Experiential Graphic Design Feature Articles

2023 SEGD Wayfinding + Placemaking Symposium: Special Luncheon Session: Designing at Scale with Arup
2023 SEGD Wayfinding + Placemaking Symposium: Special Luncheon Session: Designing at Scale with Arup
04/19/2023

Read Time: 3 minutes 15 seconds
The 2023 SEGD Wayfinding + Placemaking Symposium is just one week away! We are excited to be kicking off the event with a special session and luncheon at Arup’s LA Office. Read more about the event kick-off and secure your luncheon spot today!

LAX by Selbert Perkins
2023 SEGD Wayfinding and Placemaking Symposium - Speakers Announced
02/21/2023

Read Time: 3 minutes

SEGD Wayfinding and Placemaking Symposium: Transportation and Transformation
April 27 - 28, 2023, Los Angeles, CA

Crossrail Connection: Designing the new Elizabeth line for Transport for London (TfL)
Crossrail Connection: Designing the new Elizabeth line for Transport for London (TfL)
07/27/2022

Read Time: 6 minutes
The 2022 SEGD Wayfinding + Placemaking Symposium will feature a keynote address with Julian Maynard, Managing Director of the Maynard Design Group. He will present the keynote address on Thursday, August 4, 2022, titled “Creating the Elizabeth Line.” 

Airport Wayfinding: Guiding Passengers and Expressing Identity
Airport Wayfinding: Guiding Passengers and Expressing Identity
09/01/2021

Read Time: 3 minutes
​​​​​​​When navigating through airports, travelers want to quickly find their gate—or baggage area or exit—and then be off! In their new book, Airport Wayfinding, SEGD members Heike Nehl and Sibylle Schlaich reveal how designers of wayfinding signage help passengers navigate the complexities of modern airports, and in the process, help reduce their stress. Along the way, the authors also explore how airport graphics express the identities of place, culture, and even the spirit of flight.

Take Flight: Vintage 727 Exhibit Soars to New Heights
Take Flight: Vintage 727 Exhibit Soars to New Heights
07/07/2021

Read Time: 4 minutes
In 1994, Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry opened “Take Flight,” one of their most popular exhibits featuring the fuselage of a retired Boeing 727 passenger plane. Today, more than 25 years later, Studio Matthews (exhibit designers) and Belle & Wissell (media experience designers) have redesigned the exhibit’s displays while updating the story of commercial aviation for 21st century visitors.

2018 SEGD Fellow Jane Davis Doggett—Talent, Education, Application
Trailblazing Women in EGD: 2018 SEGD Fellow Jane Davis Doggett—Talent, Education, Application
03/17/2021

Read Time: 13 minutes
SEGD is celebrating Women's History Month by honoring our female Fellows and recognizing their outstanding work. Next up is Jane Davis Doggett, a trailblazer in the design of wayfinding systems for airports—40 of them—many of which are still in use today. A 2018 SEGD Fellow, Jane speaks about her life’s work in the video presentation “Wayfinder in the Jet Age” produced for the awards ceremony at the 2018 SEGD Conference. Read her Fellow Interview from the SEGD18 Annual for more insights into her life and career.

5 Years of Best of Show Awards Elevating EGD Practice
5 Years of Best of Show Awards Elevating EGD Practice
01/28/2020

Read Time: 7 minutes

A lot has happened in the last 33 years, but one thing remains the same: The SEGD Global Design Awards program is still a key indicator of how the practice of experiential graphic design is evolving by annually setting the bar for excellence in the field.

Design Manual for the Swiss Federal Railways
Design Manual for the Swiss Federal Railways
10/09/2019

Read Time: 12 minutes

Lorem Ipsum Corp. at Platov International Airport
Lorem Ipsum Corp. Revives the Past at Platov International Airport
08/19/2019

Read Time: 7.5 minutes

From the archives, circa 2018—a 2019 Merit Award winning project: Through the creative use of technology, multidisciplinary agency Lorem Ipsum Corp. (New York) captured the spirit of the Don Cossacks and Count Matvei Ivanovich Platov in a host of interactive and experiential installations at the new airport in Rostov-On-Don, Russia.

Seeing the Better City (image: book cover)
Seeing the Better City
03/26/2019

Read Time: 9.5 minutes

Compliant and Consistent—BIA.studios Creates Tools for MTA (image: people at train station)
Compliant and Consistent—BIA.studio Creates Tools for MBTA
03/18/2019

Read Time: 7 minutes

From an existing signage audit to developing manuals, guidelines and custom software, BIA.studio (Boston) designed a completely new wayfinding program for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s vast system.

