The most obvious test of a campus signage system is if it leads you where you need to go. That isn’t as simple as it sounds, however. “A good integrated wayfinding system should almost go unnoticed; when it’s working correctly, you can easily navigate through any environment,” said Clint Douthitt, senior designer at Traverse City, MI-based Corbin Design.

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Recently Mark VanderKlipp, Corbin Design’s President, developed a presentation for local leaders in the Grand Vision initiative here in Northwest Lower Michigan. Citing wayfinding projects throughout North America as examples, he described how other regions are becoming unified both perceptually and physically.

Of course there are many challenges in an effort… More...

For many of us, the conversation was as much about designing a life as it was about design firm management. More...

A blog post on the Quad Cities CVB Web site addresses in detail (much better than we could!) the anticipated benefit to the region once a comprehensive wayfinding signage program was implemented. Joe Taylor, President of the Quad Cities CVB, was a dedicated project champion and truly brought the region together in support of this initiative. More...

We led the project to develop baseline research around the existing conditions for those with limited English proficiency, whether they speak another language or have physical limitations, then improve the experience using icons in wayfinding signage. More...

Downtown development maximizes the value and use of transportation infrastructure through compact development. By their very nature, downtowns support livable communities, economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability constructs of the USDOT’s Strategic Plan. More...

We’re poised at the threshold of doing absolutely brilliant things at the interface of design and psychology. More...

“We listen closely to our clients and what their end users need. We also watch trends in the economy and society to verify that information. Because everyone at some point gets lost, or at least disoriented, we have a broad pool of experience to draw from.” More...

Julia Turner, Deputy Editor at Slate Magazine, has written an excellent series of articles on wayfinding signage. Mark VanderKlipp was interviewed for the last in the series on GPS technology and how it affects traditional wayfinding approaches. Will the GPS ever completely replace signs? And do technology tools degrade our innate abilities to find our way?

When you link to the articles, make sure you read the comments… More...

A new article I had the pleasure of writing for the January/February edition of Design Intelligence, this exploration of the larger issues around a given project challenge encourages us all to look deeper at our clients’ challenges, our networks and ourselves. It proposes a renewed focus on collaboration, rather than competition, to find solutions to our society’s… More...