In this article I will show the relationship between architecture and graphic design. In fact, surprisingly few architects use typographical elements in their design. For this overview of projects that do make good use of lettering, I’ve probably browsed through more than thousand Architectural Designs. Below you’ll find ten buildings on integrated architectual lettering and signage.

I can only guess about the reason why architects make so little use of typhographical elements on their buildings. The main reason will be that the building design doesn’t need it. Most buildings can make their function clear without the use of signage on the façade. As you will find on the buildings listed below, architects used the signage to show the name of the building to the world; there is no building to be found with its function printed on it. The function is supposed to be clear.

A famous architect once stated: ‘form follows function’. That’s why you know what the particular function of a building is. Architects follow their mantra.

Café de Unie (The Union), Rotterdam, The Netherlands

One of the first uses of typographic lettering in architecture is the façade of the café ‘De Unie’. This building was completed in 1925, and has the looks of a Mondriaan painting. From the outside the building looks very much like the front cover of the design magazine ‘De Stijl’ (The Style). This similarity is no coincidence; the architect was a member of the Style movement. Members from various disciplines, like architects, graphic designers and interior designers had a strong influence on each other.

You can find this building near Rotterdam central station. It was destroyed during the second world war and has been rebuild in 1985, 500 meters from its original place.

Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany

At art school, everyone learns about Walter Gropius and his Bauhaus movement. The Bauhaus has been very influential in architecture and other disciplines of art. This modernist building was build in 1926 and has a beautiful lettering on its front façade.

Seattle Art Museum, U.S.A.

In 1991, Pritzker Prize winner Robert Venturi designed the Seattle art museum. To make sure no other use will ever be made of the building, ‘Seattle Art Museum’ has been carved into the front façade.

Minnaert building, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

The Minnaert building on the campus of Utrecht University has been named after the Belgian astronomer Marcel Minnaert. The architectural firm Neutelings Rietdijk has made very original use of huge letters to give the building its name. The columns that carry the upper levels are integrated within the letters.

Library of Alexandria, Egypt

Snøhetta is a Norwegian architectural firm with a very beautiful website. The buildings they design are fine too. Take for example the library in Alexandria, a huge cylinder covered with concrete plating. On those plates you can see all kinds of typographical elements in non western languages, mostly hieroglyphs.

Terror Háza múzeum / House of Terror museum

House of Terror is a museum located at Andrássy út 60 in Budapest, Hungary. Designed by architects János Sándor and Kálmán Újszászy.

The reconstruction turned the exterior of the building into somewhat of a monument; the black exterior structure (consisting of the decorative entablature, the blade walls, and the granite sidewalk) provides a frame for the museum, making it stand out in sharp contrast to the other buildings on Andrássy Avenue. Wikipedia.

City Museum Melbourne, Australia

Designed by Garry Emery, Mark Janetzki and Ben Kluger for the City Museum Melbourne. This large folded monumental sign draws the attention to the museum and gives direction to the entrance.

Eureka Tower Carpark

Also designed by the Emery Studio Melbourne, big painted letters on the walls and floor, looking directly the letters are distored but standing in a right position the letters can be read perfectly. Fabulously done artwork by Axel Peemoeller.

LAX

One of the large LAX signs that greet visitors to Los Angeles International Airport. This sign is at the Century Boulevard entrance to the airport.

Art school made me do this

A fun project by Rutger de vries (Perongeluk) who used this old building to express his design ideas. It was doomed to demolition, the former nursing home in Utrecht (The Netherlands). After the elderly residents had been relocated, it had served as a student residence for another six years, but now it stood empty. Rutger de Vries says:  “My work is transitory in nature; in fact I prefer to present it in places that have almost ceased to exist, where it can contrast with the setting”.

You.

Can you name a building where the designer made good use of typographic elements? Let me know by adding a comment!

This is a guest post by Frank van Leersum, a Dutch student architecture who likes to write about architecture and books. Visit his Dutch weblog Aureon or follow him on twitter.

In the field of signage design and wayfinding systems there are not many blogs to be found. Here you will find a list of blogs in this field of expertise. If you have a blog to share please leave a comment in the fields below. Thank you and enjoy reading.

fd2s Blog

A discussion of the latest trends and best practices in wayfinding and environmental graphic design for large, complex environments.

