Why Does Effective Wayfinding Signage Need That Expert Touch?

Wayfinding signage presents us with a paradox – if it’s doing its job effectively, it shouldn’t even be noticed by those who use it. Effective signage, therefore, is conspicuous only by its absence, when people realise how much they depend upon wayfinding systems in order to orient and traverse urban spaces. Despite the fact that we rely on signage every day, we remain largely unconscious of the impact that it has on our daily lives.

It would be a mistake to fall into a false sense of security, however. Like many things in the modern world such as smartphones or the internet, it may appear effortless and seamless on the surface, but there’s a huge amount of research, expertise and creativity occurring behind the scenes that goes into producing effective wayfinding systems.

Here we take an expert in-depth look at what wayfinding is, how it’s used and what constitutes an effective wayfinding system. Given the widespread applications of wayfinding in contexts as diverse as airports, hospitals, city centres, universities and shopping malls, the answers to these questions are of note to relevant officials across the public, private and third sectors.

What is Wayfinding?

Wayfinding involves the process of traversing through a given space to a final destination. This process involves a series of steps in order for the traveller to get from where they are to where they want to be. The first step is to work out where one is; this orientation is then used to guide oneself through the space to one’s destination. Wayfinding systems and signage are employed to enhance this experience by providing a series of cues, both subconscious and overt.

These cues act to create nodes throughout the journey to streamline the passage through the space. As a result, the traveller can navigate from node to node with ease until they reach their final destination. For example, a person enters a shopping mall. They want to get to a store on the third floor in the left-hand wing of the building. The first node could be a sign indicating the direction of the stairs or lifts. The second node will be placed outside the lift on the third floor, and additional nodes may be required depending on the length and complexity of the remaining journey.

How is Wayfinding Signage Used?

We’ve all encountered simple directional signage before, but modern wayfinding systems frequently include other elements that play a supporting role to these directional signs. It makes sense that, in response to the growing complexity of the urban environment and the array of functions that particular buildings play within that environment, wayfinding systems should adjust to respond to these additional demands.

These other components that constitute a modern wayfinding system most commonly include ‘you are here’-style maps to assist travellers with orientation and to help them plan their next steps. These cartographic maps tend to be highly simplified, presenting only the minimum amount of information required to avoid information overload. This is a central principle of wayfinding signage – too much information can be just as harmful as not enough info.

Other Applications

As well as helping people to get to their chosen destinations, wayfinding can be used to encourage travellers to take particular paths that they may not have taken otherwise. This has applications in museums and galleries, for example, where exhibitions are curated to be viewed in a particular order. Wayfinding can be employed in these contexts to ensure that no exhibits are missed – a vital function considering the often circuitous layout of these buildings.

The same principle can be applied to urban centres or historic towns to guide visitors to ‘hidden gems’ that may be out of the way. An increase in local business footfall can also be encouraged via strategic use of wayfinding systems.

How do Experts Create a Truly Effective Wayfinding System?

There are also other ancillary components designed for use in specific contexts alongside ‘you are here’ maps and common directional signs. These tend to be highly innovative, and include examples such as the use of coloured lines that run along the corridors of hospitals, where each colour refers to a particular ward. The same principle has even been applied in large corporate headquarters using brand-specific colours.

Indeed, including elements of branding across all aspects of the wayfinding system is a great and highly effective way to boost brand visibility. This has the corollary effect of ensuring that the positive customer experience that occurs as a result of using the wayfinding system is associated with your brand, leading to a boost in favourable customer perceptions of the given brand, as well as the space itself.

Providing this kind of innovation and creativity is vital to the effectiveness of a wayfinding system. Wayfinding signs, perhaps more than any other type of sign, are integrated conceptually with the environment in which they are placed due to their purpose of directing people through that environment. To be truly effective, then, they should also be integrated aesthetically. An expert can do away with simple arrow signs and create innovative directional cues, including use of lighting, colour and symbols to steer people to where they want to go.

In order for this to be successful the eyes of an expert are vital, particularly one with a background in manufacturing or implementation. These experts will possess intrinsic knowledge on the possibilities of fabrication and a clear understanding of what is viable and realistic.

Let’s Work Together

At The Sussex Sign Company we have decades of experience in the signage industry. In this time, our highly qualified team has accrued invaluable conceptual knowledge and had the opportunity to sharpen and finely hone our practical skills. We’d love to put our expertise to work to create an unparalleled wayfinding signage solution for your business, organisation or institution, so get in touch today to learn about the things we could achieve together. Call us on 01273 417057

Why is University and College Signage So Essential?

