SEGD (Society for Environmental Graphic Design)

SEGD is an global community of people working in the field of wayfinding, graphic design, signage, interior / design and communication for the build environment. The members of the organization are consultants, designers, idea makers and manufactures who are working together and sharing their knowledge.

The European Tour will be marked as introduction for the SEGD and how this unique combination of members drive expertise and inspiration in an international network. Join one of the events in the European Tour to interact and learn more about the SEGD.

To clarify SEGD favors the use of environmentally friendly products and processes but is not an environmental organization.

European motivation

“Our Minding the Gap symposium in September 2010 was a great success and we saw the value in engaging people in what SEGD is about,” says Alex Wood, principal of Holmes Wood (London) and chair of the SEGD Board of Directors’ International Expansion Committee. “We believe that European designers can benefit from the resources and knowledge base SEGD provides and, at the same time, SEGD’s members from other parts of the world can learn from their European counterparts.”

“We are all enriched when we share our stories and our experiences. No doubt the SEGD community will be strengthened as we better understand the diversity of approaches and philosophies found in Europe,” says David Gibson, FSEGD, managing director of Two Twelve (New York) and a past SEGD president. Gibson and Wood are co-chairs of the European Tour.

European cities

In each city, SEGD is partnering with designers and national and local design organizations. Local guest speakers will present current projects while Wood and Gibson will introduce attendees to environmental graphic design, SEGD, and the SEGD Design Awards, and encourage dialogue between SEGD and the local design communities.

European Tour kickoff in Amsterdam

The SEGD European Tour starts on Wednesday October 12 in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam event will be held at the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO) and starts at 5:30 pm. This event includes speakers David Gibson from TwoTwelve US, Alexandra Wood from Holmes-Wood UK and Frans Bevers from OPERA Amsterdam. From various points of reference the speakers will talk about wayfinding, design, international collaboration, exhibition design and how cross-cultural communications can benefit the Dutch design scene.

The Amsterdam event is supported by Avery Dennison “Ideas are everywhere, just waiting to be discovered”.

The Amsterdam event holds limited places available, if you want to join this inspiring event please register by sending an email to gert@bno.nl

For more information about the event in Amsterdam, please visit BNO website.

For more information about the SEGD European Tour, visit the SEGD website.

SEGD members Sander Baumann (designworkplan, Amsterdam), Elise de Jong (Waysigning LLC, New York and Amsterdam), and Nuño Gusmao (P-06 Atelier, Lisbon) are helping coordinate the events.

SEGD Welcomes you!

We hope to see you at one of these events and get introduced in one of the largest networks in the industry!

You will learn about wayfinding, signage design and typography to create a clear and concise wayfinding system that applies the build environment. Please enjoy this article and let me know your thoughts!

Wayfinding basics

Navigation from place to place is a fundamental human activity and an integral part of everyday life. Where are you? Where are you heading to? People use their knowledge and previous experiences to find their way in the build environment. The human perception of the build environment and information in a space comes down to balance and focus. What do you see? Why did you see it? What did you do with the information.
Wayfinding has the function to inform people of the surroundings in the (unfamiliar) build environment, it is important to show information at strategic points to guide people into the right directions. Complex structures in the build environment are interpreted and stored by the human memory. Distances, locations and time may be remembered differently than as they appear to be in reality.

An effective wayfinding system is based on human behavior and consists of the following characteristics:

• Do not make them think
  Create a comprehensive, clear and consistent visual communication system with concise messaging.
• Show only what is needed
  Show information what relevant is to the space, location and / or navigation path.
• Remove excessive information
  Remove unnecessary elements to create a clear visual environment ahead.

How does wayfinding work?

How do people orientate, navigate or remember the build environment? Why will people recognize or understand one place easier than another? As shown in the images on the left, a geographical map versus cognitive (mental) map = reality versus human mental memory. When creating a wayfinding scheme the following characteristics influences the way we interpreted the build environment.

• Landmarks
  To create a legible environment it is necessary to mark specific spaces and / or locations. This reinforces the recognition of places and plays a part in overseeing a larger area. With the use of landmarks and marking elements an area will become more visible and will be understand better in the human memory. Landmarks can be art-objects, buildings, streetart, wayfinding signs or striking elements in a landscape. These elements combined will shape the identity of an (unknown) area as seen from your perspective.
  
