SEGD London Chapter | London Design Festival | Wayfinding: Future Thinking

You are invited to an exciting, half-day, in-person symposium, followed by a networking reception with drinks

You are invited to an exciting, half-day, in-person symposium.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK VIA THE UK EVENTBRITE PAGE

Wayfinding: Future Thinking

London, 18 September 2025 – The Sign Design Society (SDS) and the London Chapter of the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) are delighted to announce the next chapter in their acclaimed symposium series for London Design Festival 2025.

Sponsored by Electrosonic

Summary:

Our built environments are changing fast – and the way we navigate them has to keep up. Step into the future of wayfinding at this one-of-a-kind symposium, where bold ideas meet real-world innovation. Whether you’re a designer, architect, urban planner, or simply passionate about how people move through spaces, you’ll gain exclusive insights from 6 pre-eminent global speakers driving the evolution of navigation. Connect with visionaries, spark new ideas, and leave inspired to shape what’s next. This is where the future of wayfinding begins – held at The Building Centre, Bloomsbury, London – don’t miss it!

Placemaking and community building. New identity, meaning and messages for places

Luca Ballarini and Marta Doria, Stratosferica

People, patterns and pathways: Harnessing behavioural data and personal experiences to define the future of venue navigation

Simon Borg, Populous

Wayfinding 2.0 (AI)

Peter Reynolds, Wayfinders

The rise of personalised wayfinding in the age of agentic AI

Alison Richings, Endpoint

Immersive and inclusive wayfinding through multi-sensory design

Ángel Sánchez, Gensler

Please do touch – the importance of physical wayfinding in an increasingly digital world

Nadine Smith, Jackson Daly

After: Social / networking drinks reception 5.15pm–6.45pm on-site at the Building Centre.

Tickets:

In person attendance: £38, inclusive of all presentations, refreshments during the 2 scheduled breaks, and a concluding networking drinks reception

Not able to attend in person?

Don’t miss out! Buy a ticket for post-symposium, time-limited access to the recordings of the six presentations instead: £38

Numbers are strictly limited for this event – so book early!

CLICK HERE TO BOOK VIA THE UK EVENTBRITE PAGE

Event Overview:

Date & Time: Thursday, 18 September 2025, 12:45–18.45 (doors open from 12:15pm for a prompt start at 12.45pm, speakers finish at 5.15pm, drinks reception finishes at 6.45pm)

Venue: The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BT

Accessible route: Step-free access into the Building Centre with lift to lower ground floor symposium space. Accessible toilets are available on the same level.

Ticket Price: £38, inclusive of all presentations and a concluding networking drinks reception (or buy a time-limited access to the recordings of the six presentations)

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wayfinding-future-thinking-tickets-1558994016069

London Design Festival:

This event forms part of the city-wide London Design Festival 2025, celebrating design innovation across disciplines and sectors.

Please note: This is an in-person event – the talks will be recorded but not streamed live. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the organisers before the event.

More about the talks and speakers

The rise of personalised wayfinding in the age of agentic AI – Alison Richings, Endpoint

This presentation will explore the evolving future of wayfinding in an era of intelligent tools, digital twins, and personalised navigation. As static signage gives way to agentic AI and wearable technologies, navigation shifts from universal messages to tailored, context-aware experiences. We will examine emerging trends, smart devices suggesting routes, adaptive accessibility tools, and the next leap toward ambient, invisible wayfinding services. The talk addresses opportunities, trust, and ethical considerations, asking what skills and frameworks designers will need. Blending speculative futures with real-world developments, it considers what it means to “be found” in a world that increasingly finds you first.

Alison Richings leads Endpoint’s wayfinding design team, shaping strategic and creative direction for major global projects. With over 20 years’ cross-sector experience, she has delivered impactful designs for destinations including Everton FC’s Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, National museum Norway, Oxford North Innovation district and Heathrow Terminal 5. Alison is a recognised expert in wayfinding strategy, researching how navigation supports inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainability. She shares her expertise through talks, publications, and the Wayfinding Xchange podcast, and served as a RIBA panel judge in 2025. She champions people-focussed, sustainable design that enhances experience and architectural identity.

Immersive and inclusive wayfinding through multi-sensory design – Ángel Sánchez, Gensler

In an era where human experience seems to be the central axis of design discourse, the senses offer a tangible framework to interrogate what experience truly entails. While the term multi-sensory has gained traction across disciplines, design remains overwhelmingly vision-dominant. This presentation challenges that paradigm by proposing a redefinition of wayfinding and branding as inherently multi-sensory practices capable of generating richer, more intuitive, and more inclusive experiences. Drawing on insights from multiple research projects from the Gensler Research Institute, it is argued that a multi-sensory environment does not merely layer stimuli; rather, it orchestrates them into a cohesive and emotionally resonant spatial identity.

