Wayfinding effectiveness depends on the alignment between environmental spatial hierarchy and elements attracting initial visual attention. This study applies Visual Attention Software (VAS) to assess how the built and landscaped environment of the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), guides pre-attentive visual attention. Sixteen photographs from key navigational contexts—approach sequences, dead-end views, entry thresholds, and intersections—were analyzed using VAS from pedestrian eye-level viewpoints. Results show that vegetation, especially brightly lit canopy openings, frequently dominates predicted saliency over architectural destinations and directional signage. Façades and entrances achieved high saliency when directly framed and unobstructed. Signage performance varied, with pedestrian gates showing text dominance and intersections revealing vegetation distraction. The findings highlight a tension between aesthetic landscaping and navigational clarity, suggesting targeted interventions, such as vegetation management, improved façade visibility, and enhanced sign placement. VAS proved effective for diagnosing bottom-up visual priorities, offering a rapid and replicable method for assessing spatial hierarchy and visual salience in the built environment. Aligning visual salience with wayfinding needs could improve spatial legibility and user experience in complex campus environments.
This article proposes a certificate-level Design/Build curriculum to address the workforce challenges facing Albuquerque’s signage industry. Based on original survey data, a Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) workshop, and a series of collaborative design charrettes, the curriculum connects traditional sign-making techniques and digital fabrication and culturally responsive design. The findings show critical skill gaps, aging workforce concerns, and institutional barriers to educational program creation. The proposed solution offers training options aligned with the city’s visual identity and economic needs.
While prior work on information communicated on signage has explored the effectiveness of different types of messages on in-store signs, relatively few studies have examined the impact of signage (posters) promoting charitable organizations. Moreover, while past research has focused on the characteristics of donors and donation recipients, little is known about how the features of the donation campaign influence charitable behavior. In this research, variance in consumer response to the content of posters that promote charitable giving is based on whether they have been created by humans versus artificial intelligence (AI). Through two experiments, we demonstrate that consumers are more likely to donate—and donate more—when the campaign is attributed to a human rather than to an AI. This effect occurs because human-authored campaigns elicit greater emotional resonance, making the message feel more emotionally authentic and personally meaningful. These findings document consumer skepticism towards the content of signage focused on charitable giving when it is generated by artificial intelligence. Practical implications for the design of emotionally persuasive signage in nonprofit and other contexts are discussed.
Stigmatized health issues, such as screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), often suffer from low public participation due to anticipated social judgement. This research explores how brand sponsorship on signage for these types of events can increase consumer trust, leading to increased willingness to participate. Across two studies, we find that when brand sponsorship is featured on marketing communications for a health event centered on STD screening, consumers’ increased trust leads to increased participation. The findings highlight the potential for corporate sponsorship to act as a social buffer, playing a critical role in increasing prosocial health behaviors among the public population.
Publications that explore the applied use and effects of lenticular printing technology in public spaces and places are limited. This case study contributes to this body of knowledge by documenting the production process and perceptual effects of a large-scale (33.75 x 82 in) two-dimensional, three-stage lenticular, on-site, photographic installation. This short-form case study details key contextual, technical, and artistic reference points pertaining to this work. The installation also explored trompe-l’œil as a visual effect—potentially enhanced via lenticular’s multi-image display capability. The author-designer also provides a set of site-specific population-limited qualitative reactions to the work within an educational setting. These responses reveal compelling capabilities for lenticular to stimulate or provoke specific perceptual responses. This case study demonstrates that our visual perception-oriented understanding of lenticular is worthy of more substantive, varied, and controlled study. Beyond these perceptual interests, this study also provides a valuable record of the production-oriented digital-photographic processes that made the illusory quality of the work feasible.