At fds2 the company mainly operates in the field of wayfinding and signage design for hospitals, they have recently added a blog to their website with interesting topics, recommended readings.

• Company location: Texas, United States. Visit fd2s Blog.

Büro North

Büro North is an emerging studio dedicated to fusing creativity & pragmatics to generate visionary design. At the blog they discuss work and ideas from the company.

• Company location: Melbourne, Australia. Visit Büro North Blog.

Branch Design

The blog of Branch Design is about interpretation and wayfinding design, they showcase their work through the blog. Interesting read.

• Company location: New Zealand. Visit the Branch design blog.

Digital signage blog

We are a group of technology enthusiasts who are passionate with the uses of gadgets and nifty pieces of equipment. When digital signage came into our picture, we got excited and decided to take it for a ride. In fact, with the tremendous popular rise of digital signage and its applications everyday, it has now become part of our profession.

Frequently updated blog with topics about digital signage.

• Location: Australia, visit Digital Signage Blog.

Beaver Group Blog

Beaver Group is an organisation whose focus is the delivery of digital signage and design solutions.

The blog is filled with information about digital signage, unfortunally you cannot comment on the posts.

• Location: United Kingdom, visit the Beaver Group Blog.

Digital Signage Blog

DigitalSignage.com seeks to represent the voice of a growing industry by uniting associations, businesses, and individuals in a unique and timely way. Whether information is distributed on out-of-home signage or online, content is king.

Recently started blog about digital signage, the posts are frequently updated. The website also hosts a complete topic supplier list of companies offering signage and wayfinding products for the United States.

• Location: US, visit the blog Digital Signage.

Sixteen Nine

Yet another blog about digital signage and wayfinding, written by Dave Haynes. He frequently updates his blog with interesting and freshing topics.

• Visit the digital signage website Sixteen Nine.

Rise Display Network

Rise Display Network is the industry’s leading web delivered digital signage software solution that brings live data, custom messages and content to thousands of displays.

At the blog of Rise Display Network posts are about digital signage and software.

• Visit the blog Rise Display Network.

All Signs Group

A blog about our projects, the products we make and the people who make them.

The blog is a showcase of the work of All Signs Group.

• Location: United Kingdom, visit the blog of All Signs Group.

GRS Signs company

GRS Sign Company Ltd is on the cutting-edge of sign-making, specialising in design, manufacture, supply and installation.

The blog of GRS Signs is a showcase of the signage & wayfinding work they have produced.

• Location: United Kingdom, visit the blog GRS Signs.

Architectural Signage Blog

Daniel Tillman is an architectural signage and wayfinding consultant specializing in interior, exterior and digital signage. My aim is to help employees and visitors move through a space with ease and confidence while promoting the brand identity and design of the facility

This blog hosts a compilation of interesting resources and examples of signage & wayfinding.

• Visit the blog of Daniel Tillman.

Best Signs

Best Sign Systems is a US manufacturer of proven architectural signage products that have been consistently specified by architects for more than 40 years.

At the blog of Best Signs they showcase work and updates in their inventory.

• Visit the blog of Best Signs.

Please share

If you came accross a signage or wayfinding blog that is not listed in this article, please share in the comments below. Thank you!

How to design an architectural metal pylon sign? Last year my company BaumannSign we created a large metal pylon signage in front of an corporate building in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This article will give you an insight on how the pylon was designed, build and manufatured. Please let me know your findings on the final results.

Detail metal pylon signage

The original brief from the client/architect was to create a architectural pylon which will draw attraction in a corporate way, to have a directional function and space for various logos and of text. In a short meeting we all agreed on the materials; metal and the design brief was created as following:

• Metal (raw) materials
• Illuminiated Signs
• Full color usage of logo
• Clear direction to the office buildings and streetnames should be on the signs
• Corporate design
• Accesable from both sides
• Readable from a distance

First sketches

For all my design work I use Adobe Illustrator CS3, I have worked with Illustrator since version 8 and it allows me to quickly create results in 2D and 3D. Within the first series of drawings various variations of a pencil were made because of the main rental company in these office buildings is Staples. Soon we discoverd that pencils (or parts of them) where not working as a signage landmark. After creating several more designs the image as shown above became the final design. From there on I started working on the build of the metal plyon design with the following demands:

