"Good space makes you happy". Traffic Design operates as an association. They are engaged in activities in the field of art and design in public space and also "placemaking".
design and Art of the City
They are inspired by the city and its surroundings, the natural environment. They design, create and conduct research and animation activities aimed at exploring the character and identity of urban space. To their credit, they have completed complex aesthetics projects in the Tri-City, Warsaw and other cities. Murals, signs, art projects, in many technologies such as metalwork, neon, painting.
One of their flagship projects is the Festival of Design and Urban Art, which has been held in Gdynia since 2011 (recently in the Biennale formula). The first one involved local street art artists who painted selected stations of the Tri-City SKM. This year's Biennale 2020 included a unique mural that simultaneously served as a safe housing development for the city's important residents: birds. Nesting boxes that can house sparrows, among others, were incorporated into a mural depicting an aged tree. The realization combines art, environmental and educational activities.
Traffic Design | Inter-species Community | designer: Malgorzata Gurowska
Hi, we are Traffic Design and we are changing cities
Re:design is a cyclical event in which Traffic Design designs and creates signs for artisans and entrepreneurs. In total - dozens of projects to change the external visual identity, including not only with individual clients, but also with representatives of city offices or CSR departments. The association has conducted research that confirms that "re:design" campaigns have a positive impact not only on the appearance of streets, but also on the success of business.
Photo Traffic Design
light up the city
The latest "traffic" implementation can be seen in Gdynia, on Bishop Dominik Street in the passage between libraries. The neon sign was designed by Jacek Wielebski. Two months ago, the Independence Day greetings took artistic form and decorated the building of the city hospital on Kashubian Square.
Photo Traffic Design
fight against pastelosis
The first project was implemented in 2017 on Lelewela Street in Gdynia. The idea of "white blocks" is a mission to restore aesthetics and modernist character. "The need to repaint blocky buildings from pastel colors and quirky patterns was also confirmed by the social research we commissioned when preparing the program of activities for the next years." - writes Traffic Design. And indeed, the years are passing, and the "white blocks" are increasing.
Photo Traffic Design
cooperation with a developer - can it be done?
It can. It promises to be a groundbreaking project - a "responsible developer project". A building full of ecological solutions, including rainwater recovery, lighting of selected common areas thanks to photovoltaic panels, reducing energy loss. Piotra 4 blends not only visually, into the modernist architecture of Gdynia, but also into the local community. The investment will be completed in 2022.
"In this partnership, we wanted the investment to fit well into the surrounding neighborhood not only in terms of architecture and aesthetics, but also in terms of social activities, hence we placed great emphasis on planning artistic activities involving the local community, which will begin as early as the construction phase. Together with the developer, we have also planned projects that will affect the surroundings and be accessible to everyone, such as elements to help cyclists, a street drinking water well, or benches," writes Monika Domanska, Traffic Design
The scope of work at the intersection of graphic design and architectural detailing included the design of the investment's visual identity and elements of the building's identity. The designers developed a broad concept: from the logotype and lettering, to the signage system, wayfinding and the design of small architecture.
Photo: Traffic Design
"Planning artistic activities already at the stage of architectural design is a practice, once popular, now quite unusual. We hope that the projects completed as part of the Piotra 4 development will set new directions in the way we view the role of developers as co-creators of the city." - Monika Domanska, Traffic Design
we need to talk
Traffic Design is also talks, workshops, publicity, and social education. As part of the last biennial debate, we wondered together, among other things - Is it allowed to climb on monuments? What was the use of the whiskers in backyards?
Pastels and kitsch have established themselves in our culture. Without education - workshops - even in city offices and publicly available publications, there can be no change in public space. In this case, good design is walking from the sea and taking bolder and bolder steps toward change.
