- Guest article by Hayley Branston - Wayfinding_UK

‘Defining a City - How an informed choice of materials can influence a design and define the values of a City’, an event by the Sign Design Society.

On Wednesday 31st March Ivan Bennett, Design Manger for London Buses, delivered a presentation on the design and development of Bus infrastructure furniture and products at Transport for London’s offices in Southwark. This article gives and overview of the evening and highlights some of the key topics discussed.

Background Information

As part of Transport for London (TfL), London Buses is responsible for securing the provision of bus services throughout Greater London in a safe, efficient manner, while encouraging the use of buses and public transport. Surface Transport Infrastructure Development are responsible for the design and development, specification, installation and maintenance of the supporting infrastructure within Greater London. As the main point of contact with passengers, bus stops in London currently total over 19,000.

Introduction

Mike Wolff, Chairman of the SDS, introduced Ivan and highlighted that the society often discuss the graphic design and strategy of wayfinding systems, but talk less about the design of products. That in mind he was very keen to get the event underway.

London Buses - The Facts

Ivan began his presentation by putting the scale of the London Bus project into perspective. Every weekday over 6,500 scheduled buses carry around 6.25 million passengers on over 700 different routes, amounting to over 1.7 billion journeys a year. He was also keen to point out that the first use of the iconic roundel was the 19th-century symbol of the London General Omnibus Company; its usage on the Underground came later.

History of London Buses
Illustrations of old shelters showed how little the identity had changed over the years and demonstrated how forward thinking London were in a period hung up on embellishment. Ivan emphasised the importance and influence of Frank Pick, head of the London Underground in the 1910s and 1920s and of the newly merged London Transport in the 1930s. Frank was instrumental in establishing the world’s most progressive public transport system and an exemplar of design management. Ivan went on to explain how Frank’s vision influenced the design of London bus products, including those we see on the streets today.

Creating Successful Products
TfL are a well known brand and the legacy of their products has a huge impact on defining the city. Their products and use of materials also help define the values of the system. Ivan identified his three intrinsic factors for creating successful products:

• Aesthetics
• Appropriateness
• Economics

Even in the early 19th century, London Transport realised the importance of these values.

“The test of the goodness of a thing is its fitness for use. If it fails on this first test, no amount of ornamentation or finish will make it better; it will only become more expensive and more foolish.” - Frank Pick

It was clear that Ivan and his team design products with a clear focus on ‘Appropriateness’. They adopt a cradle to grave approach to design and Ivan listed key considerations in their design process:

• Who will use the product?
• What will the product be used for?
• How long does the product need to last?
• What possible impact does the product need to withstand? (vehicles, pedestrians, weather)
• How often will the product need to be updated?
• How will the product be maintained?

In particular when looking at materials:

• Do the individual materials proposed work together?
• Are the materials used sustainable?
• Do the materials work within the surrounding environment?
• What is the life span of individual materials?
• How will materials be disposed of at the end of the products life?

Current Product
Using a full scale replica of a bus stand located at the front of the room, Ivan described in detail the design of the current product used at bus stops.

Click to enlarge the busstop details.

Many of the components are easily switchable. Ivan demonstrated how using a tiling system, bus stop numbers could be changed and moved almost like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Examples of timetables, route maps and network maps helped show how London Buses have simplified information to make it easier for bus stop users to answer three key questions:

• Where am I now?
• How do I get from A to B
• How will I know when I get there?

Click to enlarge the map busstop details.

A good example of this simplification of information is the timetable, where individual times have been omitted and instead only first and last buses are listed along with the general frequency of buses throughout the day.

Example: Transport for London Journey Planner.

Where other systems fail
One reason other systems have failed is the lack of continuity. London bus stops extend beyond central areas and cover all routes in Greater London. Ivan indicated that passengers do not just want information about where they are travelling from, but when they get there, they need the same consistently presented information. People need information near their homes and local areas, not just in the centre of the city.