• The concrete foundatation may not be visible
• The electricity should be connected from the ground and not visible
• Illuminated elements should be easily replaced and should have a high preformance lighting
• Stainless steel parts from the landmark should be easily replaced with damage
• Strong steel casing and vandal-resistant

The Build

From several 3D angles the pylon signage was drawn and the internal elements were designed, I have had close contact with the client/architect and constructor to enhance all features and make no or litte design changes from the final design. After all details and the steel casing was drawn, everything was send to a construction ingenieur party to check if my calculations are according standards. When everything was approved and the placing request was granted  from the commune, the build could be started. For all visual metal elements we used the material metal Stainless Steel Aisi 316 K320. In inside steel casing was made of square pipelines welled together and powder coated to reduce corrosion on the several parts.

Illuminated signs

The pylon signage should be readable from a distance and the client requested to add the logo to the signs, this increases the recognizability of the companies in the office buildings. To create a unique look and feel to the landmark I added detail to the illuminated signs by a small stainless steel square border and let the plexiglas plate fall back a little, which will draw the attention by the detail. In inside illuminated equipment consits of a single TL-element mounted at the top of the sign, packed in a U-shape element the light is directed downwards. With a bend mirror-plexiglas the light is transported towards the plexiglas plate, allowing a high reflect diffus (white) effect. By using these elements not only you will get a high performance illuminiated sign but also reduce the costs of using just one TL-element. We have used white satin opaal plexiglas plates for a non-reflecting surface.

Installing the Pylon Signage

At the location where the landmark was being placed a concrete plate was placed with a diamater of 2 x 2 meters weighing over 1600 KG. In this concrete plate several steel bolds where mounted with a chemical brace. The landmark was then placed onto the bolds using a lifting element placed on top of the landmark. All the stones where placed back into position and the ground and the illuminated signs where placed into the fittings in the pylon.

Final results

Our company very much enjoyed this project and we would like to thank the architect and all parties involved. Let me know what you think of this stainless steel landmark?

Airport signs & wayfinding systems are guides to show visitors the way. From finding the toilets, gates, tranfsers or even the coffee corner, signs are needed to show the way. Airport signage design is not a easy task and creating a wayfinding system in a airport which will have to guide thousands of visitors takes a in-dept case study of the visual environment, travellers stream, detailed prints of the building and much more. In this photo showcase I’ve collected images of Airport Signage from cities all over the world, using the photo website flickr.

Düsseldorf Airport Signs

Photo credit iwouldstay

Airport Signage Design

When designing signage for a Airport or a other public building you have to take a good notice of the visual surroundings the signage will be placed in. The backgound colors of walls and windows, the amount daylight let in the building, the lighting and more environmental elements are important when designing signage for a aiport. In a visual crowed environment it is important that signage design stands out to its background, for a maximum effect. Use a color system with not to many variations and be consistant with the color usage. Think about using illumnated signs to enhanche the readability of the signage and always use mockups of the signs to test if the signage is working in the visual surroundings.

Color, typography design and use of pictograms

Design high contrast signs to ensure good readability and legibilty of the signage. Colors that work well are a dark background with a light colored text and pictograms. For example a black background with white illuminated lettering will ensure a high contrast which has a good readability from a distance. Other commen color combinations are a yellow background with black lettering. For typography use a sans type like FF Info by Erik Spiekermann or Frutiger by Adrian Frutiger. Use a font that have a high x-height which will increase the legibility of the signs. Use only one font in all visual communication levels of the airport signage. For international airports it is vital to use symbols to indicate the facilities in and around the airport, always strengthen the symbol with written text in the native language and perforably in English language. This will ensure that most of the visitors can read the signs.

Photo credit sabrinak

Typeface FF Info

Designed by Erik Spiekermann and Ole Schäfer, FF Info Collection offers a large variety in type weights and pictogram sets with a good legiblity suitable for airport signs.

Arrow design

Arrows are one of the most important design features of a wayfinding system for airports, with a pointing arrow you will be able to guide visitors to their destination. Choosing a arrow within a design can make or break the design, don’t over due the arrow but gently incorporate the arrow into the sign in balance with type. Recently I’ve released a arrow collection to use in a design. Download the 56 free arrows as a Illustrator vector file here.

