Ralf Herrmann: Wayfinding & Typography » Wayfinding

From signs to minds—Can cartographic signs be superior to regular direction signs?

Ralf Herrmann — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:01:30 +0000

In a scientific study, Michaela Skiles from Middlebury, Vermont has tested, if simplified maps on signs could not only get people to their destination, but also help them to construct a better mental map, which would improve the understanding of the surrounding and help with orientation and navigation in the future. In this guest article, [...]

Introducing the pictogram font Wayfinding Sans Symbols

Ralf Herrmann — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:37:04 +0000

Ever since I publicly announced my signage typeface Wayfinding Sans Pro, people kept asking me about pictograms for this type family. So finally, here they are. A full-fledged symbol font family in 4 styles, over 400 symbols and a little bit of clever “OpenType magic” to access and combine the pictograms as easy as possible. [...]

Making Sense of Maps

Ralf Herrmann — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:32:20 +0000

Map designer Aris Venetikidis is fascinated by the maps we draw in our minds as we move around a city – less like street maps, more like schematics or wiring diagrams, abstract images of relationships between places. How can we learn from these mental maps to make better real ones? As a test case, he [...]

The Google Maps effect in Adobe Illustrator

Ralf Herrmann — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:49:49 +0000

The simple and effective way how to automatically merge and outline streets in maps drawn in Adobe Illustrator. Drawing maps is a typical job of graphic designers and pretty much every designers knows how to do it. But not every map looks equally convincing. I always liked this special effect of online mapping services like [...]

Download a free demo of Wayfinding Sans

Ralf Herrmann — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:24:25 +0000

You may have already read about the story behind the Wayfinding Sans typeface on I Love Typography and you might have seen the empirical study that proved its outstanding legibility. But now you can also try the typeface free of charge. Just pay with a tweet or Facebook post. (Alternatively there is also a download for a small nominal [...]

Signage of the new Berlin Airport

Ralf Herrmann — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:26:45 +0000

A while ago I posted a video about the design of the signage system of the new Berlin Airport. I was instantly flooded with emails, stating that the video was filled with wrong claims about who design which part of this complex design system. So I finally took it down at the same day. But [...]

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

This article is out-dated. Please check out the this newer article about Wayfinding Sans Symbols: http://opentype.info/blog/2013/01/21/wayfinding-sans-symbols/ Tweet

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 [...]