The use of signage in universities and colleges serves two primary purposes, which together make signage an absolutely vital tool to the further education sector. Firstly is the function of signage as a component in any effective wayfinding solution. Wayfinding signage helps students, staff and visitors to navigate large campuses and individual buildings, allowing the institution to operate efficiently.

The second purpose of signage in the further education sector is as a powerful marketing tool which, if used correctly, can develop and propel the status of an educational institution to new heights. Universities and colleges face certain unique challenges since the introduction of higher tuition fees and increased competition for students over the past five years.

A coherent and strong marketing response is required to turn this situation from a hindrance into an opportunity. It goes without saying that signage is an integral component of any marketing campaign. Today we’re going to look in more detail at the functions played by university and college signage, and some of the benefits that this signage can deliver to institutions and service users alike. Read on to find out all you need to know.

Wayfinding Signage in Colleges and Universities

Helping people to orient themselves and get to their destination is one of the paramount roles played by signage in general. Most universities and colleges are large institutions, often with thousands of staff members working on research and teaching across many different disciplines. Being able to navigate around the campus and find whoever and whatever you need is essential for the effective and efficient functioning of such a huge interdisciplinary organisation.

As well as the staff employed by the institution in question, many universities and colleges host academic conferences which attract researchers from all over the world. As well as making sure that these important visitors can find their way around your campus without trouble, wayfinding signage also plays a secondary role here. These visiting academics will take back their impressions of your institution as effective, high functioning and well organised, and will likely tell anyone who asks them how their trip went too, providing valuable word-of-mouth promotion.

This helps to build the profile of your educational institution internationally, and is essentially free promotion, as this is a secondary effect of signage designed to help people find their way.

The Student as a Customer

Alongside academic staff, the lifeblood of a university or college is its students. Effective wayfinding signage systems are absolutely vital to create that all-important first impression on prospective students and their families during open days. What could be worse for an educational institution that has to take in lots of new students every year in order to survive, than lots of potential students getting lost, having a negative experience and choosing to go elsewhere?

The open day experience is a complex one. First of all, visitors need to be able to find parking. They then need to be able to get from the car park to the reception, and so on. Each step of this journey requires effective wayfinding signage, and if just one step fails, then the experience of the entire day is likely to be somewhat negative. It’s clear, then, that a well-planned wayfinding system is simply essential.

But there’s more to it than that. Not only is university and college wayfinding signage necessary, but it’s also good for customer service provision. Other sectors of the economy adopted a customer-centric outlook decades ago and American universities were the first to bring the idea of the student as a customer into the world of higher education. British universities are only just catching up, and not necessarily through choice either.

Much has changed in the sector over the past five years, from the increase in tuition fees to the lifting of the cap on student numbers. Universities are also becoming increasingly dependent on fees for their income as the government cuts research grants. Adopting a customer service outlook ensures that universities and colleges can continue to survive by attracting ample numbers of students.

Part of providing excellent customer service in an educational environment is ensuring that the experience of the customer is pain-free, easy and intuitive, and this is where wayfinding signage excels.

Brand-Building

As well as using wayfinding signage to ensure that already-existing student-customers are satisfied, there’s the ever-present need to attract new students further down the line. This is where branded promotional signage comes in. Brands have existed in higher education for centuries, although they have only recently been recognised as such – just think of the power behind the Oxford and Cambridge University brands.

These two institutions needn’t worry, but not everyone can benefit from such powerful brand equity. Well-designed signage can remedy this problem, however. Branded university and college signage such as vinyl overlays attached to glass windows or free-standing signs could promote the institution’s achievements in student results or research. This helps to create recognition of the organisation as an educational institution which is especially useful for newer universities and colleges.

As well as raising the profile of such institutions, the presence of the brand on this signage provides an opportunity for the institution to create a unique image with personality, setting it apart from competitors. With consistent branding across all media channels, brands create a unique image because they tell a story. Particularly effective branding tells a story that viewers are inspired by or can relate to, which is easier for educational institutions than, say, multinational corporations to achieve, and it’s all made possible thanks to signage.

Final Word

With over two decades’ experience in signage, The Sussex Sign Company has the expertise to create a powerful signage solution for educational institutions, responding directly to the unique placement, goals and needs of each institution and its staff, students and visitors. Get in touch today to find out more about how we can work together, call us on 01273 417057

What Makes for Quality and Effective School Signage?

