What is Wayfind­ing Signage?

Sim­ply said, wayfind­ing sig­nage are the signs that tell you where to go. They help you to ori­ent your­self then plan and fol­low a route to find spe­cif­ic build­ings, park­ing lots, restrooms, and places of interest. 

But devel­op­ing a wayfind­ing sys­tem is not so sim­ple. There is a sci­ence to direct­ing peo­ple to their desired des­ti­na­tion. It must be sim­ple, clear, and placed in the appro­pri­ate location. 

Bradley Uni­ver­si­ty in Peo­ria, Illi­nois, and Grin­nell Col­lege in Grin­nell, Iowa, both updat­ed their cam­pus wayfind­ing sys­tems with new signs from Lat­i­tude Sig­nage, Latimer Group. Here are four things you need to con­sid­er for col­lege wayfind­ing signage. 

WHAT ARE THE 4 KEYS TO WAYFIND­ING SIG­NAGE ON COL­LEGE CAMPUSES?

1. Wayfind­ing Signs that Lead to Campus

Vis­i­tors are no longer rely­ing on paper maps or word of mouth direc­tions when they plan a cam­pus vis­it. They plug in the des­ti­na­tion on Google Maps and fol­low accord­ing­ly. When devel­op­ing wayfind­ing sig­nage for a col­lege, it’s impor­tant to know where Google Maps is direct­ing peo­ple to campus. 

When Tom Wilcox­en, Cen­tral Illi­nois sign expert, worked with Bradley Uni­ver­si­ty, he dis­cov­ered that Google maps was lead­ing vis­i­tors to an unmarked cor­ner of cam­pus. This dis­cov­ery led to a new 9‑foot-tall illu­mi­nat­ed sign that directs guests to vis­i­tor park­ing and oth­er impor­tant destinations. 

Know­ing and under­stand­ing the audi­ence is the first step. Wayfind­ing sig­nage that leads to cam­pus needs to include infor­ma­tion for all guests. For prospec­tive stu­dents, that’s prob­a­bly the admis­sions office. For event-goers, it may be a sport­ing venue, the­ater, or con­cert hall. And all guests are look­ing for a place to park. Park­ing and pub­lic build­ings on cam­pus are impor­tant items to con­sid­er for wayfind­ing sig­nage around campus. 

2. Wayfind­ing Signs for Pedes­tri­an Traffic

“You have to think like a prospec­tive stu­dent,” says Ben Latimer, dig­i­tal sign expert. ​“They don’t know the human­i­ties build­ing from the cafe­te­ria. Once they leave the admis­sions office, they need signs point­ing them where they need to go.” 

Cre­at­ing a seam­less wayfind­ing expe­ri­ence for guests on cam­pus is an impor­tant part of recruit­ing stu­dents. If prospec­tive stu­dents and fam­i­lies feel like the cam­pus is too hard to nav­i­gate, they will lose inter­est in com­ing back. How­ev­er, if the envi­ron­men­tal wayfind­ing sig­nage is well designed, they are free to con­cen­trate on the col­lege vis­it and imag­ine their future on campus. 

Pedes­tri­an wayfind­ing sig­nage should also direct guests from vis­i­tor park­ing to land­marks on cam­pus. As soon as they step out of their vehi­cle, they should be greet­ed with a sign that directs them to their des­ti­na­tion on campus. 

3. Wayfind­ing Signs for Accessibility

Col­leges grow over time. And while most mod­ern build­ings have acces­si­ble fea­tures built into them, some old­er struc­tures may have been retro­fit­ted over time. For exam­ple, if an old stone build­ing has only a stair­case lead­ing to the main door, there may be a ramp built into a side entrance or back hall. Direc­tion­al sig­nage that clear­ly guides peo­ple to wheel­chair-acces­si­ble entrances and ele­va­tors is an essen­tial part of a com­plete cam­pus wayfind­ing package. 

4. Wayfind­ing Signs Should be Easy to Read

Every type of sign needs to be leg­i­ble espe­cial­ly at dusk and at night. LED light­ing is ide­al for illu­mi­nat­ed wayfind­ing signs that direct traf­fic around cam­pus. For signs that aren’t illu­mi­nat­ed, reflec­tive vinyl is an option, but always ensure the copy is large enough to be spot­ted quick­ly and easy to fol­low. Your sign expert can help you with vis­i­bil­i­ty tips and for­mu­las for let­ter heights.