Signage can be considered as a paradoxical mode of visual communication: although intended for our eyes, it seems currently designed not to be seen or at least not to overly solicit our powers of perception, so as to fulfill its primary mission of information. In this perspective, it is part of an approach to graphic design developed, for example, by typographer Beatrice Warde through her theory of the “invisible page”. To question this position, this article will focus on the “signage for cultural and tourist animation” deployed on French highways. Giving prominence to images, the design of these “brown signs” is entrusted to renowned graphic artists who are invited to demonstrate their creativity. Taking a completely different approach than other national road signage, they constitute a way of promoting the areas served by the highway which doesn’t fall under the “territorial brand” (Almeida & Almeida) or “signage as marketing communication” (Kellaris & Machleit) models. As a result of the ban on all forms of advertising on highways, the “brown signs” represent a way of enhancing public space that seems to invite us to rethink the “sense of place” dear to John Brinckerhoff Jackson through extensive use of “connotation” (Barthes). In doing so, their designs constitute a graphic compromise between considerations relating to all signage systems and the will to promote a given space. It is therefore fruitful to study their evolution (in terms of “hardware”, “graphic” or “content information” systems) in relation to the “signage pyramid” model developed by Calori and Vanden-Eynden.
This paper focuses on Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) as crucial traffic control devices, providing real-time traffic information to drivers. With a view to better communication, some state transportation agencies have started using nontraditional messages on DMS to influence driver visual attention, but there is a lack of scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness. The study aims to investigate how message type (traditional vs. creative) impacts driver visual attention, considering individual differences and contextual factors such as age, gender, time of day, and traffic density. The statistical analyses revealed that drivers notice traditional signs faster but look at creative signs longer, regardless of sign word number. Age and gender also play a role in visual attention, with older participants taking slightly longer to notice DMS, while middle-aged individuals tend to examine traditional messages longer than younger participants observing creative signs. Furthermore, driving conditions have an impact on visual attention, with night driving resulting in longer noticing times and shorter dwell times compared to daytime driving. In low-density traffic conditions, drivers have longer gaze durations on signs, while the time-to-notice remains consistent across traffic densities. Interestingly, drivers notice traditional messages faster in low-density traffic but spend less time looking at them compared to creative messages in high-density traffic. Notably, the most common sign that was correctly recalled was a creative sign, supporting the notion that they were particularly attention-grabbing with lasting cognitive effects. Our findings suggest that creative DMS, regardless of word length, are potent in drawing driver’s attention compared to traditional signs.
The winter 2024 issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding explores the role of signs within a specific moment in time, physical space, and cultural context. The authors provide three unique perspectives on how signs activate space through human cognition. Signs can prompt the nostalgia of an historic hotel neon sign on Route 66, increase driver safety with highway dynamic signs using creative messaging, or social solidarity through protest graphics.
This interview with Silas Munro, co-author of Strikethrough! Typographic Messages of Protest, explores the intersection of signage, typography, and protest movements. Munro discusses the historical and contemporary role of protest graphics, emphasizing their function as both a form of resistance and a voice for marginalized groups. Munro also reflects on the evolving nature of protest communication, from physical signage to digital activism. Ultimately, the discussion situates signage as a key medium for public discourse, rallying movements, and preserving activist histories.
Dynamic message signs (DMS) are crucial traffic control devices on roads, delivering real-time traffic conditions and valuable information to drivers. Several state transportation agencies developed non-traditional or creative messages for DMS with the intent to modify driver behavior. However, there is no scientific evidence to support the effect that creative messages have on changing behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate how drivers with diverse demographic backgrounds respond to traditional and creative messages related to different message categories (work zone, maneuvering, speeding, and visibility) in a controlled setting using a driving simulator. Ninety-two participants were recruited for the experiment and each participated in sixteen scenarios. Statistical analyses revealed that creative signs led to a significant increase in time-to-collision with reduced lane position shifts compared to traditional signs, which indicated safer conditions. Also, when the number of words on DMS increased to between six and eight, speed decreased, suggesting a positive outcome related to the processing of information and responding while driving. Overall, the results of this study indicate that creative messages significantly improve driver behavior, clearly highlighting their advantages over traditional messages.