 20 Questions with Lance Wyman, "Navigating Life" (image: portrait of Lance Wyman)
20 Questions with Lance Wyman, "Navigating Life"
03/08/2019

Read Time: 14 minutes

SEGD asks 20 questions of Lance Wyman, FSEGD, an experiential graphic design legend—a literal icon of icons—who is currently working on a massive transit system for Mexico City, where he did some of his most beloved work in the late 1960s.

Clean, Classic, Compelling—Wayfinding New York's Roosevelt Island
Clean, Classic, Compelling—Wayfinding New York's Roosevelt Island
01/29/2019

Read Time: 7.5 minutes

Entro | CVEDesign (New York) joined forces with The Hudson Companies, Inc., the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation and the local community to provide an enduring wayfinding and placemaking solution for the area’s growing population.

Railroads, Research and Rust at Philadelphia’s Rail Park
Railroads, Research and Rust at Philadelphia’s Rail Park
12/07/2018

Read Time: 8 minutes
When an elevated rail park was proposed in their town, Cloud Gehshan (Philadelphia) volunteered their talents to help bring the area’s unique history to light using over 700 square feet of weathering steel.

The Best Content of 2018
The Best Content of 2018
12/04/2018

Read Time: 2.5 minutes

Well that went by fast!

And, it's has once again been a record-breaking year for SEGD, as the association has grown to over 2,300 members and SEGD.org page views have swelled to over three million.

2018 SEGD Fellow Jane Davis Doggett—Talent, Education, Application
2018 SEGD Fellow Jane Davis Doggett—Talent, Education, Application
06/18/2018

Jane Davis Doggett is a living legend of remarkable talent: both an unsung hero of graphic design who revolutionized airport wayfinding and a prolific artist in multiple mediums.

Big, Bold and DIN-Penn Station West End Concourse
Big, Bold and DIN—Penn Station West End Concourse
03/08/2018

In 2017, the new West End Concourse of Penn Station was revealed with a bold, supergraphic wayfinding system designed by Pentagram (New York), working closely with architects Skidmore Owings and Merrill LLP.

Official Signs & Symbols 3—Signing Bicycle Facilities
Official Signs & Icons 3—Signing Bicycle Facilities
01/02/2018

In 2017, symbol guru Mies Hora published the third edition of his compendium of signs, symbols and commentary, "Official Signs & Icons 3." Among the many varied and useful resources in the book, there is a new section entitled "Signing Bicycle Facilities."

Entro on “Cultivating a Design Legacy” and Canada’s Airports
Entro on “Cultivating a Design Legacy” and Canada’s Airports
10/25/2017

In 2011, Entro Communications merged with Toronto-based Gottschalk+Ash in the shared pursuit of doing great design work. This year, the firm released a book detailing its separate and combined history, entitled “Cultivating a Design Legacy: The First 50 Years.” In this excerpt, read how the Canadian firms built their legacy in airports.

Cloud Gehshan Spring Garden
Cloud Gehshan Helps Illuminate Spring Garden Connector
08/04/2017

A busy transit hub entrance in an underpass on Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia receives a dramatic and illuminating makeover courtesy of NV5, Cloud Gehshan and The Lighting Practice.

Second Avenue Subway Wayfinding with C&VE
Second Avenue Subway Wayfinding with C&VE
07/10/2017

It’s a long story: a 98-year-long story, in fact. When the much-anticipated addition to the Q line of the New York City Subway initiated construction, Calori & Vanden-Eynden/Design Consultants began the highly-specialized work of wayfinding for the first new stations in nearly 30 years.

Entro's Wayfinding for Calgary Airport
Entro’s Calgary Airport Wayfinding
03/01/2017

When Calgary Airport in Alberta, Canada, began planning a major expansion to include the addition of two new concourses with 24 new gates, they knew a smooth transition would require an expert team of wayfinding professionals.

SEGD Wayfinding Event, April 14-15, at Miami Intl Airport
Planning and Designing an International Gateway [at SEGD's 2016 Wayfinding Event]
03/30/2016

With the goal of improving the customer experience for its 40 million annual passengers, Miami International Airport has recently completed wayfinding packages for its North, Central and South Terminals using standards developed by Labozan Associates. The key challenge of the program was to reduce signage to reduce clutter--without compromising wayfinding ease. MIA is the site of SEGD's 2016 Wayfinding Event April 14-15 and this is your chance to tour the airport and learn from the challenges of planning and designing this international gateway!