School signage is often overlooked by comparison to corporate signage, and even compared to higher educational organisations such as colleges and universities. Signage in schools is no less vital, however, and plays a wide range of important roles inside a school. From building the school’s reputation as an educational institution to ensuring that everyone can safely find their way to an emergency exit, signage is manifested in schools in such a way that they cannot safely and effectively operate without it.

We’re going to take a look in more detail at these different but equally crucial functions played by signage in schools, and in particular, how schools can make sure that their signage achieves these functions more effectively. Does school signage simply need to be readable to be effective? Or is there much more to it? Read on to learn everything that you need to know.

Excuse me, where’s the library?

Schools consist of departments broken down by subject area, and each department usually has several classrooms. Between lessons, hundreds or even thousands of pupils and staff have to move from classroom to classroom in a very short space of time. If just one child or teacher is late to a lesson, then the whole class suffers.

There’s also the consideration of new pupils. Schools want to help them settle in and feel comfortable in their new surroundings as much as possible, as it can be a scary and intimidating time when starting in a new school. Therefore, clear and effective wayfinding signage is paramount to the everyday functioning of the school.

Another chokepoint in schools occurs in the morning and evening when busses and cars arrive in the tens and hundreds. The importance of wayfinding signage is most clearly seen on the first day of the school year – children are excited to be back with their friends, and parents are probably glad to have them back in school too. This can very easily be soured by frustration, however, due to ineffective directional signage.

Evaluate your wayfinding signage

It’s imperative that parents can park, drop off their children and leave efficiently to avoid making everyone late for work and to create a good impression of the school. An easy way to evaluate the effectiveness of your existing signage is to look at it with ‘prospective parent goggles’ on – pretend that you’re a first-time visitor and try to navigate using only the cues of directional signage.

Start from the main road. Can you see the school from the road? Or is signage required to welcome visitors and guide them towards the reception? One solution could be to stock up on temporary signage, such as banners, for the first week of school to help keep traffic flowing and minimise stress levels.

Now you’re on the campus – can you find the reception easily? Depending on the size of the campus, traditional signposts to the most important destinations can be particularly effective here. It’s not practical to signpost every single department or room, though, and it can be frustrating and inconvenient to parents and visitors to have to visit the reception every time to ask for directions.

‘You are here’-style maps of the campus with a colour-coded directory listing can be mounted in signs and placed at strategic locations such as the car park, the reception and areas where multiple paths converge. Of primary importance, however, is the need to keep maps and directories simple and easy to read. Too much information can be just as frustrating and ineffective as none at all.

Safety signage is regulated by numerous health and safety laws and local authority rules, but as you view the campus with your ‘prospective parent goggles’, ensure that emergency exit signs are visible wherever you are. Your wayfinding system should complement your safety signage to provide a truly effective directional solution.

Signage as branding

As well as aiding in navigation and safety, school signage is also an integral part of the institution’s image and thus its reputation. Modern, correctly installed and well-maintained signage can be used to create a professional and welcoming atmosphere for both the students and those all-important prospective parents. The style and design of the signage sets the tone for what happens inside the buildings, helping school managers to build an environment conducive to learning.

Branded signs should feature the school’s logo or crest; its values and philosophy, summed up by a slogan; and some contact information, such as a website, phone number and email address. The signage could also be cleverly designed to incorporate any brand colours, such as those reflected in the school’s uniform.

The design and quality of school signage is critical. There isn’t necessarily a ‘right’ way to design a school sign, but the signage should reflect the school in as many ways as possible in order to be effective. For example, consider the different effects created by using a sleek, modern sans-serif typeface compared to one styled like handwritten calligraphy. Both can make for great signs, but communicate very different messages.

This is necessary to ensure that your signage fulfils its purposes and doesn’t inadvertently put people off at first sight due to poor quality or design, which would naturally convey the message of a poor quality school. Careful use of quality design in your signage will ensure that the school is recognised as an educational institution with a distinctive set of ethics, standards, values and approaches to learning.

Whether it’s for primary schools, nurseries, private schools, comprehensives, academies or even specialist schools, The Sussex Sign Company can work with you to produce an all-encompassing signage solution that coherently and clearly conveys the values and philosophy of your school. We have a wealth of experience with all forms of signage, from main entrance signs, notice boards and welcome signs to information display boards and directional signage. Get in touch through our website to learn more. Call us on 01273 417057.

Wayfinding Signs in educational settings – a tool to engage, enrich and inspire?