Ángel Sánchez is a graphic designer passionate about all aspects of design, with a particular expertise in wayfinding. He thrives on transforming spaces by creating intuitive navigation systems and refined visual storytelling that enhances the user experience. With a strong cultural background shaped by living in Spain, the UK and France, Ángel brings a diverse perspective to his work. Since joining Gensler in 2013, he has worked across a range of sectors to translate complex environments into intuitive, human-centered visual experiences. In 2021 Ángel moved to Paris to establish and lead the brand design team at Gensler’s Paris office, expanding the firm’s European presence in experiential design.

Please do touch – the importance of physical wayfinding in an increasingly digital world – Nadine Smith, Jackson Daly

As the digital and physical worlds become more closely intertwined, the accelerating pace of technology often brings into question the requirement of physical wayfinding. This talk explores the continued importance of built wayfinding objects, and their purpose in a world with an expanding digital integration into daily life. Briefly considering the value of the physical from a psychological perspective, what we do when technology fails, designing for accessibility, and the opportunities digital overlay provides wayfinding practice.

Nadine Smith is a speaker, educator and practitioner in the realm of experiential design. She is currently Creative Director at Jackson Daly for their wayfinding department. Keen to bridge the gap between design education and practice, Nadine is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Kent, having written and delivered wayfinding modules for undergraduate courses both there and across several other UK institutions. Professionally, her completed projects include large scale wayfinding schemes such as stadiums, transit hubs, mixed-use masterplans and healthcare. She has worked internationally with big-name architects across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

People, patterns and pathways: Harnessing behavioural data and personal experiences to define the future of venue navigation – Simon Borg, Populous

This talk explores how venue navigation is shaped by the interaction between people, patterns, and pathways. Though traditional wayfinding, using signs and symbols, seems neutral, it often mirrors the values and biases of its creators, prioritising efficiency rather than equity. The speaker urges a re-examination of ‘user-centred’ design, particularly in large, year-round venues such as sports and entertainment hubs. Emphasising the need for collaborative approaches, the future of wayfinding should draw on diverse, community-led voices. Notably, emerging trends now include multilingual systems and initiatives that consider different languages, abilities, and cultural backgrounds, reflecting the communities they aim to serve.

With over two decades of international experience in creative agencies, Simon Borg excels in experiential design, graphic design, wayfinding, branding, and naming rights activation. As Creative Director of Populous’ brand activation and experiential design group, he crafts memorable customer experiences in sports and entertainment spaces. Since joining Populous in 2004, Simon has led wayfinding and brand activation projects for high-profile venues, including London’s O2 Arena, London 2012 Olympics, MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Co-op Live Arena. His current portfolio spans the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, reflecting his passion for innovative design and impactful brand experiences.

Placemaking and community building. New identity, meaning and messages for places – Luca Ballarini & Marta Doria, Stratosferica

Talk overview to be confirmed.

Luca Ballarini is a designer, editor and placemaker, an architect by training, self-taught by vocation. With nearly 30 years’ design experience, he is founder of: Social enterprise Stratosferica, for which he curates the international festival Utopian Hours and placemaking interventions such as Corso Farini and Dorado in Turin and other Italian cities; Bellissimo, an award-winning communication design studio; and Open House Torino, the large, free public event that opens the city’s architecture to 25,000 people every year. Luca is a trend-setter and passionate creative entrepreneur, who loves to redefine his role as a designer in the contemporary world.

Marta Doria is a graphic designer and communicator, with a degree from Istituto d’Arte Applicata e Design (IAAD) in Turin. She first became involved with Stratosferica through her thesis project which focused on placemaking in Turin. This initial collaboration led to the project Precollinear Park, marking the beginning of her ongoing professional relationship with the studio. Marta is currently Head of Design at Stratosferica, responsible for the visual identity and design applications for both the company’s own projects and client commissions. She also contributes to Open House Torino. Since 2022, she co-leads art direction classes at IAAD, sharing her expertise with the next generation of designers.

Wayfinding 2.0 (AI) – Peter Reynolds, Wayfinders

This talk looks at how emerging technologies, especially AI and IoT, are going to change the way we plan, develop, and manage wayfinding systems. It’s about how we, as designers and consultants, will work differently in terms of wayfinding strategy, design, monitoring and maintenance. The bigger question is: where do we add value in all of this? If the process becomes faster, more automated, more measurable, what does a good wayfinding consultant look like in five years? This talk doesn’t have all the answers, but it will offer a clear picture of what’s already possible and what’s coming next.

Prior to ‘landing’ in the wayfinding world, Peter Reynolds was a strategy director with a major, global tech firm. Peter is the founder of Wayfinders, a wayfinding design consultancy based in Ireland. Over the past seven years, he has led the company’s evolution from a design studio to a tech-enabled spatial logic practice. Peter’s team has delivered major wayfinding projects across public and private sectors, from airports to hospitals, with a growing focus on systems thinking and digital transformation.