Transport for NSW Wayfinding (Dotdash)
Multi-Modal Wayfinding in New South Wales
03/30/2016

Transport for New South Wales is undertaking an ambitious overhaul of its transportation wayfinding infrastructure across all modes of travel, including train, bus, light rail and ferry. Dotdash (Brisbane) developed an integrated signage system applied across 60 unique sites. Each sign type has a place within sequential zones of user experience from approach to arrival, to waiting and then boarding. See how it’s done in NSW.

SEGD Wayfinding Event, April 14-15, 2016
Your Map to SEGD’s 2016 Wayfinding Event [April 14-15 in Miami]
03/30/2016

Where can you discover the latest apps and digital signage technologies being used in airports? And learn how human factors research should be informing your next healthcare project? And see the latest in wayfinding/branded environments hybrids in workplaces? You’ll want to find your way to Miami April 14-15 for SEGD’s 2016 Wayfinding Event! Here’s your map.

SEGD Wayfinding Event, April 14-15, 2016
SEGD Wayfinding Event: Take Home the Three V’s
03/16/2016

Wayfinding for transportation environments calls on all the fundamentals of the discipline, with a very crucial addition: the element of time. To create a truly comprehensive, highly functioning wayfinding system, Jim Harding, Gresham Smith and Partners, says you need to consider the three ways airport users will receive the information. He’ll focus on the Three V’s of Communication for Transportation Environments at SEGD’s 2016 Wayfinding Event April 14-15in Miami. You’ll want to be there!

Philadelphia's 30th Street Station
How Wayfinding Can Help Revive an Aging Transportation Infrastructure
03/09/2016

Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station is an exceptional example of some of the railroad industry's most ambitious construction projects, and an historical landmark as well. With rail travel increasing double digits in the coming years, updating wayfinding programs in older transit centers like this one is increasingly important. Calori & Vanden-Eynden developed new signage and wayfinding that would ease travel for 21st century commuters, but be sympathetic to this 100-year-old structure.

SEGD Wayfinding Event, April 14-15, 2016
10 Reasons to Find Your Way to SEGD’s 2016 Wayfinding Event
03/09/2016

At SEGD’s 2016 Wayfinding Event—April 14-15 in Miami—we’ve got Wayfinding covered. From digital technology advances to human factors research, you’ll leave knowing the latest innovations in the field and on the horizon! Here are just 10 of the many reasons why you’ll want to find yourself there:

Chris Calori and David Vanden-Eynden keynote the SEGD Wayfinding Event Apri 14-15
SEGD Wayfinding 2016 -- Where Do We Go From Here?
02/24/2016

Technology is rapidly changing the delivery systems we use to navigate the built world, but the fundamentals of wayfinding have barely changed since Kevin Lynch coined the term more than 50 years ago. Chris Calori and David Vanden-Eynden (Calori & Vanden-Eynden / Design Consultants, New York) have developed hundreds of wayfinding systems and literally wrote the book on Signage and Wayfinding Design. Keynoting SEGD’s Wayfinding event April 14-15 in Miami, they'll take a critical look at the complex present and warp-speed future of wayfinding.

SEGD Wayfinding Event, April 14-15, 2016
Find Your Way to Miami for SEGD Wayfinding 2016 [April 14-15]
02/17/2016

Wayfinding projects for transportation, workplace, education and healthcare environments share some core similarities but also offer widely divergent challenges.

Donor Wall at American Contemporary Theater, San Francisco
Donor Recognition Projects Say Thank You with Style
11/24/2015

Thank You. These may be the two most powerful words in any language.
For hospitals, cultural institutions, and other non-profits that rely on generous donors to help build that new research facility or contemporary art wing, saying “thank you” graciously is vital. Effective donor recognition programs say it eloquently, and forever.

Katie Sprague at SEGD Branded Environments 2015
To Be or Not to Be? The Rise and Fall of Branded Environments
08/19/2015

The word "brand" was originated to describe the mark on a cow's butt. Today it covers much, much more than that. Branding is an art form, a short hand for customer preferences, and even a cause for world domination. Katie Sprague, Senior VP at Callison RTKL, covers the long and short of it at Be | The Branded Environments Event Thursday in Los Angeles.