Ivan also pointed out that many systems fail because they do not own their products. London Buses design and build their products and own the intellectual property rights. This allows TfL the freedom to change manufacturers without having to reinvent their products. Continuity of the brand is maintained and London Buses can continually work on evolving their products.

Questions and Answers
The session concluded with a questions and answers forum. Unsurprisingly many of the questions focussed on manufacturing methods and material choices, but several of the questions were centred around brand identity and the roundel. A debate began on the use of the roundel and whether overuse was diluting its visual impact, a subject I am sure we all could have continued discussing at length, but time was pushing on and Mike sadly had to draw the session to a close.

Conclusion

I have been to several events organised by the SDS, but this was one of my favourites. The presentation was filled with facts, history, illustrations and physical examples. Ivan is obviously very knowledgeable on the subject and passionate about his job and this came through in his presentation.

I would like to thank Ivan, Mike, Michelle and the SDS for another great event.

• For more information on the SDS visit: The Sign Design Society

Author Bio:
Hayley graduated in 2007 with a first class degree in Visual Communication. She now lives and works in London as a Wayfinding Designer for a large architectural practice. Her key projects to date include developing signage and information graphics for both Dublin and Rome Airport. Hayley’s thoughts and inspirations can be found in her regular tweets as Wayfinding_UK.

From 3 - 11 of December 2009 IIID and The Sign Design Society organized a 9 day seminar on signage and wayfinding in Vienna, Austria. I was lucky enough to attend the seminar day on Friday the 4th with the topic: City Identity & Wayfinding.

This article will feature a review of the seminar day with world leading speakers on signage and wayfinding such as Jim Northover, Tim Fendley, Nic Banks, Matt Butters, Cliff Selbert and David Gibson. In total on this day there were 16 speakers with presentations on: City wayfinding, Airport signage, Metro wayfinding, Environmental graphic design, Typography, Pictogram design, and much more, a seminar marathon so to say.

The purpose of sign09 is to bring together and inform those involved in the discipline, to offer education and networking opportunities and to improve awareness of the social and commercial importance of this often underestimated aspect of environmental design.

Sign09 Vienna

This 9 days of seminar is a joined initiative of International Institute for Information Design (IIID) and Sign Design Society (SDS) with the overall goal to contribute on better understanding of the importance of signing and wayfinding and to encourage greater focus in the design disciplines, industry and education. The speakers of the Friday seminar City Identity & Wayfinding each hold a position or have done remarkable work in this field of expertise and shared their knowledge.

Organization

The opening words were by Mike Wolff (SDS) and Martin Foessleitner (IIIDSpace), my compliments to the crew for organizing this great event. We got a personalized booklet with all speakers of today and additional space on each page to write down remarks, lunch, drinks, coffee and superb talks, great!

1. Jim Northover

Global Cities, Local Places:
the challenge of identity in urban environments

First speaker on stage (09:00 sharp) was Jim Northover, Jim talked about the identity of cities and its uniqueness to create an rememberable experience. Interesting topic Jim mentioned was the look at historical facts such as the Roman build city Rome and its structure on traffic flow and circulation.

• Find out more about Jim Northover at his corporate website LloydNorthover.

2. Halime Fisenk and Zeynep Aran

Environmental sign system as a visual language matter in Turkey

Two Turkish designers are building a case on creating a sign system for cities in Turkey. The main problem is that there is no clear and concise system of signs showing street names, directions and more. From the Turkish culture people navigate by asking locals the way. The students have come up with a color coded system and a sign proposal to create make Turkey more legible. Keep up the work and good luck.

3. Khanna Raman

Reading the city of Delhi:
wayfinding strategies for international tourism

From Turkey to India where Khanna Raman talks about the need for information systems for international tourism. In 2010 India will host the Commonwealth Games and this will be an opportunity to create new wayfinding systems that oversees the illiteracy, cultural biases and overcrowded public spaces. From his point of view new mobile technologies will be used to navigate easier from one to another location.

