Keeyan Joseph Portfolio
Experiential Graphic Designer
keeyanjoseph@gmail.com    LinkedIn
03    Surrey Langley Skytrain Extension

Province of British Columbia, TransLink

2024-Ongoing
Parsons 
Leading the development of complete signage systems across eight unique stations, including a systemwide specifications package and an interdisciplinary coordinated AutoCAD Revit model. Functioning as both lead designer and discipline liaison with direct responsibility for project estimating, scheduling, and cross-disciplinary coordination. This is an ongoing project, and visual content such as location plans are limited.




Project BriefThe Surrey Langley Skytrain Extension required complete signage systems for eight unique stations, including a systemwide specifications package and a fully coordinated AutoCAD Revit model integrated across disciplines.


As the Signage lead, the scope extended beyond design execution to include comprehension of the signage program's contractual scope, and adherence to TransLink's Brand Design Standards across all deliverables.

Design & Documentation Unlike station renovation work, SLS is a build-from-drawings process. Signage location plans, technical drawings, and the Revit model are developed and coordinated directly from architectural and structural drawings, without on-site verification at this stage of the project. This places a higher demand on interpreting evolving architectural documentation accurately and anticipating how in-progress designs from other disciplines will affect signage placement and function before construction makes that visible on-site.








Technical DevelopmentA recurring technical challenge on this project is adapting standard signage types to station-specific architectural constraints. Each of the eight stations presents unique conditions, requiring a judgment call on whether and how to "flex" TransLink's design standards while still meeting their intent and informing the client of these solutions. Where a clear standards-based solution doesn't exist, this has meant initiating the RFI process to coordinate directly with the client and resolve the conflict collaboratively rather than unilaterally interpreting the standard.

For instance, one station's mezzanine presented significantly reduced square footage, constraining usable space for every discipline working in that area. Equipment such as CCTV cameras and linear lighting was condensed as a result, leaving little room for suspended directional signage. The challenge was to still meet every signage requirement set out in TransLink's Design Standards and the Project Agreement, without congesting passenger flow areas or creating line-of-sight conflicts between signage, cameras, and lighting fixtures suspended in the same constrained space.


Resolving this required establishing a clear priority order between signage and the conflicting elements from other disciplines. A typical triptych journey planner panel, normally three panels, was reduced to two, with the freed space reassigned to a safety and security panel that would otherwise have required a separate location. For the suspended signage conflict, interdisciplinary coordination determined that signage held higher priority given the limited alternative placements available. As a result, the lighting team mounted their fixtures directly beneath the signage rather than on a separate suspension point, and CCTV cameras were relocated to slightly reduced but still acceptable vantage points. Solving issues such as this is a regular task, and involves the aforementioned “flexing”.




CoordinationWhile signage is one of the smallest disciplines in project scope, the coordination required involves many disciplines. Representing the signage discipline and being the primary, and often single point of contact involves daily coordination meetings spanning general project updates to the resolution of specific cross-disciplinary issues. This requires functioning as the team's expert on the Project Agreement, as well as maintaining working knowledge of TransLink's signage standards and how their signage is constructed and functions. Conflicts are resolved both interpersonally and through Revit's issue-tracking tools, which allow design conflicts to be flagged, assigned, and tracked to resolution across disciplines.



ConsiderationsTwo constraints define the day-to-day complexity of this project. First, signage design must be coordinated around architectural and structural designs that are still evolving, while still upholding the commitments defined in the Project Agreement. Second, all eight stations are progressing on a tight, frequently changing delivery schedule, requiring continuous reprioritization to keep pace with shifting design and construction timelines across the full station set. With submission delays, a schedule that was typically intended to be staggered becomes congested, sometimes involving multiple submissions due on the same day.




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