Sign design using a grid

Always use a grid to design Signage & wayfinding systems in order to maintain balance and flexibility in the design. In a future article I will go in dept by explaining how to design signage using a grid.

Inspiration: Personal favourites

Below you will find a showcase of my personal 5 favourite airport signage designs. High contrast illuminated signs, using clear lettering.

Seattle Airport Signage

Singapore Terminal 3 airport signage

Copenhagen airport signage

Schiphol Amsterdam, Signage

Photo Courtesy: Martijn van Exel, visit his website Schaaltreinen.

Melbourne Australia, Airport Signage

Portland International Airport Signage

More Airport Signs Inspiration

Below a showcase of 19 more photos of airport signage design.

Frankfurt International Airport

Munich Airport Signage

Zürich airport signage

Warsaw Airport Signage

Singapore airport signage

Ataturk Airport - International Terminal

Oporto’s new airport signage

Zürich basic signage

Berlin, Schönefeld Airport signage

Newark International Airport

Paris - CDG Airport Terminal 2 Signage

Malaysia’s KLIA airport

Madrid Airport Signage

Doha, Qatar

Thai airport signage

Dubai airport signage

Oaxaca City Airport

Incheon International Airport

Bengaluru International Airport Signage

Other information & related resources

Bureau Mijksenaar has been proven to be a world leader in airport signage design, Paul Mijksenaar has designed airport signs for John F. Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia, Sardinia’s Italy and Schiphol. His designs can be marked as clear high contrast signs. At Mijksenaars website you can find more detailed information about these projects.

• Personal tips and information about airport signage design by Paul Mijksenaar
• A case study by Jenny Reising at Signweb about Schiphol Airport signage.
• MetaDesign created the signage system for Dusseldorf Aiport, in this detailed PDF you can find various information about the design.
• A case study in comparing typefaces for airport signs by Robert Waller. This study combined three research methodologies to inform the choice of a typeface for signs at London’s Heathrow Airport, see this website for more information.
• FF Info by available via FontShop.

Comming up

Next article will be a design tutorial how to design airport signage, stay updated for more free design articles, subscribe to the RSS feed.

Share your thoughts

I’m curious to know which of the above mentioned airport signage designs you like the best? Please leave a comment in the comment fields below. Thank you!

A signage designer is not only using the computer as center of the universe but uses different kind of tools to complete the (design) job. In this article I’ve compiled a list of most important tools that I use to design, create and produce signage, wayfinding and other related design products.

Top 10 of most important tools

1. The Fundamentals of Typography - A great book full of examples about designing with type.
2. Stanley Tape Rule - Made of steel, one of the most important hand tools I use to quickly measure something.
3. Stainless steel ruler - Excellent for measuring narrow size items, exact to the millimeter.
4. Steel caliper - To measure the distance between two symmetrically opposing sides and to measure the thickness of materials.
5. AcrySign color samples - Material color may differ from standard color systems like Pantone, therefore I use a sample chain to check the color.
6. PANTONE Color Bridge Coated - Pantone Color Matching System (PMS) is the worlds standard color usage system, can’t live without it. Most design studios (graphic) work with PMS.
7. Sikkens RAL - A color system mainly used used for paint colors. On of the most popular color is RAL 9010 (white).
8. Black permanent Fineliner - Using it all day for writing, designing, quick scketches and more. Using dozens of them.
9. Srewdriver - The small srewdriver represents a variety of machinery used to develop & create signage systems.
10. Calculator - To use for design calculations, mathematic relations, finance and more.

More items on the list

To complete the manufacturing part at the company we use various machinery like: Vinyl cutter & plotter, laser engraving, laser cutting and CNC engraving machinery. The design elements are developed with the Adobe Design Suite CS3, we especially work with Adobe Illustrator which is the probably best professional drawing program (in my opinion) for creating vector based design & signage systems. Other programs like Autocad and specific engraving software are used to manufacture the products. We make use of 3rd parties for painting jobs and creating metal structures.

Some signage examples

Landmark Signage with the logo Boutercheese cutted in 8 mm Acrysign and painted in different PMS colors.

