The Light Shines

In a recent newsletter, Darek Johnson, ST’s Senior Technology Editor, wisely recommended using Google Alerts to keep tabs on subjects of interest. I followed his lead. To receive alerts, simply go to www.google.com/alerts, type in your desired topic and follow the directions. In real time, daily or weekly, you’ll receive Google’s latest updates on the subject via news reports, blogs, web updates, etc.).
Among the 10 daily alerts I receive are updates related to wayfinding and sign codes.

Although some updates are nonstarters – I received a notice about the Wayfinding and Voyaging Festival at a Hawaiian school (a bit too New Age-y), and “sign codes” often yields references to QR codes (useful, but not in this context) – I’ve noticed a decisive trend. Many municipalities and their elected officials have actually embraced the value of signage! Increasingly, they’ve allocated funds for wayfinding programs that identify key landmarks and districts, and reformed or amended sign codes that allow businesses to invest in the signage they need to increase traffic.

A few examples:
• In Anacortes, WA, a community of 15,000 on Fidalgo Island off the coast of Washington State, hired Brand Query, a Mount Vernon, WA-based environemntal-graphics provider, to design wayfinding reflective of the city’s coastal environs. The city’s in-house signshop built the program.

• Salem, OR will incorporate a series of wayfinding signs that serve as a vital part of its Vision 2020 plan to revitalize the Beaver State’s capital city by this fall, according to the Salem Statesman Journal. The plan specifies 46 directional-sign poles and six larger “you are here” signs that pinpoint key locations and historical information on a city-street grid. The signs will feature icons and color codes that denote the city’s districts and such amenities as historical sites, parks and government facilities.

• Santa Monica, CA’s city officials enacted an 18-month trial period to study the effectiveness of portable or “sandwich-board” signage, which had previously been outlawed. After positive feedback from local merchants, they decided to permanently amend its codes to allow such signage.

• Palmetto, FL’s City Commission voted to allow freestanding signs up to 85 ft. tall in its central business district.

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• The council that governs Cochrane, AB, Canada, a town of 15,000 near Calgary, voted to borrow $400,000 (Canadian) to develop a series of gateway and wayfinding signs.

Hmmm, public officials embracing the value of signage. Whodathunkit?