Clearview by Donald S. Meeker and Richard Montalbano
A Clear View with Don Meeker, 2015 SEGD Fellow
08/18/2015

By anyone’s standards, the work of Don Meeker—activist and information designer—has touched the lives of more people than any other in his era.

LAX airport sign
What Makes a City a Brand? Find out in LA!
08/12/2015

What makes a city a brand? How does a constellation of culture, sports, entertainment, and natural attractions link and shine as an experience? Los Angeles is the poster child for city branding, and you’ll find out why at Be |The Branded Environments Event August 20 in The City of Angels.

wayfinding at Narita Intl Airport, Japan
On the Run at Narita International Airport
06/17/2015

At Tokyo's Narita International Airport, “running for my flight” has taken on a whole new meaning.

Clearview
Top 20 Wayfinding Designs since 2000
03/30/2015

Scroll through the slideshow above to see the top 20 wayfinding moments of the 21st century.

It’s the ultimate unsung hero of public spaces: when it works, you never know it’s there. Wayfinding may not always be considered sexy, but it has evolved into a highly integrated, user-focused, and increasingly technology-driven discipline with huge social and economic implications for cities, hospitals, and other public spaces. Here is a list of the top 20 wayfinding moments of the 21st century—members log-in and make your suggestions!

Tim Fendley at SEGD Wayfinding Workshop April 23
What Next for Legible Cities?
03/25/2015

The Future of Navigation in Smart Cities

Tim Fendley,founder of Applied and chief designer of Legible London,predicts that navigation in city centers will change dramatically in the next 10 years, with place branding, urban planning, and technology as key drivers. He'll join other world-renowned wayfinding experts at the SEGD Wayfinding WorkshopApril 23 in San Francisco. Do you need to be in touch with the future of wayfinding? Find yourself there; register now!

T5 Murals at Chicago O'Hare
T5 Murals at Chicago O'Hare International Airport
03/10/2015

Let’s face it. From the generic concrete canyon of the parking garage to the endless corridor to your gate, airports tend to all look the same. At Chicago O’Hare’s newly renovated International Terminal 5, Thirst changed all that—creating a super-scaled mural that is uniquely Chicago (with some wayfinding cred to boot).

Ultrecht Central Station, Amsterdam
Wayfinding and the Internet of Place
03/03/2015

“You are here.” The blue dot in the center of your smartphone’s map has a beat of its own, pulsating with each dispatch from the constellation of satellites above. It skips modestly on top of the city grid, an avatar that engenders confidence and courage as we navigate unfamiliar terrain.

Best in Show: 2014 SEGD Global Design Awards
11/20/2014

The Romance is Back

The epic digital landscape at LAX’s new Tom Bradley International Terminal took top honors in the 2014 SEGD Global Design Awards. Art deco curtains part to reveal gold-toned dancers spinning inside a multi-tiered clock-like confection. Three-story-tall guitar strings quiver and plunk to the movements of passersby.

Delta Flight Museum
Delta Air Lines Flight Museum Exhibit
11/04/2014

Delta’s Dawn

A new museum celebrates Delta’s journey from crop-dusting company to one of the world’s largest commercial air carriers.

SFO Wayfinding, Interview with Vicki Sundstrom
San Francisco International Airport Signage and Wayfinding
08/13/2014

Innovating the Passenger Experience at SFO

DFW International Airport
DFW International Airport Signage and Wayfinding
08/05/2014

Improving the Passenger Experience, DFW Style

As Project Manager in the Planning Department at DFW International Airport, Richard Gurley coordinates wayfinding and signage for the entire 17,000-acre airport complex, including five terminals, garages, and airport roadways. DFW will host the 2014 SEGD/ASMN Airport & Transportation Workshop Sept. 25-26, and Gurley will share the airport’s $2 billion Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program, its new signage program, and improving the customer experience, DFW style.

Jackson Hole Airport Branding and Wayfinding Design
Jackson Hole Airport Branding and Wayfinding
07/30/2014

Branding Jackson Hole Airport

Gensler integrated architecture, branding, and graphics in the airport’s new terminal. Associate Amy Siegel will share the story during the SEGD/ASMN Airport & Transportation Workshop Sept. 25-26 at DFW.

Jackson Hole is the gateway to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and a global destination for year-round tourism.

