saachi mehta
risd museum wayfinding
As a visual and motion designer at the RISD Museum, I worked on the development of a comprehensive wayfinding proposal to improve navigation throughout the museum.
Working both collaboratively and independently, I designed parts of a new wayfinding system and motion language that extends across physical signage, digital screens, and web platforms.
the RISD MUSEUM guide
The RISD Museum spans three buildings across a hill, creating a complex spatial experience for visitors. I developed a key deliverable: a museum guide featuring a diagram that clarifies the museum's structure, distinguishes gallery spaces, and illustrates navigation paths. Through numerous iterations, I refined the map design to balance clarity with visual accessibility. The guide has been in circulation within the museum since December 2025.
icon development
I also developed the icons for the museum map, keeping it consistent with the current system in the museum, updating it based on the new wayfinding system that was being proposed.
the wayfinding system
The proposed system centers on dynamic directional arrows that guide visitors through gallery spaces, supported by a cohesive typographic hierarchy. I explored both bold directional graphics and a complementary pictographic system for intuitive navigation. A critical component involved color-coding the museum's two elevators—I conducted extensive research into colorblind-accessible palettes, testing combinations against black and white backgrounds and creating detailed mockups to ensure visibility and consistency throughout the system.
a pictographic system of navigation
I developed a complementary proposal using pictograms to identify individual gallery spaces.
Drawing from signature objects in the museum's collection, I created abstracted symbols that remain identifiable while working cohesively within the proposed wayfinding system. This approach offers visitors an intuitive, visual way to orient themselves and locate specific collections.
motion system for the museum
As the sole motion designer on the project, I developed multiple approaches to animated elements within the wayfinding system.
I created iterations that build on both the new proposal and existing visual language, establishing guidelines for how motion appears across digital touchpoints.
This motion system remains an active area of development in my current work at the museum.
** all work here has been created by me unless specified otherwise.