  
• Orientation
  In order to navigate, you need to know where you are in the build environment and where other destinations are located. Preferable it is good to know the distance in time from one place to another. If you are able to orientate yourself within the build environment, it will be easier to understand destinations and to navigate by landmarks. In wayfinding, maps are common used to indicate your location. The usage of maps is a very powerful way of expressing and overseeing the build environment. Be sure to display the maps heads-up in the direction you are facing, this way you can easy relate yourself to the build environment.
  
  
• Navigation
  Navigating the physical reference to a particular area, setting or destination. With the usage of directional (static) signs people will be guided along their path towards destination(s).

Strategic wayfinding design

When creating a signage system for an area, building or architectural structure it is essential to develop a strategic wayfinding scheme. With this step you are able to build up a modular wayfinding system that will adapt to the build environment and the human expectations for orientation and navigation purposes. Research is an important step to understand the build environment and where information is needed to maximize legibility of the wayfinding system.

Signage design basics

In basics there are four important type of signs: Information signs, for instance a signpole with locate a destination and / or to orientate yourself in the build environment. Directional signs, where information is displayed to find destinations, located on several strategic points in the build environment. Identification signs, where information about individual locations is displayed such as buildings, locations and public facilities. Warning signs, to indicate safety procedures such as a fire escape routes, no smoking areas and other regulations that is, or is not allowed in a specific area.

To make a signage system work together a design grid is used to order information and to scale the signs to different sizes, as part of the sign family. With the example design I have used a base grid of 30 mm (milimeters) with a subdivision of 9. All the measurements of the example are based on the 9x9 division. Be careful not to show too much information into one sign, this will be easily overlooked, instead use multiple signs to get good wayfinding results.

Signage typeface

A signage typeface is usually a sans-serif type and available in various weights with a simple easy-to-read straightforward design. They have a good legibility with a large X-Height and wide letter proportions with prominent ascenders / descenders to ensure a good readability.

When using an easy-to-read font the typeface is recognizable for many people to read and to understand the message clearly. Therefore the choice of a signage typeface is one of the keyfactors in order to make a wayfinding system work. When selecting a typeface for a signage design / wayfinding project please use the following characteristics:

• A clear and straightforward type design, sans-serif
• Easy recognizable letterforms
• Positive letter spacing to enhance the visual appearance
• The Font Family includes a package of many different weights
• The typeface has a large X-height for good readability

In a follow-up article on designworkplan I will go deeper into selecting typefaces for signage design / wayfinding.

Signage design

Be consistent in typography, type height, icons, grid design, color and material choice. The signs needs to be straight forward designed and in a consistent order to wayfinding scheme, always use the same order of displaying the information. Remember to make samples of the different sign types and check them in the build environment to ensure it becomes a best-practice design.

See the article about signage and color contrast for more information about color usage in wayfinding.

Next up

Please let me know your thoughts about signage design and wayfinding in the comments. Thank you!

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.

Fontanel : Online Design Magazine

Fontanel is one of Hollands largest blogs and online magazine about design and graphic design. Operated by three very enthusiastic Dutch Designers, Thomas Moes, Erik Gelderblom and Willem van Roosmalen, which share on a daily basis their design news and philosophy. Recently Fontanel is redesigned with a complete new look and feel which allows you to really focus on the content and encourage you to read more.

Love the simple presentation styles on Fontanel. Exactly what a publication can be; opportunities for design. — Jason Santa Maria at Twitter about Fontanel

Fontanel focuses on design, typography, graphic design, art and will show you inspiration from other design magazines. They also host a calendar with up-to-date Dutch Design Information.

• Language [Dutch]
• Please visit the great Fontanel website and read about the recent redesign in this article. Thanks guys and keep it up!

Design Blog: Rietveld Academie

Designblog is an online research project initiated by Henk Groenendijk. It is part of the Foundation Year’s design program and stimulates interaction between the design world and all the Foundation Year students. This blog introduces the possibility to enjoy and study a variety of subjecs investigated in the course of ever changing classic and contemporary design themes. It presents research, opinion and reflection in a variety of forms.

