Signage: when people find their way, nobody noticed a thing

Signage is the most inconspicuous discipline in the sign trade. It is only noticed when it is missing: at reception, where the same question is asked for the twentieth time.

The route is walked first, then designed

We begin every signage project with a walk-through. Where does someone arrive? Where does the first uncertainty arise? Where does a decision have to be made? At exactly these points a sign will later stand – and nowhere else. Too many signs are as bad as none.

Three levels are enough

If the third level is missing, people turn back even though they were right. That is the most common planning mistake.

Material follows use

A door sign in a school is touched hundreds of times a year. A guidance system in a museum has to be changeable without tools. An outdoor sign carries wind and snow loads. We choose the material accordingly – anodised aluminium, acrylic glass, printed aluminium composite or film directly on glass.

Accessibility is not an add-on

High-contrast lettering, minimum sizes depending on reading distance, tactile elements at hand height and labelling that also works without colour: that costs nothing extra in planning and makes a building usable for everyone. In public buildings it is required anyway.

Type sizes by reading distance

A reliable rule of thumb: per metre of reading distance you need around three millimetres of cap height. A door sign read from two metres therefore demands at least six millimetres – in practice we use ten. A directional sign in a hall that has to work from fifteen metres needs five centimetres.

Contrast is just as important. Dark lettering on a light background reads better than the reverse, and grey on grey fails on every grey day.

Modularity saves money

A guidance system lives ten years, the names on it often only two. That is why we plan carrier and content separately: the frame stays, the insert is swapped. In office buildings with frequent tenant changes that pays off by the second change.

Digital complements but does not replace

A screen in the entrance can show the day's occupancy and events. The wayfinding itself remains printed, because it has to work in a power cut too and because people take it in as they walk past. We regularly combine both: a static guidance system plus one or two screens at the decision points.