Best practice signage and wayfinding design

Its best when everyone knows the rules

Signage and Wayfinding Design – Landmarking

Interior design is an opportunity to create defined spaces

Distinctive features 

make memorable spaces


Make it Easy to recognise by name

One of the most useful methods of improving wayfinding is to create visually distinctive landmarks along a complicated journey. In an unfamiliar environment the mind will recognise elements that are different from their surrounding environment. 

Examples might include:

  • A piece of large art - ‘Go past the large red guitar’, or ‘Go to the big green beanstalk’

  • A coloured feature - ‘Turn left at the purple wall’, or ‘Go through the red door’

  • A built-in feature - ‘Go through a big archway’, or ‘Turn right at the stairs’

  • A vista - ‘Along the corridor past the garden’


Landmarks

  • Corridors

  • Intersections 

  • Lifts

  • Stairs

  • Views through windows

  • Built features

  • Landscaping

  • Views


Objects 

  • Art

  • Sculpture

  • Icons


Treatments 

  • Floor and wall treatments 

  • Lighting

  • Colour

  • Textures


Robert Luxford