There are many reasons for wanting to prevent guests from accessing back of house areas – particularly within the hospitality, restaurant and leisure sectors. But when you’ve invested in creating a welcoming and inviting environment, placing official looking prohibitive signs at access points between the front and back of house don’t sit comfortably. Below we discuss a selection of more sympathetic design options
Finding your way round large complex festival sites can be challenging – here’s some practical guidance to help increase the effectiveness of festival wayfinding.
In May 2025 The Velvet Principle celebrate its 15th birthday. Leaving the comfort of paid employment to go it alone is probably one of the scariest and most rewarding things both founders have ever done. None of it would have been possible without the amazing clients and people we’ve had the great privilege to work with along the way. We heartily thank you for all your support and for putting your trust in us.
How many times have you been in a briefing meeting for a new wayfinding project, only to discover there’s a significant gap between the client’s vision and the budget allocated to the signs package? In this post we discuss a number of things (beyond sq. ft. of the building and number of floors) to consider when putting together a budget.
Tasked with designing a pedestrian map or plan as part of a wayfinding scheme? Here’s some of the key things you need to consider to ensure that it can be easily understood and interpreted
Seeking feedback from a range of different perspectives is an important part of the design review process. However, when you’re busy juggling competing priorities, or up against deadlines that could have financial consequences if missed, it can be difficult to allocate sufficient time. For those of us involved in the design of physical wayfinding signs, it’s not something we should short circuit. After all a well-considered signage system could last decades. This means addressing the wayfinding requirements during the early stages of a development project and ensuring design reviews are fully accounted for in plans and proposals.
Last week The Velvet Principle attended a symposium hosted by the SDS and SEGD London Chapter focussing on inclusive design for wayfinding information. The event featured a series of thought-provoking presentations exploring the ‘what, why, when and how’ of inclusive design. Distilling what was a packed agenda into a few takeaways, is a challenge, but these were some of the highlights and key reminders for any wayfinding consultant and designer.
The design of the wayfinding signs needed to align with the client’s sustainability and wellness targets – BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Core Gold. To meet these challenges the design minimised the volume of material by applying the information as individual characters directly to the building surfaces
With the emphasis in design consultancy tending to be on the new and innovative, we’ve come to expect detailed design reports and strategies; multi-component product specifications and manufacturing lead times spanning several months. But sometimes low tech solutions, that just use whatever is to hand can work so well – like this low tech wayfinding design at Orford Ness.
Cost-effective and pragmatic sign design implemented across five apartment buildings within the Phoenix Community Housing estate, to comply with Fire Safety Regulations