4. Tim Fendley

A principled approach to designing urban wayfinding

Tim Fendley talks about the project Legible London and the theory behind the wayfinding strategy, he talked about the awareness of information systems that can be used as a seamless guidance in your city journey. As Tim continued his talk he mentions the issues of naming the parts of a city, as from historical point of view areas or neighborhoods can have different names. By researching the areas and questioning locals they have gathered all the correct information as needed to locate an area. Further on Tims shows us a software tool which they use to get information on or off a navigation map, an impressive way to create different maps for each specific need in urban wayfinding. With various examples of good and bad we got a great insight on urban wayfinding.

• Find out more about Tim Fendley at his corporate company Applied Information Group and follow Tim Fendley on Twitter.

5. Barry Gray

Barry talked about the latest developments in the standardisation of graphical symbols and signs. With many examples Barry emphasized the importance of the ISO standard on testing and using symbols and icons in wayfinding systems. This resulted in a discussion about the cultural differences and interpretation of graphical symbols. They plan to release a search able database that will give out the symbol that you can use in the design. Looking forward to this new functionality.

• Find out more about the ISO Standard of graphical symbols at the International Organization for Standardization.

6. Stefan Egger

Tern: A new traffic typeface for the Trans European Road Network

Stefan Egger talked about a European Union project named “In-Saftey”, where a typeface should be developed to meet the demands of road users since the introduction of the international standards (41 years ago agreed on). In a team of type developers Erik Spiekermann is involved to create the typeface TERN. Stefan talked about how the typeface is developed and what criteria was used to make it legible on road signs or electrical signs. In 2010 Austria will be the fist to have the typeface TERN Narrow on its roadsigns.

7. Gökhan Namanoglu

For the Istanbul Summer Olympics 2020 Gökhan Namanoglu is researching if international pictographic languages exists and this project will focus on the function and effectiveness on pictograms.

8. Nic Banks

Signing public transport systems

After lunch Nic Banks got on stage to talk about his work in Asia for designing signage systems for transport facilities in Bangkok, Dubai, Hong Kong and more. Nic pointed out that the principle of signage is to move and navigate and will holds its own identity. To clearly inform passengers of understanding a facility forms the back-bone of all good transport systems. Nic addresses the differences between cultures and its interpretation of information on which a signage system is build. With various examples we got a great insight on transport signage systems in Asia.

• Find out more about Nic Banks and his corporate company Atelier Pacific Limited Hong Kong.

9. Matt Butters

Heathrow Airport Terminal 5

Designed to handle over thirty million passengers a year this airport terminal was to bring together the standards of modern terminal design. Matt Butters talks about the way architecture can play a part in wayfinding to create a clarity in orientation and information delivery. This intuitive way of designing a building will create trust with its passengers who will find their gates with ease. Signage has become a part of its facility.

• Find out more about Matt Butters and his corporate company Pascall + Watson.

10. Helmut Ness

Messe Frankfurt

Messe Frankfurt is world’s largest faire trade company with over 578,000 square meters of ground cover. Within three separate buildings an current wayfinding system is not providing the needed information. Helmut Ness talks about the new and improved wayfinding system they have developed with a custom Univers typeface designed by Erik Spiekermann. Their ideas consists of the right balance in showing dynamic and fixed information within a circular red following line that connects all three buildings.

• Find out more about Helmut Ness and his corporate company Fuenfwerken Design AG.

11. Tony Howard

Public service or brand opportunism

As everybody has problems with clients demands Tony Howard talked about the signing and wayfinding for Dubai Metro. Tony discusses how they designed specific cultural pictograms and custom typeface that combines Latin and Arabic characters in one typeface. Interesting enough the way public signage is handled in Dubai is to sell ‘advertising’ space on signs in order to create income. Tony talks about how the managed to under these circumstances created a working signage system.

• Find out more about Tony Howard and his corporate company Transport Design Consultancy.

12. Tommie Nyström

Teaching wayfinding at Stuttgart Media University

The future of information design is in the hands of students. Tommie Nyström has students who perform wayfinding studies for well known places such as the Porsche Museum and let them come up with new ideas to show information. Within 6 weeks the students go from idea to prototype and present their ideas as parts of their study.

