The National Zoological Park, Delhi (NZP), or Delhi Zoo, as it is popularly called was established in 1959 and is the only zoo in India that runs under the Ministry of Environment and Forest. In 1982, the zoo was given the status of National Zoological Park, to act as a model zoo for the country.
NZP witnesses a daily footfall of 5,000 to 6,000 visitors on weekdays, and 12,000 to 13,000 on weekends. The Zoo receieved a historic footfall of 2 million guests in the year 2011-12.
Above: The main road guests enter into, after security check at the ticket counter. A barely there welcome sign and a legal notice stating rules and a regulation is all that the guests see.
Top Left: Ticket Counter for Battery Operated Trolleys inside the zoo premises Top Right: A Battery Operated Trolley
Above: Guide Map inside the NZP. The map is cluttered with heavy use of large images of animals and shrubbery. Key signs and enclosure numbers are not easy to find as too much is going on.
Key Insights
After talking to the visitors, staff and administration, and through the means of a survey questionnaire, I gained the following insights.
1. The design experience is completely ineffective and inconsistent.
2. Signage systems (animal information boards, warning signs, do’s and dont’s, etc) is not influential enough, and thus gets ignored.
3. Biggest drawback is that the audience has no immediate connect with the zoo.
4. Tickets are boring and uninviting.
5. Majority of visitors belong to lower middle / rural class. For them, visit to the zoo is merely a picnic. The experience of a holiday is often important than the experience of seeing wild animals.
6. Many youngsters have visited the zoo only their childhood. They do not wish to visit the zoo because of ‘sarkari’ image, and feel the visit would not be worth it.
2. Signage systems (animal information boards, warning signs, do’s and dont’s, etc) is not influential enough, and thus gets ignored.
3. Biggest drawback is that the audience has no immediate connect with the zoo.
4. Tickets are boring and uninviting.
5. Majority of visitors belong to lower middle / rural class. For them, visit to the zoo is merely a picnic. The experience of a holiday is often important than the experience of seeing wild animals.
6. Many youngsters have visited the zoo only their childhood. They do not wish to visit the zoo because of ‘sarkari’ image, and feel the visit would not be worth it.
Challenges
1. To give NZP a fresh, young personality, breaking the ‘Sarkaari’ image.
2. To design effective communication for NZP, in order to create a smooth and happy visitor experience.
3. To bring locals to the zoo more often, especially the youth.
4. To make wildlife the pimary objective of visit rather than it being just another holiday picnic.
4. To design signages and other indoor communication in a manner that all kinds of target audience, especially illiterate, can benefit from it.
Identity Explorations
Refining Options
Concept: In 1962, the Delhi Zoo had only a pair of Brow Antlered Deers, which were on the verge of extinction. Today, herds of these deers live peacefully in zoos all over India, because of the successful breeding and conservation activities undertaken by the NZP. It is their biggest and prideful achievement.
I decided to use the deer as the main focus in the identity because it is an animal that visitors from all backgrounds recognize. I wanted to use an animal that unlike a lion, tiger or elephant, had not been already showcased in this field and moreover, it stands for the what the Zoo's philosophy of conservation and ecological balance.
Color Explorations
Final Logo
Entry Ticket
Entry Ticket (Band)
for children and large groups
Brochure
Zoo Map
Direction Signage
