Wayfinding systems:
A boost to property image

What is the connec­tion between signage and a property’s image? And how can wayfind­ing aids be made visi­ble even in envi­ron­ments where infor­ma­tion is overwhelming?

In this edition of our Expert Tips, we outline the func­tion and bene­fits of wayfind­ing systems, supple­ment­ed by insights into prac­ti­cal imple­men­ta­tion. At the same time, we are contin­u­ing our series on specif­ic commu­ni­ca­tion options for prop­er­ty, which has been a feature of the Valdivia News­room for five years now.

The key bene­fits: wayfind­ing and identity

Wayfind­ing systems and signage are more than just useful orien­ta­tion aids. As a strate­gic approach, they combine visu­al commu­ni­ca­tion, archi­tec­ture and design. Through a consis­tent, well-thought-out design language, they can shape the image of a prop­er­ty or a neigh­bour­hood – with bene­fits for the user expe­ri­ence and brand iden­ti­ty^1/2/3 :

• They provide orien­ta­tion and infor­ma­tion as a service that requires no staff, leads to fewer complaints and increas­es visitor/tenant satisfaction.
• Wayfind­ing also means safe­ty – for exam­ple, find­ing the right shop in a shop­ping centre or the correct gate at an airport.
• Anoth­er impor­tant func­tion of such systems is to improve acces­si­bil­i­ty and remove barri­ers for people with disabil­i­ties⁴ .
• Final­ly, they create a visu­al and aesthet­ic link that conveys a sense of place and acts as an anchor of iden­ti­fi­ca­tion for resi­dents or regu­lar visitors.

Such signage systems there­fore have a very concrete signif­i­cance for the value and market­ing of a prop­er­ty, as they shape and support a brand story based on prac­ti­cal benefits.

Key elements: signage and fonts 

Depend­ing on the type of use, floor plan and size of the build­ing, wayfind­ing systems and other orien­ta­tion aids can take very differ­ent forms. In a block of flats, a house number, name­plates at the entrance and on the flat doors, and, where neces­sary, signs for the lift, base­ment, garage etc. are usual­ly suffi­cient. A large hospi­tal or an airport, on the other hand, require multi­ple aids such as a colour-coded system, overview and floor plans, direc­tion­al signs, an address system for wards or gates, as well as Braille labelling and pictograms.

All non-verbal elements, such as arrows, symbols, pictograms, etc., fall under the term ‘signage’. It forms a univer­sal­ly under­stand­able visu­al language that encom­pass­es design, colour theo­ry, psychol­o­gy and cultur­al refer­ences⁵ . Signage also includes orna­men­tal elements, known as ding­bats, the use of which in archi­tec­ture we intro­duced some time ago. As with typo­graph­ic elements, coher­ence and brand iden­ti­ty in signage are achieved through a concep­tu­al­ly ground­ed choice of fonts and colours, for exam­ple through

• colour­ful, play­ful char­ac­ters and cartoon-like animal symbols for a nursery,
• neutral, calm type­faces and colours for infra­struc­ture and office properties,
• delib­er­ate­ly makeshift indus­tri­al design for a start-up co-work­ing space,
• nostal­gic letter­ing on enam­el signs for a historic building.

Key to success: clar­i­ty and unambiguity

Accord­ing to our research, there have been very few scien­tif­ic stud­ies specif­i­cal­ly on wayfind­ing systems to date. A US compar­a­tive study⁴  on indoor orien­ta­tion, based on 84 indi­vid­ual stud­ies, high­lights some inter­est­ing find­ings from a survey of health­care facilities:

• Signage could not complete­ly compen­sate for orien­ta­tion prob­lems when floor plans became too complex. Howev­er, such signage still proved more effec­tive than site plans with loca­tion markers.
• Visi­tors found it easi­est to find their way around using stan­dard­ised pictograms featur­ing simple, human figures and clear colour contrasts.
• Signs that contained both words and symbols were under­stood most quick­ly and caused the fewest instances of people going the wrong way. Signs contain­ing only words came second, whilst signs using symbols alone were the least helpful.

A Japan­ese study⁶ exam­ines a partic­u­lar aspect of wayfind­ing aids, focus­ing on the effec­tive­ness of differ­ent types of signage in emer­gen­cies. Floor mark­ings proved to be the most effec­tive option. In contrast, four-sided ceil­ing signs, inter­est­ing­ly, often led to uncer­tain­ty, as some test subjects saw two sides that appeared to indi­cate two differ­ent direc­tions. In summa­ry, both stud­ies point to an aspect that is impor­tant in prac­tice: when in doubt and under stress, percep­tion tends to follow the unam­bigu­ous sign rather than the one that may be more sophis­ti­cat­ed in design.