• Find out more about Tommie Nyström and the Stuttgart Media University.

13. Ralf Herrmann

Wayfinding typefaces

Ralf Herrmann studied for over three years road signage typefaces throughout Europe. His study shows many typefaces have difficulties under certain circumstances, Ralf Herrmann decided to design his own wayfinding typeface based on his ideas of maximum legibility. He created a software tool to simulate reading conditions in order create a working wayfinding typeface under all weather and distance conditions. Currently in beta.

• Find out more about Ralf Herrmann and his typeface Wayfinding at his website Open Type, see here for an review of his typeface.

14. Clive Richards

A picture isn’t always worth 1000 words

Clive Richards the president of IIID / UK had a presentation about the design of warning labels in particular for tractor security. The manufacturer of tractors wished to minimize the number of different language variants needed on the labels, Clive talks about the problems that they faced and how they managed to maximize the level of understanding of graphical information.

15. Cliff Selbert

Finding your way while enhancing your brand

Cliff Selbert has a specific approach in wayfinding and landmarking, their philosophy consists on creating big environmental sculptures to create an identity for its area. This is an interesting way of making areas or facilities legible and while creating an photo opportunity people will remember the location more intense. Cliff talked about the parking for Disney where they used music and images to let visitors remember the location and enhance the experience which will be linked to the brand.

• Find out more about Cliff Selbert and his corporate company Selbert Perkins Design.

16. David Gibson

Finding the hidden logic

After about 9 hours of talk David Gibson had the task to close this marathon day of speakers. With his book The Wayfinding Handbook David is creating legible enviroments by finding the hidden logic. With basic principles he creates systems that allows us to find our way in unfamiliar environments. With his recent visit to Beijing David tells about the hidden logic he found in this immense city.

• Find out more about David Gibson and his corporate company TwoTwelve or read the review on The Wayfinding Handbook.

Additional information:

Hopefully IIID and SDS will continue hosting these events in the future, if you want to know more about the organizations or the event please use the following links.

• Sign09 Vienna Event
• International Institute for Information Design - IIIDSpace
• Sign Design Society - SDS

Afterwards we had a great dinner and drink till late. Thanks everybody for the open-minds and great talks about our common interests. Thank you Peter for showing us around in Vienna. See you next year!

Exploring unknown cities for business or pleasure, for me, is always a joyful experience, walking around and getting into the city will enlighten your vision and makes you connect to the culture. Visiting the beautiful and exciting elements a city has to offer makes your trip an unforgettable visit. Getting information on how to get around in a city is essential for easy orientation and navigation.

Actually one of the most important factors that you will remember after visiting a city is how did you get around.

What items did you use to navigate through a city? How did public transport interacts with the navigation possibilities that you have? What was your feeling and with the items you used to navigate and did you find your way? Where did you get your information from and was it sufficient enough?

All of these questions make or break a your vision on city exploration.

Exploring a unknown city

When visiting a city there are different ways you can get there and after arriving you need to know where you are in the spatial environment in order to locate yourself and make decisions on where to go next. The provided information at that point of entry is critical for easy city exploration, if the provided information is insufficient, you might turn the wrong way and not finding the locations you want or need to visit. Going the wrong way increases feelings of disorientation, distraction and anxiety. The feeling that you are loosing time on exploring a city trip is one of the worst psychological emotions you experience.

City information

When visiting a new city is can be useful to check the cities website and obtain information about:

• Public transport and available connections between the various transportation services
• Getting a map of the city and locate your hotel, maybe even plan a trip from your city point to entry to the hotel
• Maybe plan your trip via google maps and mark all the points your want to visit
• Opening hours of the facilities you want to visit

I’m that kind of guy that doesn’t do any of the suggested items as described above… I just try to explore the city using my senses and trying to find where I need to go next. Sometimes this is a great and joyful experience, sometimes it causes disorientation and arguments with the people I travel with at that time.

