"You Are Here" Maps: Eliminating Visual Noise

This before-and-after pair epitomizes our approach to "You Are Here" map design. Architectural drawings provide a wealth of detail that is meaningful to facilities professionals but meaningless to the public. Nonetheless, most "You Are Here" maps are little more than tracings of architectural drawings, whose inappropriate details only complicate and confuse matters for the public. We draw each map from scratch, simplifying shapes to include only the amount of detail that would help visitors identify a destination on site.

Also, most "You Are Here" maps identify destinations only by a number keyed to a directory some distance away. This forces visitors looking for Ralston Hall, for example, to go through the following gymnastics:

(1) scan the map for the words Ralston Hall, which are not there
(2) find and then scan the directory until they find those words
(3) memorize the directory number that represents Ralston Hall
(4) scan the map again for that number

That is needlessly hard work to inflict on visitors. While that approach may be a regrettable last resort in some extreme cases, we always work to put building/store identifications right there on the spot. Directories then become optional supplements rather than necessary nuisances.

ORIGINAL

REDESIGNED

What do all those odd shapes mean? Only the designer knows. Visitors generally just want to know where Ralston Hall is and whether to head this way or that way to reach it. Pointless detail just adds a jangle of visual noise that makes it harder for people to get the information they need.

Our "You Are Here" maps minimize visual noise to spotlight the information that visitors care about. They get the information they need in a glance: no extra work, no extra stress.

Home | Wayfinding | Courtroom Graphics | Interaction Design | Visuals | Words

Applegate Communications, 650-802-9998, info@wayfind.com