• Language [English]
• Enjoy the posts at the Design Blog Rietveld Academie.

Design.nl

Design.nl is a wide focuses blog about Dutch Design, from interviews with Dutch Designers to inspiration, showcases and more. It also holds a great calendar with Dutch happenings in design. Frequently updated with news and information.

• Language [English]
• Find the posts at the design.nl.

Graphic Design Museum blog

The Graphic Design Museum in Breda, The Netherlands. Here you’ll find visionary statements about the changing position of the graphic design discipline. Visuals and slogans, stories behind the objects in our collection, essays about the subjects of our exhibitions and some of our favorite graphic design resources on the web.

The Graphic Design Museum is the first museum in the world for graphic design. The museum is in the centre of Breda and exhibits the broad and dynamic area of graphic design. Really worth the visit when you are in The Netherlands, Breda.

• Language blog [English]
• Find the blog at Graphic Design Museum Blog.
• Information about the Graphic Design Museum, Breda.

NAGO: Nederlands Archief Grafisch Ontwerpers

NAGO holds the largest Dutch Archief on graphic design, designers and design agencies from the Netherlands. NAGO is an exceptional resource for what Dutch Designers created over the last decades. With a good search functionally you are able to search for arists, work, technique and more. When browsing NAGO you really get a good feeling of Dutch Design and Art.

• Language [Dutch]
• Find the website at NAGO.

Dutch Design History

Design History NL is the website of the Dutch foundation that encourages research and publications about design history. The foundation also organizes meetings, lectures, conferences and other activities for participants: design historians, authors and those who are interested in the subject. You will find information about their research in who is who in research.

• Language [Dutch]
• Find the website at Dutch Design History.

Online/Offline magazine: Bright

Bright Magazine is an offline and online platform which shows you the latest information about design, technology, gadgets and more. The online magazine is an constant update of information and if you can find the printed magazine be sure to get a copy, great content. They also hosts tv series where the latest gadgets are reviewed, very funny and educational.

• Language [Dutch]
• Find the website at Bright.nl and the Bright TV Series.

Architectenweb

Hollands largest website about Dutch Architecture and everything involved around design, production, events in relation to architecture. Daily updated with architecture projects in The Netherlands.

• Language [Dutch]
• Find the website at Architectenweb.

Web Designer Magazine

Web Designer Magazine is an online and offline plaform for Dutch web designers.

• Language [Dutch]
• Find the website at Web Designer Magazine.

Type Media

TypeMedia is a one year master course in type design, the blog hosts articles from students and teachers. Operated by Dutch Type designers such as Erik van Blokland, Fred Smeijers and Peter Verheul.

• Language [English]
• Find the blog at Type Media.

1st Floor

Floor Drees a freelance designers and copyrighter operates a Dutch Design blog filled with design news, gadgets, typography news and more. Very frequently updated.

• Language [Dutch]
• Find the blog at 1st Floor Graphics and other stories.

Share your favorite Dutch design resource

Enjoy reading the resources in this roundup and please share your favorite Dutch Design Blog or online magazine in the comments below.

The Smashing Book

In summary the book is about everything you need to know to create websites, from design, typography, layout, color usage, interface design, coding, branding, web-development and much much more. At the end of the book is an interesting topic; Learning from experts, which includes interviews and insights on common topics when designing and creating websites. The last chapter is the Smashing Magazine Story, Sven Lennartz and Vitaly Friedman go deeper into how Smashing started and where it is today and in the future.

The first pages show the table of contents which is a bit to short for me, headlines only. What interests me is what I can learn at the chapters of the book. If I want to use this book as reference guide when working on a project I quickly need to find the information and how I can learn from that. Here’s mine interpretation of what you will learn from The Smashing Book.

1. User interface design in modern web applications

Dmitry Fadeyev talks about the theory as well as the practical techniques involved in visual interface design, starting with the basics characteristics of interface design to how information is adapted combined with many examples.

