Kajen Wayfinding

Kajen is the name of the new food universe of Copenhagen Mall. The food court offers everything from small street food stands to larger restaurant spaces. A total of more than 6,500 square meters on 4 floors, with direct access to a cinema, a mall, outdoor areas, and two parking lots. So it’s easy to get lost. Therefore, we helped with a complete concept and solution for the wayfinding of Kajen, covering everything from visual identity, graphic design, signs, maps, to printed guides.

The starting point

As the food court was still under construction, we visited the building site multiple times to get a sense of the space, the different routes across floors, taking photographs and notes along the way, and trying out early drafts of the signs in context. This resulted in deciding exactly what to show and where. For each touchpoint, we determined which destinations should be communicated, taking into account the possible visitors’ journeys across the place.

In parallel, we worked on the design. We developed an entirely custom pictogram style for Kajen, inspired by the shape language of its logo and typography. We also tested out and refined the layout for every type of signs, until finding one that had a good balance between understanding at first sight and giving out the brand style.

From screen to location

Once the final set of signs, pictograms, design, and the actual building were in place, we finally had a chance to see it all coming together at the actual location, making sure everything worked as intended. Working with wayfinding design requires that you allow yourself to move away from the pixels on your computer, experience the design in context, and eventually acknowledge the adjustments and improvements needed.

Maps and guides

As an additional point of information for the visitors of the food court, we also designed the maps and guides of Kajen. Large printed versions appear at the entrances and in the elevators, each optimised for their use case, while a portable booklet version can be picked up by visitors to discover what the food court has to offer at their own pace. An online version accessible from a QR code was also made available.

Guidelines coming together

To make sure the identity, brand, system, and material come together in the future when Kajen starts creating communication materials, we put together their brand guidelines, detailing the use of pictograms, colors, illustrations, and typography.