Wayfinding signage is ubiquitous in urban centres, public spaces, healthcare facilities and transportation hubs. Wayfinding systems initially served a simple function, consisting of arrows and signs to direct people towards their destination. Decades of research and evolution in wayfinding signage has led to the development of a highly integrated technology-driven discipline with an overriding focus on the user experience.

In practice, this means that, as well as simply directing people around a space or building, wayfinding systems can be used to enhance the understanding and experiences of those using them. Of course, the complexities of navigating hospitals, museums, libraries and airports mean that the basic function of wayfinding systems is still very much in demand.

However, hospitals and airports, in particular, are generally quite stressful environments. Research since the 1980s has examined how clever design and careful consideration can allow the creation of wayfinding systems that contribute to a sense of calm and security, helping otherwise stressed patients or passengers to relax a little.

In this article, we’ll look at the potential for wayfinding signage to add value to another setting – that of educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities. Can wayfinding systems be used to assist education, to engage, enrich and inspire? What other benefits could the implementation of a comprehensive and holistic wayfinding system bring to an educational institution? Read on to uncover the answers to these questions and more.

The basics of wayfinding

In order to answer the above questions, we’ll need to start by looking at what wayfinding is and how it works. Systems and devices to help people orientate and direct themselves around unfamiliar spaces can take many forms, from maps and signs to digital displays and touchscreen panels. Innovations have been created over the years, including coloured lines along the corridors of hospitals to lead patients to different departments. More recently, scannable QR codes have been employed, allowing visitors to download interactive maps to their phones.

The essential aim is the same, regardless as to the form that a specific wayfinding system takes. Whenever someone enters a space for the first time, they’re faced with decisions. They may know what their destination is – for example, the office of the regional manager – and might even know where it is in the building, perhaps the fifth floor. The person probably won’t have any idea how to get from their present location to their desired location, and this is the challenge that wayfinding seeks to solve.

Wayfinding systems do this by breaking the journey into a series of points or nodes. These nodes can be used to keep the user of the system on track. Nodes are created at appropriate intervals throughout the journey when a decision must be made in order to provide information to inform that decision. For example, in the journey to the regional manager’s office, wayfinding signage will be required at the reception desk, at the lifts on both the ground floor and fifth floor, and perhaps some corridor signage pointing to the office itself.

Wayfinding is therefore a physical form of spatial problem solving, answering the three questions of ‘where am I?’, ‘where do I need to go?’ and ‘how do I get there?’ Whilst the theory behind wayfinding may sound complex, a well-designed and effective wayfinding system should be unobtrusive and aim to answer these three questions as efficiently as possible.

Wayfinding in educational institutions

However, this is not all that wayfinding systems have to offer. Correctly employed, they can be used to enhance the user experience of any space. Consider, a museum or art gallery. Each floor of these buildings holds a specially planned exhibition, curated by professionals to educate and entertain. Wayfinding signage can be used to ensure that visitors follow carefully structured paths and don’t miss any exhibits.

The same applies in educational institutions. Universities, in particular, tend to be based on sprawling campuses consisting of many buildings and facilities. Regular users will likely have certain areas where they habitually work, study and relax, but will require directions to find any other part of the institution when required. Therefore, in the context of regular users, wayfinding systems assist inter-departmental communication, delivering a far better interconnected academic institution with efficiency benefits across the board.

Another regular feature of universities is a high volume of first time visitors. In the case of prospective students, wayfinding systems are a critical element in making those all-important impressions when they arrive for open days. Not only will it help them to move speedily and effectively around the campus, but well-designed signage leaves the impression that the university is properly cared for and looked after.

The same applies to academic visitors from other universities. Most academic institutions regularly host conferences attracting a variety of people; newcomers and repeat visitors alike. This category of wayfinding users also benefit from improved efficiency whilst moving around campus, and they’ll take back this excellent impression of the campus with them. Additionally, by including your branding on the signs, you can ensure a high level of brand familiarity and recognition.

Even smaller institutions, such as schools, require effective wayfinding in order to function optimally. Wayfinding in this context is necessary to help children, who are potentially vulnerable if they lose their way, to stay on track. Knowing that they can orient themselves and easily locate a responsible adult in the event of an emergency can provide a sense of security and safety for pupils, teachers and parents alike.

At The Sussex Sign Company, we have the expertise to assist you in designing, fabricating and installing inspirational wayfinding systems to enrich and enhance the lives of students, teachers and visitors, helping them to engage with each other and their surroundings more instinctively. Get in touch to see how we can help you today. Call 01273 417057