2. The art and science of CSS-Layouts

Jacob Gube and Kayla Knight go deeper into the need and basics designing websites in CSS layouts. They discuss four types of layouts: fixed-width, fluid, elastic and hybrid, all accompanied by examples and DIY CSS code. In conclusion they give well advise on what to choose for your next web design.

3.(Web) Typography: Rules, guidelines and common mistakes

This chapter describes methods and techniques for typography on the web and what characteristics are best practice for (large) content websites in readability, line length and line height as well as a short typographical terms index. The chapter goes deeper into the balance in typography within design, placement and legibility, with examples and most popular typefaces available. Further on in this chapter the authors Alessandro Catteneo, Yves Peters and Jon Tan talks about text replacement techniques and how that can benefit your design. Great read!

4. Usability principles for Modern Websites

Andrew Maier and David Leggett takes it deeper into the principles of an usable website design by setting out the characteristics on what is important and to whom it concerns. This chapter is accompanied by many examples and practical tips to create an usable website design.

5. The ultimate guide to fantastic color usage in web design, usability and experience

What an enormous title Darius A Monsef IV came up with, anyway this chapter tells you about color in web design. This chapter is full of examples and color wheels but it is not really learning you anything about color or how to use color wheels in website design.

6. Performance optimization for websites

Rene Schmidt tells about techniques on how to improve the website performance with short and practical examples. A bit too technical for me.

7. Design to sell, increasing conversion rates

Dmitry Fadeyev wrote this great chapter on focus and placement. With practical tips the author talks about the AIDA sales funnel and how to get website visitors into buying something from your website.

8. How to turn a site into a remarkable brand

Chris Spooner takes it step by step in how to create a website that sticks… With many examples and principles this chapter tells you how to create your own brand.

Learning from the experts: Interviews and Insights

Steven Snell got together with over 20 expert designers and developers to share their knowledge and philosophy in design topics. The panel discusses the following topics design & development, the design process, self improvement and skill development and business and freelancing. A true gem of the Smashingbook where designers give their opinion and practical tips on the process. Everything wrote in a very accessible way. #mustread

Behind the curtains: The Smashing Magazine Story

The last chapter is devoted to the Smashing Story, Sven Lennartz and Vitaly Friedman talks about the start up of The Smashing Magazine and how everything evolved to where SM is today.

Book vs online

The Smashing Magazine (online) is a great resource of information when you are into learning design, typography and inspiration. The book is a reflection of the online information but more in an educational manner and you will pick up the book more likely to learn something and use it effectively. With online media you quickly scan the pages and move on, therefore I believe the book will be a huge improvement for spreading knowledge and will become a springboard for those who are interested in this field.

I hope SM will continue to publish the great online content and start series of Smashing books with practical learning content.

Hardware quality and size of the book

After two weeks of intense reading the Smashingbook seems to fall apart, the binder is very though, this makes it hard to open pages and lay the book beside the computer to type in the example code or check a reference online. To my opinion the book is a bit too small for its content, great content but it doesn’t read very easy. I would suggest for future books to use a larger book size, less pages and more white space on the pages.

Conclusion

The Smashing Book is a great, really great book for everybody who is interested in design and web-development. Especially the typography and learning from the experts chapters where inspirational resources to me. The content is great but I believe the layout of the pages should be as a book. Support the Smashing Magazine Book by ordering your copy and I hope SM will continue the concept of bringing the content by book.

Availability of The Smashing Book

Currently the Smashing Book is available through the SM website shop for $29,90 or €23,90 and payment is processed with many available options such as creditcard and paypal.

• Specifications: size 210 x 140 mm, full color high quality, 311 pages, published by Smashing Media GmbH, Lübeck Germany 2009
• Get the SM Book here: The Smashing Book is released: Buy Now!

Did you buy they book, please share your opinion about the Smashing Book in the comments, thank you in advance!

Charity: water

This year I was looking for ways to donate money to charity and get people aware of problems in the world. For some time I am triggered by charity: water a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.

• Why water?

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. They give 100% of the money raised to direct project costs, funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years.

Comment in this post for charity: water

For every comment in this post I will donate $1,- to charity: water. The more comments the more I donate. The purpose of this post is to bring awareness to the design community about the importance water.

