Getting Lost...Some reasons why

PART 5 - CONSULTANTS

The role of an appointed Signage/ Wayfinding consultant?- especially as there is now a growing host of them - is crucial. With such a range of choice of consultants on offer - why is it that things are not as good as they should be?? The answer might be very surprising at first but then on deeper inspection will be clearer.

EXPERIENCE/ SERVICE OFFERING/ PROCESS

Many Graphic Design studios claim to do “signage” - very few indicate “wayfinding” and fewer still understand this term to its fullest or quite how is it distinct from “signage”. As such it is more likely that they simply won’t have the experience in (or regard for) this aspect.

Signage design is unsurprisingly very much a visual discipline and will almost instinctively be paired with Wayfinding as a service offering from a Graphic design agency/ studio. The emphasis will be on the "surface graphics" as a purely aesthetic, graphic/product design exercise.

This is naturally fraught with all kinds of difficulty mostly because a) Wayfinding is not an aesthetic discipline - it is a user-experience-based discipline instead. One that is also founded on the intersection and principles of Communication/ Information design, spatial, human psychology/ behaviour and architecture/ urban planning/ Construction; and b) The Consultant has not provided, or been able to conduct, an effective analysis of the entire scheme.

The designers will - however - present visuals of nominal signage structures (from floor totems to ceiling/wall panels etc.) with some fonts and colours (to stay "on brand"), messages and some arrows for good measure.

Furthermore any presentation will likely be on a very limited range of signage types that are assumed to be required for that project. It is left to an assumption as there likely has been no actual analysis of the project (not in scope; not in the budget; not in their expertise) or that is what they have been instructed by the client (who is equally unlikely to know for sure anyway), or that is simply thought of as a default requirement. In reality only a single typical version of each sign type will be shown with only a generic message (that might or might not have any relevance to the actual project).

The likelihood is that the actual wayfinding will not be considered. It will instead be taken care of by the Client who will - in turn - leave it to the fabricator/ Architect/ operator (with their own non-specialist interpretations) to develop the structures, develop the graphic artwork from the template provided by the designers, and place the finished sign and/or directories etc…somewhere. The result for the property/ stakeholders and all users (i.e. not just casual visitors/ guests) can, unsurprisingly as a consequence, vary.

BUDGET/ PROFITS

Allied to the overall very limited budgets of Signage in construction and any operating business (more on this in PART -6), this generally means that most consultancies will only want to pay attention to what they do best and (not surprisingly) where the greatest profit margins (and less financial risk) exists: visualising the concept.

The extensive and extended operating cost for a consultant to do anything else can be simply too prohibitive - all the more so as building projects can last YEARS. There is also little reason or incentive for any Consultant to stay the course - all the more so given the requirement to retain relatively huge insurance costs and cover massive project liabilities for extended periods far beyond the consultancy itself.

LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT

Consultants who don't know about or understand Wayfinding, will usually want to focus on a very limited scope of work - rarely proceeding beyond presenting the concept. This means literally anyone else ends up handling the rest of the project: messaging/ location planning, artwork, graphic schedules, fabrication, implementation, project completion. This disconnected methodology can lead to very hit and miss results.

CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

The degree and nature of the relationship with a client will determine how well a Consultant - even one that knows Wayfinding - can get to be involved in the details of a project and/or influence the Project/ Client/ Owner.

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

The emphasis on Information Design, Product Design, Landscaping, Architecture, Interior Design and Mechanical Design means that most graphic design consultants simply don’t have the technical skills to work through the challenges Wayfinding/ Signage design presents - even if their scope might otherwise go beyond signage design concepts. There are a number of formulas that need to be considered and evaluated, not to mention dealing with a multitude of other parties: Construction Teams/ Fabricators/ Architectural/ Interior design/ M&E/ FS/ QS Consultants - and their respective drawings and terminology.

CONSULTANT vs COMPUTER OPERATOR

Is a Consultant really a Consultant or are they the visualisers on behalf of the client? In the event of being the latter, how successful a scheme is going to be in real life as experienced by day-to-day users, will be anyone's guess.

STYLE vs CONTENT

A Graphic Design studio will most likely opt to take a purely aesthetic approach rather than any consideration of actual messaging and locations etc. The impact on a Wayfinding scheme (from issues that will include information, technology, circulation, materials, legibility, lighting, power/data links, fabrication and installation, through to maintenance and updates) will unlikely be positive.

PHILOSOPHY

How well a Consultant themselves integrates/ distinguishes the activity of Wayfinding from signage design will have a very profound influence on the users of an environment/ property.

OTHER CONSULTANTS

The Signage - and all the more so the Wayfinding - Consultant is pretty much on the bottom rung of a project team’s/ Client’s project ladder. With Signage itself being seen as the final dressing and therefore the least important of all the fit-out requirements, Wayfinding is typically even less well understood.

Any such Consultant has little to no voice; they are supposed to follow all the other decisions being made and deal with whatever space is left over from the other project consultants. Very often changes will occur on site - or in the boardroom - and other consultants won’t think to consider any impact on the Wayfinding. The Consultant (if one is even appointed) is rarely notified of any ongoing progress, involved in - or able to contribute to - any meaningful discussions, let alone alter or overtly influence any decision-making. All too often, any such consultant is brought in half way through a project for concept presentations and then right at the end once everything is installed. The idea being if it is too late for something to be done, any “Wayfinding” will just have to change according to the new reality and much-shortened timeframe - or stay as is…

Next Article: PART 6 - CLIENTS

WayMaker, with its integrated approach founded on direct, proven experience and understanding, has the ability to put all of the factors together to develop holistic wayfinding - and signage - schemes that work across all property types/ environments.?

Hopefully as a client you are as interested in your development’s Wayfinding as much as your guests/ visitors are. In the event that you are - you can contact Keith Moody (Principal Consultant) at: [email protected]

www.waymaker.world