Ralf Herrmann: Wayfinding & Typography » Wayfinding

99 do’s and don’ts of Wayfinding

Ralf Herrmann — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:50:18 +0000

The Dutch wayfinding experts from Mijksenaar released an app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, that collects best practices around signage and wayfinding design. The app contains a set of rules-of-thumb and the content of the app is meant to engage in discussion and understanding for wayfinding amongst professionals, designers and novices. Wayfinding and architecture have more [...]

Empirical study about the legibility of typefaces used on signs in public space

Ralf Herrmann — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:51:46 +0000

At the University of Applied Sciences Berlin an empirical study was conducted by Sven Neumann to test the legibility of nine typefaces, including my own Wayfinding Sans typeface. The use of type in this study was based on the recommendations of the German legibility norm DIN 1450. This ensured that the study reflected a real-world [...]

Wayfinding observations: Color Coding and Cardinal Directions

Ralf Herrmann — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:59:20 +0000

In an older post I already talked about the lack of proper information about cardinal directions in modern signage systems. Instead of using the actual words North, East, South and West or showing a compass rose, color coding can also be an easy and effective way to aid orientation. This can be seen in the [...]

New MSc course Traffic & Transport Information Design

Ralf Herrmann — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:36:14 +0000

I always disliked the fact, that information design was understood and treated as a tiny part of graphic design. So I was happy to hear, that there is now a MSc course specifically for traffic & transport information design. I fact, I was so happy that I had to join the team of expert lecturers [...]

Wayfinding symbols with OpenType magic

Ralf Herrmann — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:00:11 +0000

The beta testers of our Wayfinding Sans typeface kept asking us about support for signage pictograms. So we finally gave in. Here is a quick video preview of where we are today. Wayfinding Sans Symbols (Preview) from Ralf Herrmann on Vimeo. I would be happy receive feedback about it. A general symbol set can never [...]

Wayfinding in different frames of reference

Ralf Herrmann — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:30:04 +0000

“Orientation in space (and time) is the framework of cognition […] we take delight in physically distinctive, recognizable locales, and attach our feelings and meaning to them. They make us feel at home, grounded.” Kevin Lynch The word orientation is derived from Latin oriens, meaning East. It stems from the mediaeval practice of drawing maps with [...]

Check out the latest edition of Typo magazine

Ralf Herrmann — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:19:05 +0000

The image on the cover of the latest edition of the bilingual (English/Czech) Typo magazine says “I wish this was … The best issue ever!” Well, to me it certainly is, since it features two of my favourite topics: typography and wayfinding. It starts off with a well-researched and nicely illustrated article by Albert-Jan Pool [...]

Airport signage and cultural differences

Ralf Herrmann — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 08:16:21 +0000

Since the middle of the past century, the technical development of our means of transport and associated facilities has expanded to a degree that it is becoming more and more complicated to use. People are more mobile than ever before: they travel from one town to another, from one country to another and from one [...]

Books on Signage & Wayfinding

Ralf Herrmann — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:44:11 +0000

In this article I present my personal list of recommendable books on signage, wayfinding and spatial cognition … Kevin Lynch: The Image of the City This book from 1960 is the result of a five-year study on how users perceive and organize spatial information as they navigate through cities. Lynch reports that users understand their surroundings [...]

Guia – a wayfinding typeface for pedestrian signage

Ralf Herrmann — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:09:53 +0000

The typeface Guia by Tânia Raposo has been her final project at the type]media Master in The Hague. “Guia” is the Portuguese word for “Guide”. In this guest article on opentype.info, Tânia explains the development of her typeface. As a designer, I am interested in how certain solutions connect to the user. It is amazing to [...]

Margaret Calvert, designer of the British road signs

Ralf Herrmann — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:47:22 +0000

Top Gear’s Jeremy May talks to Margaret Calvert, who, along with colleague Jock Kinneir, designed many of the road signs used throughout Great Britain.

TED Talks – a new idea for a road sign

Ralf Herrmann — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:00:06 +0000

Fifty percent of traffic accidents happen at intersections. Gary Lauder shares his idea for helping drivers move along smoothly: a new traffic sign that combines the properties of “Stop” and “Yield” — and asks drivers to be polite. (Source)

The World’s Biggest Signpost

Ralf Herrmann — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:07:25 +0000

Wayfinding observations: Separation slows down perception

Ralf Herrmann — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:22:57 +0000

Wayfinding signs can have various shapes and layouts. For example, German road signs fall in one of those four categories: The amount of separation increased on these sign types. On the first sign, all targets are presented together, on the last sign, every target has its own sign. But which one is most effective? On [...]

Wayfinding observations: Landmarks and cardinal directions

Ralf Herrmann — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:13:46 +0000

When we come to a new city we build a cognitve map to represent this city in our minds. Unless you have photographic memory such cognitve maps work differently from topographic maps. They don’t consist of exact representations and distances, but are driven by landmarks and the paths that connect them. A landmark can be [...]