Orientation and navigation in an unknown city

When using your senses to guide yourself in a unknown environment you need eye-level directional information and possibly a map to locate and navigate through the city. City often uses directional signs on streets to point you in the right direction and sometimes information panels are providing you with an orientation overview. In future posts I will go deeper into pedestrian navigation and city wayfinding. Other forms of navigation is through a mobile phone powered with for instance Google Maps or specific applications enhanced to bring you information about the city you want to visit.

City marketing and visitors information

As city marketing is the nr. 1 way of promoting your city, providing information to the visitors is also part of the branding strategy. Currently many cities worldwide are producing mobile applications to improve the visitors experience and this will make it easier to navigate through a city. I have compiled a list of iPhone applications which will let you navigation through a city using your own personal map.

iPhone apps for city orientation and navigation

WalkBrighton

The London based information design company Applied Information Group started a project in London several years ago names: Legible London, this project aimed at pedestrian wayfinding in the heart of London to release the stress on public transport and enhance the user experience. AIG rolled out a pilot and the case is very strong, people are using it with ease and it will change the way at city wayfinding completely.

In Brighton AIG also adapted the wayfinding system and developed an iPhone application to support the pedestrian wayfinding system, named WalkBrighton. Using the same look and feel as the hardware allowing the two systems works seamlessly together informing you where you are and where you want to go. Looking forward visiting Brighton to use the system in real life.

Details of the application:
Crossings, railings, ramps and footpaths are shown in detail, as well as individual shops, bars and public services. 3D illustrations of key landmarks help you place yourself in the map just one of many features that makes this one of the best-looking and most user-friendly maps you will see on the iPhone

Additional information:

• Applied information Group
• Visit Brighton website
• WalkBrighton website
• Install iPhone app WalkBrighton (iTunes link)

Infomaps Amsterdam

The city of Amsterdam has much to explore but getting around in a circular city can be hard. This application from Infomaps changes the way you can interact in public transport, providing you with the up-to-date information about

The application comes in two versions:
Infomaps Amsterdam:Tourist guide with 130 hotspots linked to public Tram-, Metro- and Railway connections
Metro Amsterdam: Travel fast and easy with Metro Amsterdam. With a custom made map and list view of all 4 Metro lines

Additional information:

• Website of infomaps
• Install iPhone app infomaps (iTunes link)

Holland, Amsterdam

The Amsterdam Mobile Guide provides users with striking images and accurate descriptions of Amsterdam’s most popular attractions, including restaurants and bars, sights, hotels, shops and much more. Compiled with the on-the-go traveler in mind, the Amsterdam Mobile Guide highlights the very best Amsterdam has to offer, helping travelers discover local favorites while allowing travelers to contact any venue by phone, email or website - or launch a Google map - directly from the application.

Find the best venues to enjoy on your trip to Amsterdam and read about them on-the-go. Each entry in the Amsterdam Mobile Guide includes a striking image, accurate description, contact information, and a map. Call, email, or browse the venue’s website directly from the app. Or launch the Google Maps application from the venue page to receive directions from your current location.

Additional information:

• Offical website with information about the iPhone app
• Install this iPhone app (iTunes link)
• License: Free

OffMaps

OffMaps is an iPhone application that you can use for navigation through a city, you can download maps of area’s you are going to and use the maps without a wifi connection. The latest version also includes routes, you can set up directions before visiting the area and use the route as you go.

OffMaps uses OpenStreetMaps that include a lot more information than simple road maps: from ATMs and train stations to restaurants and pubs.

Additional information:

• Website OffMaps
• Install iPhone app OffMaps (iTunes link)

Nearest Tube New York

Nearest Tube is one of the first augmented reality iPhone apps available. The app is basically of a simple concept, point your iPhone into the environment and the app will show you where the nearest tube station. Available for many cities such as New York, London, Barcelona, San Fransisco, Chicago, Madrid, Paris, Tokyo and many more. Check the website of Acrossair for more information.

Additional information:

• Website of Acrossair
• London tube map
• Install this iPhone app (iTunes link)
• * iPhone 3GS only

London Tube (subway)

London Tube is a comprehensive guide to travelling through London. It includes official subway maps. London Tube map is licensed by Presselite from Transport for London (TfL).

