Wayfinding and directional signage
Coordinated schemes that get visitors from the car park to the right room without asking, designed around decision points rather than around sign positions. See our guide for more detail.
Wayfinding is a route, not a set of signs
Good wayfinding is designed backwards from the visitor journey. You walk the route a first time visitor takes, identify every point where they have to make a decision, and put a sign at each one. Signs anywhere else are clutter.
The commonest failure is naming inconsistency. If the totem says Reception, the door says Main Entrance and the internal sign says Front Desk, the scheme has already failed regardless of how well it is made.
Before you order
Wayfinding has to survive reorganisation. Departments move, tenants change and rooms get renamed. Specifying interchangeable slides or panel inserts from the start costs marginally more and avoids remanufacturing the scheme every time somebody moves floor.
What we need to quote
- A floor plan for each level
- Where visitors arrive from and where they need to reach
- Department or room names as they will actually be used
- Whether accessibility provision is required
Scheme components
Primary directional
Floor and department direction at the main decision points, usually suspended or wall mounted.
Secondary directional
Corridor level confirmation so visitors know they are still on the right route.
Identification
Room, department and door signage at the destination.
Slide systems
Interchangeable inserts so a name change is not a new sign.
Accessibility
Tactile and braille where the building requires it, at the specified mounting height.
Common questions
What is a wayfinding scheme?
A coordinated set of signs designed backwards from the visitor journey, with a sign at every point where somebody has to make a decision, and nothing anywhere else.
Why do wayfinding schemes fail?
Most often naming inconsistency. If the totem says Reception, the door says Main Entrance and the internal sign says Front Desk, the scheme has failed regardless of how well it is made.
Can wayfinding signs be updated when departments move?
Yes, if specified with interchangeable slides or panel inserts from the start. It costs marginally more and avoids remanufacturing the scheme every time somebody changes floor.
Planning a wayfinding scheme?
Send the floor plans and we will come back with a scheme and a schedule of signs.
Middle Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 7DP
Ten minutes from Stevenage. Visitors welcome.