Facts

• charity: water is a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations
• One in eight people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water.
• $20 can give a person in Africa clean, safe drinking water for 20 years.
• For each comment I will donate $1,- to charity: water
• Proof will be uploaded to this post
• This charity action on designworkplan will run until 31st of December 2009
• Visit charity: water for more information

Thank you!

This year I have had so many great discussions and ideas from designworkplan platform about design, typography, inspiration, signage, wayfinding and more.

Thanks for your feedback and reading designworkplan, highly appreciated! Please subscribe to the RSS feed to be updated with the latest posts from designworkplan.

Quote of the year by Philip Kelly

Difficult times continue but if you can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, use a torch!

I’m looking forward to 2010 and bringing you more posts and spread ideas at designworkplan. Thank you and have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Please share your thoughts and New Years Resolutions.

The Font Game

The Font Game has the combination between recognition, fun and learning. The app has over 600 font samples from various font foundries like Hoefler & Frere-Jones, FontShop, exljbris and many many more.

The game is intriguing because of the 3 level difficulty and the time. While playing I noticed myself looking at the clock and this increased the game fun even more. Can you tell the difference between Arial and Helvetica or can you spot Gerard Ungers Swift? The great thing about this game is I noticed a complete range of fonts that I didn’t know before. At the end of each game you will see an overview of the fonts which you got right or wrong, mayby a suggestion to create a link or additional information about the fonts.

The app the beautifully designed with a great UX interface and I believe this is one of the first in its kind and please try this addictive game for yourself! Available at the app store for $.99

• 600 font samples
• Rotate to view full screen
• 3 levels of game play
• Post scores to Twitter and The Hall of Fame
• View your answers after each game
• Battle against the clock

Get The Font Game

• Get The Font Game at the Apple Store
• Find additional information at the support website The Font Game
• Find out more about the best typography blog in the world, ilovetypography.

FontShop FontShuffle

Fontshuffle is a complete library of typefaces from the FontShop foundry. It features many of the typefaces available.

FontShuffle is not a game but a reference guide when searching for a typeface in need. At the start-screen you can choose what kind of type you are looking for such as sans, sans-serif, slab-serif and so on. From each selection you make a new selection screen comes up with more detailed questions on what you are looking for. After a few clicks you are presented with typefaces and when you rotate your iPhone/iPod the fonts will shuffle. After making a selection you are able to send the details of the chosen typeface by email. Free available at the app store.

• Over 650 font families
• Compare 24 typefaces
• Shuffle
• Send details by email

Get the FontShuffle app

• Get the Fontshuffle at Apple Store
• Additional information at FontFeed.

Other font apps available at the app store

Earlier this year I have reviewed the app WhatTheFont, an app for identifying typefaces from a photo.

At the app store many more applications are available, below you will find a few to keep you busy.

• The Typography Manual by Justin Stahl, a pocket resource for graphic designers and anyone that works with type. It provides the essential typography information on your iPhone/iPod. Available for €2,99, more information at The Typography Manual.
• Font Size — is a free application for people who work with fonts every day. It provides a size calculator for making statistically-informed font-size decisions. Enter the viewing distance and the Font Size calculator computes the minimum font size. Nice! More information about the Font Size at Paul Chang.
• TypePhoto — a nice app to visualization of your creative imagination. Select an image and create stunning looking typographical images, for more information see here at TypePhoto.

Let me know

What is your favorite typography app for the iPhone / iPod touch?

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!

Arrow & Icons Magazine

The niche market wayfinding and environemental graphic design is growning on the internet, many companies start their own blog and startups in the field are emerging, visit the wayfinding and design blogs below to be updated with the latest information in this field.

Arrows & Icons is an online magazine devoted to the field of Environmental Graphic Design. It is a place where designers of any experience level can come together to read, learn, share ideas, and engage in community centered around a common passion.

Operated by Ryan Lascano he shares his knowledge and from the fellow contributors, a great blog.

Some of its previous highlights:

• What is environmental graphic design?
• New Jersey wayfinding, guest article by Kelly Bennett and Amy Rees
• Visit the website Arrows & Icons or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Society for Environmental Graphic Design

The global community of people working at the intersection of communication design and the built environment.

