Photo illustration by Matt Weir / The Collegian
The Joyal Administration Building that houses departments such as admissions, student success services and financial aid, is getting a colorful facelift this semester.
The dull white walls and gray blue doors of Joyal Administration are now images of the past. All the colors of the rainbow have been used as a part of a new project that will incorporate color to substitute for the old, unstructured number system.
The Joyal Wayfinding Project was initially proposed by Cynthia Teniente-Matson, the Fresno State vice president of administration, with support from Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Paul Oliaro and members from other departments in the building. They all agreed that a new student-friendly system was crucial to helping students navigate the halls of Joyal Administration.
The main reason for the new, more student-friendly system was because the current number system did not follow any specific order. The room numbers for each department office would jump from 249 to 274 in only a matter of steps.
“We are trying our best to give the building a bit of a facelift,” Phillip Matson said, a student assistant. “Even though [the original building] had mapping, the numbers did not go in any order and was very disorganized.”
Matson feels that the color system will be much more helpful than it would be to renumber the entire building.
The program has assigned a specific color to each department in Joyal Administration. Brighter colors represent the departments that deal more directly with students, while the internal departments, such as Human Resources, are represented by neutral colors. The color scheme will not replace the numbering system, but will be the primary distinction between departments, creating an intuitive sense of direction.
“In addition to numbers, people inherently recognize color,” Cyndi Hoffman said, special projects manager of Facilities Management. “Not only does it help students, but it also provides a contemporary look and feel.”
“The project really will serve our freshmen particularly well, as well as people who don’t know the building and the campus,” Hoffman said. “I really think it will go a long way into creating a little bit of that Bulldog spirit.”
Colorful backer boards were recently installed in the building’s hallways. The door-sized boards line the hallways and serve as visual aids to help direct students to their destination by their color association. Not only do the boards serve as bulletin boards for the departments and students, but also create a uniform feeling throughout the entire building.
The student entry doors for each department have been painted with bright colors to make them stand out for students to spot them easily. For example, the student entrance at Financial Aid office is purple, making it easier for students to find.
To make it easier for students and visitors to locate their destination, the window frames adjacent to the main entry doorway have also been painted the color of that department.
Translucent sheets have been fitted onto the windows and display the functional identity of the departments. These sheets allow light from the halls to come in without the use of blinds, while also helping students find the office they are heading to.
Another change to the building is the number of entrances it is going to allow to remain open to students. Joyal Administration currently has five different entrances which can create confusion when giving directions to a specific location inside the building. As a result, the dead-end at the Northwest entrance of the building will be changed from a regular entrance to a keycard entrance for faculty and staff use only. This will reduce the number of entrances from five to four.
Amid all the changes and multiple color schemes, the building will have a more uniform look. Freestanding, wall-mounted and hanging signs will include the same picture of Joyal Administration and create a uniform pattern as seen in the Henry Madden Library.
Joyal Administration will also have a neutral building color to represent conference rooms, restrooms, and community bulletin boards where students are able to post flyers without bombarding those designated to the departments.
One of the more fun and creative aspects of the Joyal Wayfinding Project will be the “super graphics” that will occupy the prominent walls of the stairways. The wall graphics will further push a contemporary student vibe by compiling photographs of Fresno State life.
Although some faculty and staff are not fond of the color their department received, they are very welcoming to the project in making the building more visitor and student-friendly.
“It gives the building some life,” University Outreach Services’ Vikki Hensel said. “It’s definitely better because the numbering system beforehand was horrible.”
Fresno State sophomore Rahmon Mahmood is all for the invasion of color in Joyal because he knows he won’t get as lost anymore and it will make it easier on students, both old and new.
“My brother is coming here next year, and he won’t have to deal with walking in circles looking for a door that looks just like all the rest like I experienced,” said Mahmood. “Students are going to have it easy and I like that.”