The iPhone app includes many features such as travel planning, detailed maps of almost every lines available, push notifications for real time Tube alerts, bookmark manager and much more. Check the website for specific details of the city wayfinding iPhone app.

Additional details:

• Official website for London Tube iPhone app
• Website of Presselite for other city iPhone apps, for Berlin, NYC, Tokyo and more.
• Install London Tube iPhone app (iTunes link)

Various other suppliers for travel, orientation city maps

There are several iPhone app available for simple orientation and navigation for many cities worldwide, please check the following websites for more information:

• Smart Maps
• Visual IT
• Ulmon
• Not for tourists iPhone
• Fidesreef
• Mobile streetsmaps

Conclusion

I have installed and tested many of the above mentioned iPhone apps for city wayfinding and I believe the real added value is real time walking around where the iPhone app shows you where you are and where you are going to. My personal favorite is WalkBrighton for its clear and straightforward map design, it offers both in functionality and navigation great results.

Future of city wayfinding

So tell me…
Do you use or will you use these apps to travel around in a city?
Will mobile applications be the future of city exploration?

This is the book about wayfinding, signage and environmental graphic design by David Gibson. The book describes everything you need to know to get started as graphic designer in the world of environmental graphic design. The writer David Gibson is a highly respected wayfinding designer and principal of graphic design firm Two Twelve, New York.

A manual for students, teachers, professionals, and clients.

This is exactly what this book is about, easy readable and recognizable for everybody to read and learn wayfinding design. I have read this book with great pleasure and using it as a reference manual in my daily activities.

Information Design for Public Places

In the first chapter the book describes the history of wayfinding and the spectrum of projects, which you will learn about the different areas wayfinding designers work in. There are several great examples of wayfinding projects shown and Gibson takes it deeper into the structure of projects and where the wayfinding designers fits in. Every chapter features a page written by people from the industry, making this book great fun to read and you will get different perspectives on the topics.

Design Process

As wayfinding designer there are many different kind of signs needed in a project, from small toilet signs to large boxed letters on the roof of the building. To enhance the wayfinding system all signs need to interact which each other in order to let them work together effectively. The book describes many different type of signs and explains about strategic planning and information graphic design. With several examples on how to document a wayfinding system this part really stands out in the book.

Wayfinding design

In the section wayfinding design, Gibson talks about typography, layout, symbols, color, materials and media. This section is a great learning experience to create signage & wayfinding design. With an very interesting page from Jonathan Hoefler on type design, legibility, purpose and wayfinding design these chapters will make you want to create wayfinding design!

Practical tips

The last section of the book takes you into how wayfinding projects are initiated and what the requirements should be in order to select a wayfinding designer. I especially enjoyed the part about documentation and fabrication, one of the most essential parts of creating a good manual for a wayfinding project.

Conclusion

Personally I enjoyed reading this book very much, it is easy to read, recognizable, short stories but with an edge to keep it clean and simple. Each chapter starts with a small introduction and a line about Learn About, where you quickly see what to expect from this section in the book. As said above the different insights from other people in the industry makes this book a great reference guide into wayfinding design. What I love about this book that it is written for everybody. If you are into environmental graphic design, signage/wayfinding than this is the book for you!

The Wayfinding Handbook is a complete guide to the discipline, from planning and design to practical considerations, such as setting up teams and managing projects.

Availability

• TwoTwelve started a minisite about the book The Wayfinding Handbook
• Get the book The Wayfinding Book at Amazon
• Interesting interview with David Gibson about wayfinding and the book at BusinessWeek.
• Special page at Facebook.
• Website of TwoTwelve.

Details of The Wayfinding Book
Price $24.95
ISBN 9781568987699
7 x 8.5 inches (17.8 x 21.6 cm), Paperback, 152 pages
265 color illustrations; 5 b/w illustrations
In print (publication date 3/1/2009)
A Princeton Architectural Press publication

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!

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!

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