External Sign Manual
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Introduction to the Extrnal Sign Manual in pdf format. (800Kb) This manual documents external Information and Direction signage for the Camperdown and Darlington campuses. The document sets out the design parameters, type and location for the signs and the entire system and hierarchy of signage, furthermore the sign schedules, graphic standards, construction drawings and maintenance schedules. To access the full copy of the manual please contact your project coordinator. |
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| Map sign | Directional sign |
Map signs
Map signs are located near entrances, parking stations, major street intersections, and larger civic spaces.
This complex sign has several components:
- Variable message using LEDs
- Map and directory (internally illuminate)
- Tactile map with tactile and Braille references to key destination
- Map/brochure dispenser
- Recorded message accessible by a button and supported with tactile and Braille instruction
- Emergency help button supported with tactile and Braille instruction to access the University security services
- Event poster
This sign is primarily aimed at pedestrians and this determines the look, size, colour, lettering height and contrast level.
Some of these map signs are also located in lay-bys off main roads for motorist use.
A redesign of this sign is now due, driven by high maintenance cost and sign fragility. New map signs will have improved strength and technical quality, keeping same functions, principles, and graphic appearance.
Directional signs
Main directional signs are located at major decision points, usually street intersections, and near University maps.
The smaller secondary directional signs are located at turn-off points from main path of travel.
They provide ‘point to point navigation’ to pedestrians using a hierarchy of destination within the University. The signs include tactile and Braille information.
Font and Colours
Frutiger, the fond used for the external and internal signs, is a sans-serif typeface by the Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger. It was commissioned in 1968 by the newly built Charles De Gaulle International Airport, which needed a new directional sign system.
Frutiger is a distinctive and legible typeface with modern appearance and legibility at various angles, sizes, and distances. Ascenders and descenders are very prominent, and apertures are wide to easily distinguish letters from each other.
Some major uses of Frutiger are in the corporate identity of Raytheon, the National Health Service in Britain, the British Royal Navy, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Finnish Defence Forces and on road signs in Switzerland. The typeface has also been used across the public transport network in Oslo, Norway since the 1980s.
Colours have been chosen to achieve a high level of contrast and legibility. Good contrast between the sign background and messages is essential for good readability. While black on yellow background gives the best contrast, the combination is more suitable for traffic signs than for the University environment. White on black background was the preferred combination (this combination is rated high for readability) with the use of yellow to provide location reference
