

The Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Center on board Oasis is a new experience for guests that includes all the spa and exercise amenities plus special classes for nutrition that are integrated with the ship’s restaurants.

The area spans two decks on board and includes full beauty and wellness venues for men, wom-en and children including salons, a full spa with exotic treatments, a full gym with a variety of aerobic classes and a café.

Brand development of Vitality at Sea is a prod-uct of RCI. We worked closely with the architect and interior designers to implement the brand into the signage and environment. An Asian theme was used that used real bamboo and tropical palms throughout the spaces. Signs and venue identification were designed to be clean and simple to enhance the visual experi-ence and yet provide necessary information.

Primary entrance signage into spa and fitness center. A duplicate sign appears to the left side. Trident palm logo is internally illuminated.

Vitality Café signage. The sign follows the same simple theme as seen throughout the spa and fitness center.

Relaxation Room in the spa area. Simple door etc was used to identify the space.

Identification sign for the salon using the same branded and simple look.

Sign- Typical door mounted sign found within the spa area. Design uses palm graphics as accent .

The Opus Dining Room is the main formal dining hall on board Oasis and occupies three decks. There is an entrance available on each of the three decks and the deck number corre-sponds to the number on entrance signs.

Due the high number of passengers, dinner is served twice per evening. The evening shows and entertainment begin at the time each sit-ting ends.

The Windjammer Marketplace is found high above the ship. This is a casual dining area that serves several meals buffet style. It includes breakfast, lunch and midnight snacks. It sits above the pool and sports decks and provides a great view during meals.

IZUMI is an Asian cuisine restaurant found across from Windjammer Marketplace and gives passengers an alternate choice of food in a su-shi bar type setting.

It also sits high above the pool decks and pro-vides great views of the ocean.

Opus 4 entrance ID sign found at deck four entrance. Opus 3 and Opus 5 exist one deck below and above. The en-tire dining hall occupies three decks and rises once inside to reveal a grand hall.

Logo designed for IZUMI an Asian cuisine restaurant. Design uses images and fonts that softly create an Asian feel without using strong Asian characters and graphics. Colors where inspired by the interior design pallet.

Left - View from deck five down onto the Opus dining room floor.

Main Windjammer Marketplace entrance sign. It is found in the lift lobbies guests in.

Typical serving island found within Windjammer Mar-ketplace. Every island has a changeable overhead sign panel that changes for each meal.

Izumi logo being used to fully brand the restaurant on plates and serving collateral.

IZUMI primary entrance ID sign.

Private members only lounge directional sign.

Next PageTop Right- Dazzles is a speakeasy inspired show lounge found outside any of the main neighborhoods and overlooks the Boardwalk.Bottom Right - Wedding Chapel glass entrance doors hold a floral graphic and gold leaf letters.

Viking Crown Lounge, RCI staple lounge always found on the top deck.

Library id sign inspired by the interior design resembling an old map room.

On board RCI ships there have always been free standing stanchion signs that can be moved about when needed with changeable insert pan-els. We had designed a custom stanchion that has become a fleet wide standard. It has an off the shelf base with a custom designed shaft and sign insert that uses a magnetic backer to hold the sign panel in place.

Throughout the years, the stanchion has had improvements and upgrades . One nagging complaint from crew has been that the sign panels didn’t stay in place very well. The mag-netic backer didn’t seem to work well.

For Oasis, we decided to reevaluate the entire stanchion and give it a face lift and to tackle sign panel problem. Not only did we change the overall look and shape of the stanchion, we added a metal trim piece around the bot-tom that creates a notch the sign panel can rest in. This addition has solved the problem and doesn’t distract from the overall design.

New stanchion in front of guest services desk.

Rendering of old and new stanchion design side by side. The new design on the right matches thewayfinding sign system and has improved its overall function.

We worked with RCI on several different design studies reviewing the symbols being used on board. The goal of this effort was to clean up and simply signage where possible and to help communicate important messages, especially to passegners who may not speak English.

A major problem on board are stomach prob-lems that can be prevented by washing hands. We worked to develop a symbol that could stand alone or with supporting text that gently encourages passengers to wash their hands. These signs are mostly found in the public re-strooms. They are usually hanging in front of urinals and on the inside of stall doors so they can be seen while sitting.

Within the staterooms, there are architectural features that can cause a tripping hazard. We designed a new more aggressive symbol to help warn passengers. We also designed a new symbol to communicate what not to put in the toilets. This has been a problem on board and the new design is easily understood especially to non English speaking guests.

New “Watch Your Step” symbol as seen on sign with supporting text. Sign drawn at actual size.

New toilet warning sign. Hangs in front of every toilet on board, both in public restrooms and in the state-rooms. Sign drawn at actual size.

Rendering of top of stanchion. New notch added to hold the changeable sign panel in place. Sign panels still have a magnetic backer for an added bond.

New “Wash Your Hands” symbol as seen on a sign with the supporting text. Sign drawn at actual size.

Behind the scenes there are many miles of hallways and stairwells that only the crew use. A special wayfinding system was adopted that provides the crew with critical evacuation infor-mation, general wayfinding and identification.

The system is information heavy but is designed to have quick recognition and maximum under-standing using text and ship plan and profile on the majority of the signs. Crew on board are from many countries and speak differ-ent languages, so it was important to be clear and direct with important messages. The crew areas tend to be cramped and maze like. Clear signs make it much easier for them to work and to get around.

RCI has made an effort to be ADA compliant making it easier for passengers with disabilities to get around on board. The architecture is up to code, and along with RCI’s legal depart- ment, we designed a special series of signs that are also up to code.

All destination and areas have the specially de-signed ADA signs that contain raised letters and braille. The signs are designed to work along side the primary identification signs. Because of this, we used clear acrylic signs without color. Both signs together meet the compliance.

Elevation and plan view used on crew signage. All crew lifts and stairs and guest lifts and stairs are found on the ship drawings. Crew are not allowed to use the passengers lifts. They must navigate the ship behind the scenes using the crew halls and stairs.

Typical ADA sign on board. Designed to work along side a primary directional or identification sign to meet ADA compliance.

Typical crew area signs. Clean simple frame and digi-tally printed graphics help to reduce cost.

Elevator ADA door jam signage used the color quad-rant system to help enforce the wayfinding system.