Bronze engraved nameplate for Heineken Headoffice in Amsterdam.

Vinyl cutted selfadhesive foil, cutted in a blueprint pattern of large cities around the world for TomTom Headoffice Amsterdam.

Boxed LED signage for IDEXX, a laboratory testing company in the Netherlands.

Share your tools and creations

Thank you Katy for the inspiration idea: “What’s in My Purse?”

So.. tell me! - I’m interested to know the tools you use to complete your (design) job.

Professional edited free vector arrow symbols & icons for personal and/or commercial usage. This collection of arrow symbols can help you in your art & design. Arrows are often used in Signage and Wayfinding design to guide a visitor in the right direction. All 56 arrows are drawn by Sander Baumann with Adobe Illustrator and can be used in many different ways.

Preview the Vector Arrow Symbols & Icons

Click to enlarge

When designing signage for wayfinding it is important to choose a high contrast for the placement of the arrow, in the example below I’ve created small squares to put in the arrow. This gives a great constrast and good readability.

Example Signage Design with Arrow Symbol

Detailed information

The 56 free vector Arrow Symbols & Icons are created under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, meaning the vector images can be used either for personal or commercial purposes and may be changed to your own ideas, if you will credit my work or the website it will be highly appreciated.

Download file in Adobe Illustrator 8.0 (.ai)

Download Arrow Symbols for Adobe Illustrator (.ai)

Calori & Vanden-Eynden Design Consultants zijn geen onbekenden in Signage & Wayfinding, het bureau heeft een hoge reputatie op het gebied van bewegwijzering en hebben vele internationale projecten gerealiseerd.

Een van de oprichters van Calori & Vanden-Eyden, Chris Calori heeft het boek geschreven Signage & Wayfinding Design. Een uitgebreid naslag werk wat terug gaat naar de beginselen van ontwerp, lettertype gebruik en toepassing en geschiedenis.

EGD - Environmental Graphic Design

& Wayfinding by Chris Calori" />
Het boek is gericht op het creeren van bewegwijzerings systemen gebruik makend van design, in het bijna 200 tellende boek worden de volgende onderwerpen uitvoerig besproken:

• Wat is EGD?
• Het Design proces
• Overzicht van het bewegwijzerings pyramide model
• Het informatie (content) systeem
• De grafische aspecten van EGD
• Hardware toepassingen en uitvoeringen

& Wayfinding by Chris Calori" />
& Wayfinding by Chris Calori" />

Conclusie

Geschreven in Engels maakt dit boek niet voor iedereen geschikt om te lezen. Ik vondt de teksten goed en uitgebreid beschreven. De vele foto voorbeelden van projecten geven een zeer goede indruk van verscheidenheid van bewegwijzering toepassingen. In het boek worden veelal Amerikaanse voorbeelden aangehaald om het een en ander duidelijk te maken welke niet altijd toepasbaar zijn voor Europese begrippen.

& Wayfinding by Chris Calori" />

Verkrijgbaar:

Via Bol.com is dit boek verkrijgbaar voor Euro 54,99. Vanwege de lage dollarkoers zou ik het boek bestellen via amazon.com Dollar 51,60.

Gepubliceerd: 2007, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey
Autheur: Calori, Chris
ISBN: 978-0-471-74891-5

Links:

• Amazon: Signage and Wayfinding Design by Chris Calori
• Bureau: Calori & Vanden-Eynden Design Consultants
• Wiley: Architecture Literature

Op de website Signage & Environmental Graphic Design kan je op elke maandag van de week een bericht bekijken over inspiratie.

Inspiratie

De maandag series zullen voor elke dicipline van Signage & Environmental Graphic Design een inspraties plaatsen. Denk hierbij niet alleen aan voorbeelden van bestaande bewegwijzering, print of andere media uitingen maar ook aan de psygologie achter de ideeen. Uit welke informatie bron vindt ik nieuwe ideeen?

Via SmashingMagazine vondt ik deze interessante pagina over verschillende inspiratie ideeen met diverse toepassingen.

• SmashingMagazine: User Experience of The Future

Inspiratie komt uit alle hoeken en gaten, stuur ook eens een mooi inspirerend project in bij designworkplan.com. Via contact kunt u mij bereiken.