Something in the Wayfinding: Guide Attendees Without Holding Their Hands

***Bonus fun: every subheading is a song title. Can you name all the artists?***

Wayfinding, primarily created through on-site signage, is an attendee’s equivalent of a sat nav. It guides them smoothly through an event, ensuring they don’t get lost or frustrated.

Whether it’s directional signs, stage backdrops, sponsor displays or a floor plan, well-designed signage can make the difference between a confusing event space and one that’s crystal clear.

Freed from Desire

Events can be overwhelming. Especially when there are multiple stages, breakout rooms and exhibition stands to navigate. Without clear wayfinding signage, attendees are left to wander, potentially missing out on valuable opportunities.

In architectural terms, when people create their own paths by ignoring the intended routes, it’s called a ‘desire path.’ While you can’t completely prevent this, well-placed and thoughtfully designed signage helps ensure attendees will make the most of your event.

It doesn’t just benefit the attendees either. For organisers, this means fewer questions such as ‘Where’s the cloakroom?’ or ‘How do I find Stage 3?’ Instead, you and your team can focus on running the event smoothly and answering more bespoke questions when required.

And finally, there’s a commercial benefit to signage. It’s prime real estate for showcasing sponsors, often by adding logos to signs or stage backdrops. Every piece of signage is an advertising opportunity for your event partners to increase visibility of their brand.

Looking after your attendees and sponsors is a win-win that enhances your event’s reputation (and potentially your profit too).

Land of Confusion

Poor signage reflects badly on the event and can make attendees feel undervalued. Well-designed signage demonstrates attention to detail, professionalism and care for your audience’s experience.

When attendees feel empowered to navigate the space independently, they’re more likely to engage fully with everything you’ve worked so hard to arrange. If they walk around shrugging and confused like a John Travolta meme, they’re not going to be having a very positive experience at your event.

The Magic Number

I’ve used the term ‘directional signage’ a lot so far. But on-site signage isn’t just about telling people where to go (in a nice way). There are other ways to help improve your attendees’ experiences. Here are the three main categories that will form part of your event’s visual landscape.

1. Directional Signage

As the name suggests, this is a way to guide attendees around an event space, pointing towards key locations like registration desks, stages and the venue’s amenities.

2. Informational Signage

This type of signage will usually be more time-sensitive, and possibly digital rather than printed if the venue offers this. It will include essential event details, such as event schedules, Wi-Fi logins or any changes to previously announced plans.

3. Promotional Signage

This ties in to what was mentioned before, by adding sponsor logos to your signage. But why stop there? Alongside the aforementioned stage backdrops, there are usually plenty of other blank canvases at venues just waiting for a sponsor to fill with their promotions.

Oh! You Pretty Things

Think about your events. There’s a LOT going on, right? Travel, catering, speakers and so much else.

Well, working with a graphic designer can help keep everything running smoothly.

A graphic designer who specialises in event signage can create a visual identity for your event, or work within your pre-existing guidelines. They will consider things like legibility and placement with thoughtful use of colour, fonts and contrast. And they will ensure visual consistency applies throughout, which is vital to create a clear, easily understandable event space.

This visual consistency should start before your event takes place. Your attendee’s event experience starts long before they step into the venue and pre-event materials like website graphics, social media posts and email templates all set the tone and expectations for the event.

Consistency across your marketing materials and on-site signage reinforces your event’s brand and creates a cohesive experience.

Everything In Its Right Place

So the TL;DR summary is that signage can do a lot more than just point someone in the right direction.

While that’s the primary objective, more considered and better designs will create a richer experience for your attendees, sponsors and ultimately you and your team.

Working with a graphic designer with plenty of event experience will help free up your organisational time and improve your event’s visual impact.

Good signage isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have for any successful event. Take this article as a sign to take action for your next event.