Wayfinding signage can be a unique and innovative way of getting around but poor wayfinding can impact your overall customer experience.
Remember the frustration you felt getting lost in a shopping centre or car park in East Sussex? Clear wayfinding is so much more than an arrow on a wall. It optimises the path through busy spaces using innovative visual cues to create a better experience.
Five wayfinding signage ideas
Simplicity is key
Busy spaces can be stressful and confusing when you’re unsure where you’re going. By simplifying your signage you can guide your customers through a space without a jumble of confusing words and pictograms.
Using simple, easy to follow layouts, bold graphics and bright colours, people can be helped to navigate the space with a sense of security, safety and wellbeing. When it comes to your wayfinding signs, less really can be more.
Create a sense of place
But wayfinding isn’t just a way to get from A to B. It’s also a clever way to establish a sense of place through the integration of signage and design. Think about using wayfinding to help your customers create a mental map through the intelligent use of landmarks.
A bold graphic that takes its cues from your interiors and repeats in different colours or materials can help project your company image alongside your other business signage. Be unique and find ways to integrate your signs with other cues including explanatory postcards, floor graphics or maps to create an immersive experience
Use colour
No-one enjoys getting lost in a large, busy space which is why you need an innovative solution to keep your visitors or customers on the right track.
Using colour to function as a clear marker is a great way to create defined pathways that are a fun way to get around. And colour doesn’t have to stop with your signs. Use wayfinding colours on carpets, lights and handles to make the pathways pop. It’s not only an efficient way to get around but one that’s packed with personality.
Make space for accessibility and inclusivity
When you’re creating ways to get around, accessibility and inclusivity should be your touchstones. In some situations traditional signs can be alienating, failing to take into account multilingualism or disability and ruining the user experience.
Wayfinding signage should embrace visual iconography and multiple languages where appropriate. We can advise you on legibility and readability so your signs are accessible to all users.
Create eye-catching landmarks
They say it’s better to travel than to arrive, and in today’s experience driven world getting there is half the fun. At Changi Airport, the Canopy Park functions as a way post along the journey through Terminal 1 acting as a combination of playpark, stop off point and work of art.
A series of large, colourful slides might not work in your setting. But by providing a central landmark and an overview of the terminal, it’s a fun and memorable way to understand the environment.
Wayfinding signage from The Sussex Sign Company
If you need innovative wayfinding signage, get in touch with us today and check out information on directional wayfinding.