Vienna International Airport Wayfinding
07/30/2014

Graphic Departure

At Vienna International Airport, Ruedi Baur’s transparent wayfinding system marries minimalist design and poetic touches. In some ways, airports are quintessential non-places. With their long corridors, labyrinthine layouts, and cacophonous soundtrack of arrivals/departures and passengers speaking multiple languages, it’s easy to forget exactly where you are.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport International Terminal Signage and Wayfinding
04/21/2014

World-Class Welcome

Coca Cola Museum
Atlanta Converging
03/05/2014

From its roots as a railroad terminus to its current status as a poster city for urban redevelopment, Atlanta has always been shaped by social, cultural, and historical convergence.

40 Great Moments in Environmental Graphic Design
01/11/2014

40 Great Moments in EGD

From the Paris Metro to wayfinding apps, EGD continues to do what it has always done: connect people to place.

San Francisco International Airport Terminal 2, Environmental Graphics and Wayfinding
01/10/2014

Above and Beyond

A sleek new San Francisco International Airport terminal exceeds LEED goals and engages passengers in the joys of sustainable travel.   

Bicycle Trail Signage and Environmental Graphics
01/02/2014

Trail Blazers

Guided by the economic downturn, rising gas prices, and the quest for physical fitness, bike trail signage comes of age.

Storehagen Atrium Wayfinding
01/02/2014

Subwayfinding

Ralston & Bau’s wayfinding system for a Norwegian office building takes inspiration from the underground signage systems of London, Paris, and New York.

Vancouver International Airport Exhibitions and Environmental Graphics
01/02/2014

In Transition

San Jose International Airport Art +Technology Program
01/02/2014

In Transition

Breaking out of their role as generic waystations, airports are creating compelling experiences with public art, interpretive storytelling, and environmental graphics.

Many of us are filled with dread at the thought of having to spend an inordinate amount of time at an airport.

Remembering Expo 67
01/02/2014

Remembering Expo 67

TriMet Transit System Signage by Mayer/Reed
TriMet Transit System Signage
12/24/2013

Making the Train

Mayer/Reed applies sustainable design approaches in its revamp of signage for Portland’s TriMet transit system.

Image of Dublin Airport - Oscar Wilde Graphics
Dublin Airport Environmental Graphics
12/23/2013

You are Here

Thanks to environmental graphics that celebrate Ireland’s literary heritage, Dublin Airport’s Pier D is not just another generic waystation.

Charlotte Wayfinding System
12/18/2013

Making the Connection

Charlotte is building what may be one of the world’s most highly integrated urban wayfinding systems.

Legible London
12/18/2013

Walk This Way

London’s prototype wayfinding system aims to simplify a complex city and encourage walking.

JetBlue Terminal T5
12/16/2013

True Blue

Intuitive wayfinding and on-brand environmental graphics get the job done at JetBlue’s new JFK terminal.

Airports Article
Airport Wayfinding and Graphics
12/13/2013

Making Connections

Afsluitdijk (Closure Dike) Interpretives
12/13/2013

Finding Closure

Monumental interpretives help mark the 75th anniversary of one of the Netherlands’ engineering wonders.

Erie Canal Inner Harbor
12/12/2013

On the Erie Canal

Comcast Center Digital Experience
12/09/2013

Where [Digital] Worlds Collide

Buenos Aires Subway System
12/09/2013

Illuminating the Underground

Diseño Shakespear transforms the Buenos Aires subway with a bold identity and a user-friendly sign system.

Night time photo of Drive By in LA by Electroland
Drive By Installation
12/05/2013

Car Talk

Electroland’s LED installation comments on Los Angeles’ love affair with cars and movies.

America 92 Exhibit
Ronald Shakespear, FSEGD
12/01/2013

Ronald Shakespear: Making the City Legible

SEGD's 2008 Fellow on design, cities, and storks

Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion
01/26/2013

From the SEGD Archives, circa 2012: San Francisco’s most famous landmark turned 75 in 2011 and in honor of the occasion, as well as anticipation of the rush of visitors it would inspire, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District (the bridge operator) partnered with the Golden Gate Bridge National Parks Conservancy to rethink the entire visitor experience.

Washington, D.C., Metro
11/07/2009

From the SEGD archives, circa 2009: With its good bones and Massimo Vignelli-designed graphics, the D.C. Metro is considered a classic. New additions to the system balance respect with user-focused improvements.

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