In November 2020, amendments to The Building Regulations 2010 came into force. Responding to the recommendations from the Independent Review of Building, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, these new regulations cover wayfinding signage requirements for the fire service for all apartment buildings over 11m in height with specifications for location, position, typeface and nomenclature.
Anyone involved in the world of wayfinding and sign design is likely to come across the terms pictogram, icon and symbol sooner rather than later. As jargon goes these terms, are pretty innocuous. But what’s the difference between an icon, pictogram and symbol? We give our view on their different uses in wayfinding design.
Vertical banner signs are frequently seen on the sides of buildings and shops or fixed to lampposts. For multi-storey buildings, applying high level, banner signs can help cut through the visual noise and increase visibility of the brand, destination or promotional message. When it comes to the layout should the letters read from the bottom to top or vice versa?
Highlighted in Kevin Lynch’s seminal book on urban planning The Image of the City, landmarks play an important role in helping us understand a place. Not only do they provide the datum points that help us build a mental map, we rely on them to find our way round. Therefore, an audit of the local context to identify potential landmarks should be a key input in the development of a wayfinding strategy.
A summary of the key things you need to consider to design an effective map or plan for pedestrian wayfinding