Solu­tions for complex environments

Some envi­ron­ments, such as shop­ping centres and airports, are heav­i­ly clut­tered with signs, illu­mi­nat­ed letter­ing, adver­tis­ing and other visu­al elements. A doctor­al thesis on the situ­a­tion in shop­ping centres⁷  analy­ses why wayfind­ing systems there are often bare­ly noticed. In addi­tion to the large amount of compet­ing infor­ma­tion, the cause is a lack of hier­ar­chy, combined with confus­ing spatial struc­tures. Vari­ous meth­ods can be employed to design a wayfind­ing system that is effec­tive even in such environments:

• Reduc­tion and hierarchy
  Where possi­ble, the number of infor­ma­tion sources should be reduced. In larg­er build­ings, a hier­ar­chy compris­ing clear­ly defined main routes and a logi­cal zoning system—such as a sepa­rate food court in a shop­ping centre—is helpful.
• Visu­al clarity
  Consis­tent, under­stat­ed colour schemes and typog­ra­phy, supple­ment­ed where neces­sary by pictograms, help distin­guish signage from adver­tis­ing elements. Here too, simplic­i­ty is key: for exam­ple, signage in Frankfurt’s MyZeil shop­ping centre features white letter­ing and symbols on neutral anthracite-coloured surfaces, there­by stand­ing out from the bright­ly coloured shops and their advertising.
• Posi­tion­ing
  Signage should be posi­tioned so that it lies with­in clear lines of sight and does not compete direct­ly with other visu­al elements. This can be achieved through floor or ceil­ing place­ment, free­stand­ing infor­ma­tion pillars, or a protec­tive space around the rele­vant signs.
• Archi­tec­ture
  In addi­tion, for new build­ings and major refur­bish­ments, it is also advis­able to incor­po­rate this into the archi­tec­tur­al design: clear sight­lines, distinc­tive anchor points and open junc­tions support an intu­itive­ly compre­hen­si­ble wayfind­ing system.

The study mentioned above sets out detailed design recom­men­da­tions for ‘inno­v­a­tive, intu­itive and safe wayfind­ing systems’. It also includes a compre­hen­sive check­list for assess­ing and opti­mis­ing exist­ing systems. Whilst the recom­men­da­tions reflect the state of the art as of 2010 and mention digi­tal wayfind­ing aids only as a future prospect, Howev­er, analogue visu­al signage elements are like­ly to remain neces­sary in the fore­see­able future, mean­ing the study remains rele­vant for current projects as well.

Conclu­sion: Func­tion­al­i­ty and aesthetics

Signage and wayfind­ing systems often go unno­ticed in many prop­er­ty sectors; it is usual­ly only their absence or lack of clar­i­ty that stands out. Their prac­ti­cal util­i­ty is never­the­less beyond ques­tion. Being able to orien­tate oneself quick­ly and safe­ly with­in a space is a basic human need and is unlike­ly to be complete­ly replaced in the long term by AI-support­ed aids such as smart glass­es and other augment­ed real­i­ty systems.

For the image and market­ing of prop­er­ties, profes­sion­al­ly designed wayfind­ing systems offer a dual advan­tage. Their func­tion­al­i­ty promotes a posi­tive expe­ri­ence for visi­tors, resi­dents or other user groups. This boosts over­all satis­fac­tion, ensures posi­tive reviews and, ulti­mate­ly, leads to greater value creation. At the same time, a well-thought-out design supports and shapes brand iden­ti­ty and, as a unify­ing design element, fosters a sense of belong­ing and a distinct profile – stand­out features that support market­ing efforts.

Sources

• “Why good signage is impor­tant in neigh­bour­hoods”, Immo­bilien Aktuell by Immokom, August 2023
• “How to build your brand with better wayfind­ing”, Colorado Real Estate Jour­nal, April 2018
• “The ROI of High-Qual­i­ty Indoor Signage for Multi-Unit Prop­er­ties & Commer­cial Spaces”, MtnHigh Sign + Design, June 2025
• “Wayfind­ing in Inte­ri­or Envi­ron­ments: An Inte­gra­tive Review”, Fron­tiers in Psychol­o­gy, Novem­ber 2020
• “Signage – Archi­tec­tur­al Wayfind­ing Systems for Greater Safe­ty in Spaces”, architektvergleich.ch (Swiss archi­tect search portal), undated
• “The impact of people-signage inter­ac­tion on wayfind­ing evac­u­a­tion behav­iour”, Fire Safe­ty Jour­nal (on sciencedirect.com), Janu­ary 2024
• Dr Nadine Seumenicht: “Analy­sis and eval­u­a­tion of exist­ing wayfind­ing systems to devel­op design recom­men­da­tions for inno­v­a­tive, intu­itive and safe wayfind­ing systems in publicly acces­si­ble build­ings, using shop­ping centres as an exam­ple”, Univer­si­ty of Duis­burg-Essen Publi­ca­tions, May 2010

(Image source: istockphotos.com)