Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding

Editors' Introduction

Pat Crawford — 2024-08-20

This issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding underscores the significance of involving end users, including the public, in the design and policy development of signage systems. The issue explores the multifaceted roles of signs and symbols in reflecting community character, supporting business branding, aiding wayfinding, and enhancing placemaking. Emphasizing evidence-based design and research, the articles present diverse methodologies, including stakeholder theory, qualitative studies, and shadowing techniques, to inform signage practices.

A Stakeholder Approach to the Regulation of On-Premise Signs

Christopher Auffrey — 2024-08-20

Using stakeholder theory, this article introduces a framework to inform decision making with respect to the regulation of on-premise signs. Because signage resides in a broader, shared environment and its regulation largely takes place at the local level of government, it can be considered unique among most other marketing-related communications. On-premise signs are important to individual businesses and the communities in which they are used, but at the same time, they are “out in the world,” cannot be avoided, and may not be relevant to or welcomed by many consumers who are exposed to them. A transformative consumer research lens is applied in this article to arrive at regulatory recommendations that balance the interests of the business with the interests of consumers, the general public, and other stakeholders.

The Role of Maps and Signage in Interior Wayfinding

Saman Jamshidi — 2024-08-20

Finding one’s way around complex and large buildings, such as hospitals, airports, and educational facilities, can be challenging. Using maps and signage to address wayfinding issues in such buildings is one of the most common solutions. Despite extensive research on maps and signage, few studies have systematically explored how and when people use maps and signage in real-world situations during interior wayfinding. To address this gap, an exploratory, qualitative approach was adopted. Eleven participants were tasked with finding 12 targets within two university buildings. Participants were asked to voice out their thoughts (think-aloud protocol) while carrying out the tasks. Their think-aloud protocol and behavior were recorded and analyzed. The results revealed that the type of initial information available about the target could influence participants’ preferences for maps over signage or vice versa. Maps were not often used as the first strategy during wayfinding. Participants were perplexed when they consulted maps in different corridors because each map rotated differently to align with the adjacent corridor. Design issues regarding maps and signage were identified and discussed.

The Journey to the Grave

Harald Klingemann — 2024-08-20

Signage is an aid to wayfinding and individual orientation in both organisations and everyday life. It aims to respond to users’ needs. Whether or not it actually succeeds in this can only be empirically verified by an evaluation that is tailored to the context in question. Spacious cemeteries are a particularly interesting case, as they are a place both of mourning and of relaxation. When visitors in a fragile emotional state want to find their way to a grave, they have to be able to depend on particularly effective signage. The present study of a pilot project at the Zurich Sihlfeld Cemetery in 2022/2023 uses a “shadowing” methodology in such a context for the first-ever time. This is because other common approaches to evaluating signage are inappropriate here for ethical reasons – whether these be surveys, giving test subjects specific search tasks, or using eye-tracking. We observed and assessed 49 target persons across all the segments of the cemetery in their general orientation behaviour, the degree to which they consulted the signage offered, and their use of other aids on their way to the burial in question. We used our observations to analyse deviations from the ideal access routes; our photographic records provide us with a basis for further optimisation measures.

Sihlfeld Cemetery, Zurich Switzerland - Supplementary Maps and Photos to Accompany The Journey to the Grave

Harald Klingemann — 2024-08-20

Images and materials documenting the signage system at Sihlfeld Cemetery in Zurich Switzerland. These images give additional context for the article "The Journey to the Grave - Evaluating a Swiss Wayfinding System Using Shadowing Techniques" by Klingemann et al. Photos by Nicole Hametner.

Exhibit Review: Give Me A Sign

Craig Berger — 2024-08-20

This review provides an overview of the exhibition recently held at the Cooper Hewitt entitled "Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols." The exhibit coincides with the 50th anniversary of the seminal book, Symbol Sourcebook by Henry Dreyfuss, which proposed standardized symbols in order to create an international shared visual language. The exhibit focuses on symbols and iconography which are particularly relevant to the fields of wayfinding, urbans signs, and visual communication.