Navigation with wayfinding graphics: Tony Howard Interview

See interview here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/TL3-LpMSKbQ?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=o8DnDNyKoCWRCO_ozQGkMQ


Tony Howard opens the interview by explaining, “Graphics by their very nature are usually very persuasive, very seductive, sometimes playful. But in wayfinding people have to believe what they're seeing.” This is what separates information design from many other strands of graphic design: information design is presenting facts and is present for no other reason but to inform. It isn't meant to be flashy and persuasive like advertising. These graphics, such as exit signs, are there to tell people what they need to know, in order to understand navigation systems or what should be done in an emergency.

Howard also goes on to say, “...people feel under pressure. They don't want to have to weave their way through a whole range of text or a whole range of styles before they actually get the message. They have got to get the message instantly.” Information graphics have therefore been designed so that they register with the viewer immediately and can be understood immediately. Again, in the case of emergencies, people don't have time to read confusing instructions, trying to work them out and therefore wasting time that they probably don't have. Even in the case of looking for a train platform, signs need to be clear and bold, simplistic in style and easy to understand. 

Howard also says how important it is for people to “recognise the signs that they're looking for.” Wayfinding signs, for example, usually follow a similar colour scheme and the same use of typography. If you look at the Legible London wayfinding system (see previous blog post) you can see that they have kept a consistent design style throughout; the same clashing yellow background of the splash and walking man symbol that signals the presence of a Legible London sign (as Howard says, “We also have to make sure our signs stand out as well as anything else in the environment”, which the splash accomplishes here) and the same dark blue background and yellow and white text colour. The same typeface, New Johnston, is also used throughout. 

 

Of typefaces, Howard says that very clear text is important. “We have to got to have text which is engineered for wayfinding messages and not for anything else.” Sans-Serif fonts are often used for wayfinding systems. This is because this style of type is much clearer from a distance and for quick reading than serif fonts.

Margaret Calvert realised this when she redesigned road signs in Britain and replaced the serif font (which had been used on road signs up until her and Jock Kinneir's involvement) with a sans-serif typeface she designed herself, named Transport. The designs for this new typeface were also strongly influenced by Edward Johnston's san-serif font, Johnston, which is used on the London underground.

Howard also says that they design their pictogram to match their selected typeface. “Sometimes now the pictograms,” he goes on to say, “are even leading the sign and the text is there simply to reinforce the pictogram message.”

Howard also agrees that colour is very important in information design. He says that whenever they start on a new project that they “start with colour”. He explains that this mostly “because there are so many limitations with colour”, which is an interesting statement that I had not previously thought on, yet now I realise its truth. Howard says that “colour can mean so many different things to different people and it also means so many different things to different cultures as well.” This needs to be taken into consideration before you select colouring for signs. For example, green and white together usually indicates a safe rout out of a building, an emergency exit sign, while hazard signs are black on yellow etc.

He finished by saying, “What you want to do is not just tell people where things are and get them to go aimlessly following a direction that you give them. What you want them to do is understand the environment which they're in. They need to be able to read the building.”