Although we are seeing great strides in the application of technology to wayfinding, it is clear today that there is much room for expansion and improvement in this field.
If wayfinding is more than just signage, where else can we find it? Architecture, landscaping, lighting, art and technology all play a significant role in a wayfinding system.
In the 1960s, an educator and urban planner named Kevin Lynch first used the term “wayfinding” in his book “The Image of the City" and, while this model is organized around the context and features of a city, it can be applied to most built environments—for example, a shopping mall also has paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks.
You stand carefully on a slippery mountain top staring at an eight-foot-square map sticking out of the snow on six-by-six posts showing four mountains, 58 ski runs and 21 ski lifts. It’s 19 degrees out with light snow flurries and through your fogged up goggles you try to pick an interesting but safe route down to the lodge.
I would like to share three simple stories about culture and power that have inspired me since I first started in this field some 30 years ago. I hope they will inspire you as well. Some I’ve written about before, but I’ve added some new details about and snippets from my personal life experience.
As any sort of designer, you have a main set of promotional materials: your logo, business cards, printed portfolio and in most cases, a website. That’s all you expect to need to be successful coming out of school—but what about searching for jobs, or building your professional network? Where does one even start?