This exploratory qualitative case study examines the cultural significance of Carlos and Ed Garcia’s neon sign collection as components of American cultural heritage. By integrating secondary sources from human geography, cultural history, and philosophy, along with conversation with Carlos Garcia and photographic documentation primarily from the Garcia collection, this study analyzes how neon signs in American landscapes embody the interplay between mobility and permanence. These signs transition from functional advertisements to nostalgic artifacts, sparking reflections on the tension between historical restoration and artistic revitalization. The presence of these grandfathered and orphan signs in situ, long after the associated businesses have closed, stands as the last nostalgic remnant resisting a sense of placelessness, where unique local identities are overshadowed by corporate landscapes. Removal of these signs from their original locations and reorganization within a private museum underscores the tension between original and reimagined contexts. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the cultural narratives embedded in neon signage from this collection, emphasizing their unique value in American cultural heritage and their evolving role in expressing and interpreting communal and cultural identities.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A growing use of bilingual signage among retailers in the United States begs the question, How do shoppers react to bilingual signs? How is such signage processed by consumers, what does it signal, and to what effect? Drawing from a national panel of American consumers, we exposed participants to examples of English, bilingual, or Spanish signage in a program of experiments that measured behavioral intentions, attitudes toward the stores and signs, and various expectations, perceptions, and impressions. Results show a direct effect of the language of the sign on shoppers’ behavioral intentions to engage with and buy from a store. Evidence shows that evaluations of signs shape evaluations of the stores they represent. Additionally, the language used on signs shapes shoppers’ expectations of service quality, with bilingual signs engendering favorable impressions of authenticity, inclusiveness, and interestingness. Signs using only a foreign language, by contrast, tend to lower expectations of service, communication, and inclusiveness.
New York City’s Interior Privately Owned Public Spaces (IPOPS) provides developers with bonus floor area in exchange for the urban amenity of publicly accessible space. Many issues can arise in jurisdictional overlap when city authorities and private owners govern space. Upon entering the front door of an IPOPS, one may encounter signage placed by private owners stating explicit rules discouraging specific uses, while city-mandated signage must state that the space is “open to the public.” Given recent efforts to replace publicly regulated POPS signage, this study provides a timely assessment. The research question is: Do private owners’ signs communicate in a manner that narrows the definition of “public”? Our research method includes transcribing all externally visible signage, including city-regulated signage and owner signage and performing a text analysis with R to discover the prevalence of language inviting use and regulating behavior. We analyze the data to discover how in contrast to city-mandated signage, owner signage tends to narrow the definition of “public.” We explore the implications for the governance and administration of public space.
Placemaking is an initiative with roots in the 1960s and 70s to enhance public life in the urban setting. This complex notion requires multiple disciplines, flexibility, and a human-centric approach toward development. While developing new streets and enhancing the existing, built environment, professionals, community residents, and business owners must consider multiple elements to bring people to the street: furniture, vegetation, walkability, art, and culture. With this sidewalk interaction comes the opportunity for economic development. When the people are drawn in, signage can inform the pedestrian. This study builds a collection of 200 photos, representing four levels of placemaking intensities. Each photo is coded into 600 cells to count the quantity of placemaking elements. Visual attentive software (VAS) is then used to measure the sign effectiveness to visually stand out. Placemaking initially impacts preattentive visibility, while the building façade, road surface, tree canopy, landscaping, and the sky each play a role. Planners, designers, and business owners can use these findings to better inform the impact and interaction of streetscape and business.
In this book review, Dr. Pat Crawford will discuss Vikas Mehta’s new book, Public Space: Notes on Why it Matters, What We Should Know, and How to Realize its Potential. Dr. Mehta approaches public space from a deep disciplinary grounding in planning, urban design, sociology and architecture, and his new book captures the diverse disciplinary ways of understanding and knowing public space.