The Society for Environmental Graphic Design has a long history on providing quality industry news through their magazine and community. The worldwide highly appreciation for the members and staff has put the SEGD on top of the information source. The blog is a constant update on subjects such as EGD, Typography, Design, Architecture, Communication and more.

• Visit the blog of SEGD or subscribe to the RSS feed.

ID/Lab wayfinding blog

ID/Lab wayfinding blog is a place to exchange ideas about wayfinding, placemaking, human factors science and environmental graphic design.

ID/Lab an Australian based wayshowing consultancy firm and good frieds of designworkplan recently released a blog about their field of work. Looking forward reading more about their philosophy on wayshowing.

Previous highlights:

• Thingfinding-Where is this place?
• Visit the ID/Lab blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Johnny Holland Magazine

Interaction Design (IxD) is the study of devices with which a user can interact. The practice typically centers around embedding information technology into the ambient social complexities of the physical world. Wikipedia

All Johnny talks about is focused on one aspect: interaction. He believes that this is the most important part in communication. Instead of focusing on the means by which we communicate we have to think of cause and effect.

Johnny Holland is great website about all that involves interaction design, user experience design, methods & theory, physical interaction and much more. With over 20 experienced writers from all over the world Johnny Holland is a great information resource.

• Visit Jonny Holland Magazine or subscribe to the RSS feed.

UX Magazine

UX Magazine was created to deliver a central place to discuss the critical disciplines that all enhance user experience. Extraordinary user experiences should be the goal of every interaction you deliver to your users at any level.

UX Magazine hold a great archive of user experience articles that apply to design, interaction, technology, strategy and more.

• Visit UX Magazine or subscribe to the RSS Feed.

idsgn (new) typography and design blog

Typography and design is everywhere and designers use typography as a tool to express the visual communication. There are many many blogs about this field of expertise but some startups really gets my attention.

idsgn is a new blog about the things we see and enjoy (or sometimes hate) as designers. We like to talk about graphic design, branding, typography, and sometimes we might post a video or two.

idsgn has a hightl inspirational level of bringing articles into the blog, with detailed and up-to-date resource information they know what they are talking about. Great new blog added to my RSS reader.

• Visit idsgn (new) design blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Information Visualizing: Infosthetics

Latelty I have been really into information graphics and the visualizing design, making information readable and understandable for large audiences. There are several great blog that I found that share information about how to design information. Below you will find a list of inspirational websites in the field on information visualizing.

Inspired by Lev Manovich’s definition of “information aesthetics”, this weblog explores the symbiotic relationship between creative design and the field of information visualization.

Infosthetics is a great showcase of information design and visualization, with examples of showing complex information, Infosthetics is a great place to gain inspiration from.

• Visit the website infosthetics or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Information is beautiful

David McCandless from Information is beautiful is interested in how designed information can help us understand the world, cut through BS and reveal hidden connections, patterns and stories underneath. Or, failing that, it can just look cool

Information is beautiful says it all and the blog goes deeper into sharing information, ideas, knowledge and data. With many inspirational examples of showing complex information in a easy to read and understandable design.

• Visit Information is Beautiful or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Web Trend Map

The Web Trend Map community curates meaningful link trends by choosing sources they trust.

Founded by informationArchitects this great visualization website shows trustworhty links by Twitter users. The users can create maps where they place their trusted Twitter friends on, the system tracks the tweets and puts them in a top trending links.

• Visit the website Webtrendmap and be sure to visit designworkplan webtrendmap

make this simple

seethismakesense aims to seek out the worst examples of confusing information

make this simple is a new website about information design fails, they show an image of a map, instructions, letters, signage or related information design and the community can have their say on the design and if it should be redesigned. Looking forward seeing a good interactive talk comming from make this simple.

• Visit the website make this simple or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Enjoy reading

Thank you for reading designworkplan, if you enjoy this content please subscribe to the free RSS feed to get the fresh articles in your favourite news reader. Please let me know your favourite inspiration resource and I’ll put it in Sign-Sphere next month, submit information via contact. Thank you & enjoy reading.

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?