Last Updated on October 3, 2023
If you are interested in wayfinding, there are a number of great resources online and so in this post, I thought I’d highlight some of the best wayfinding sites online. If you know of any other great wayfinding sites and blogs please feel free also to let me know.
Table of Contents
What Is Wayfinding
You can learn about what wayfinding is from our page here or you may wish to take a quick watch of this video below that I made to explain what wayfinding is and what it isn’t.
Wayfinding Versus Navigation
If you are wondering what the difference between wayfinding and navigation is, this is part of the explanation from my PhD on wayfinding.
Wayfinding…involves navigation but also much more, such as the social interactions, decisions and planning by stakeholders, embodied elements (such as the decision to take a certain route or not in order to keep ourselves safe) and is more dynamic and all-encompassing than navigation. By contrast, the term navigation tends to refer to the task of trying to “operate or control the course” (Webster, nd) when attempting to get somewhere…navigation is thus important, but is subsumed as one part of the overall practice of getting somewhere, that is, of wayfinding. For example, pre-planning of a route is not navigating but is considered a part of wayfinding.
Dr Paul Symonds
20 Best Wayfinding Sites
1. Travelwayfinding.com
One of the main websites online is, of course, here on www.travelwayfinding.com. On this site, we focus on all aspects of wayfinding although, rather than the history as the 2 sites above cover, we are more focused on the commercial side of wayfinding such as on:
- directional signage design
- courses and studying wayfinding
- management, stakeholders and the commercial side of managing wayfinding
Some posts you might find especially interesting are:
- wayfinding design principles with some basic concepts discussed
- 10 common design mistakes when it comes to directional signage
- commercial sales opportunities by guiding users with a focus on the management of spaces and how we guide users.
This site is www.travelwayfinding.com
2. Hokukea
It is hard to talk about wayfinding without delving into its history and talking about Hawaii and the Polynesian wayfinders who are accredited by many as being the first real navigators.
The ‘Polynesian Wayfinding Society’ has undertaken a number of voyages to recreate the routes the Polynesians navigated to get between local islands hundreds of years ago, without using modern-day navigational instruments.
The Polynesians would use the direction of the wind, waves, flights of birds, the sun and moon, and other natural phenomena to guide themselves over thousands of miles of ocean.
Visit the Hokulea site
3. University of Hawaii Wayfinding and Navigation Department
The department of wayfinding and navigation at the University of Hawaii has tonnes of very interesting scientific-based research and information on its site about wayfinding.
On this site, I focus on human wayfinding (except for the one post on ‘How do animals go about wayfinding), so the pages on animal migration and navigation, ways of estimating your latitude, and on traditional voyaging and navigation from the University of Hawaii are very interesting if you are interested in the history of wayfinding.
University of Hawaii wayfinding pages.
4. SEGD
SEGD is one of the leading organizations in the world for design professionals worldwide.
Based in Washington DC, USA, they are a not-for-profit organization that focuses a lot on design guidance and information specifically on wayfinding design.
It can be worth checking their events page for their wayfinding and place-making events that they hold every 2 years.
Find the SEGD site here.
5. Design Work Plan
Design work has a bunch of informative and interesting to read pages on design and, like SEGD, they place quite a heavy focus on wayfinding design.
I particularly like their color and signage page and their signage symbols collection and images.
Designworkplan appears to be Holland-based although it is not 100% clear as they provide no address on their website.
Learn more here on designworkplan.com
6. Interdisciplinary Journal of Wayfinding and Signage
The Journal of Wayfinding and Signage is a great resource for any of you interested in these topics areas. The journal is American-based and sponsored by the ‘Academic Advisory Council for Signage Research and Education (AACSRE).
You can even read the 2 articles I have published and co-published here:
- Your Guess is as Good as Mine: Finding Your Way on Board a Cruise Ship
- Wayfinding Signage Considerations in International Airports
This journal is particularly good if you want to read about this subject area from a more academic, research, and scientific perspective.
Read the Journal of Wayfinding and Signage here.
7. MX Display
There is a concept that is sometimes banded around to suggest that there are ‘5 core wayfinding principles‘ and MX Display have a page that can be worth reading, although you might prefer to read the original on which the MX Display page is re-written from (see the original on the MIT website).
As a company, MX Display is UK-based and specializes in graphic design.
More on MX Display.
8. Takeform.net
‘Take Form’ follow the concepts I cover in the PhD on wayfinding whereby the UX (User Experience) and understanding of how space should be used for guiding users is given some focus by ‘Take Form’.
‘Take Form’ is based in Medina in New York State, USA, and has experience working with several local colleges and universities, hospitals, and government buildings.
9. University of Waterloo Wayfinding Project Canada
The University of Waterloo (Canada) wayfinding project is an interesting case study worth taking a look at regarding university wayfinding design.
Take a look at their project objectives, timelines, and Q&As for an interesting read on this project that will be finished in 2022.
University of Waterlook project website.
10. Arterial Design
Heading Down Under, ‘Arterial Design’ from Australia have a good understanding of pathways and linkages, meaning the connections between places.
Understanding fully how we should design for directing and guiding people cannot be done by simply designing and adding signage to one area. Wayfinding is very much also about we guide people between areas and creating a user flow.
Arterial Design has completed some wayfinding projects for zoos, conference centers, and museums.
Learn more about Arterial Design.
11. Vision Branding Ireland
Branding is an important part of wayfinding when you begin to consider the commercial sales aspect of this topic area. Indeed, how you guide people can have a very significant impact on commercial revenue as you will have read in some of your posts on this site.
‘Vision Branding’, which is based in Ireland, focuses on environmental design and wayfinding, bringing together many aspects of wayfinding design and implementation, bringing together planners, architects, and designers.
Find the Vision Branding site.
12. Wayfinding Courses
The wayfinding courses are ideal if you wish to study online and learn more about aspects of this topic area. These are courses from Dr. Paul Symonds of this site and include:
- DDA Introduction and doing DDA audits – DDA is becoming increasingly important as locations need to incorporate making sure that all users can navigate safely and appropriately including those with disabilities.
- Designing signage to guide people – a beginner’s guide to the basic fundamentals of designing directional signage.
You can find the Study site here.
13. Wayfinding Pinterest
For those of you who use Pinterest, you might find the wayfindingtrav Pinterest account useful for keeping up-to-date with the latest wayfinding, navigation, and wayfaring pins and news. You can follow wayfindingtrav via the link below.
You can follow Pinterest wayfindingtrav.
14. WHW Design and Placemaking
Place-making is an essential part of wayfinding, given that one or two new signs to guide users is not going to improve your overall navigation system.
It is only by understanding the bigger picture and by understanding the concept of placemaking, that you will successfully improve wayfinding in a given space or location.
The idea of placemaking extends to the user experience (UX) and, when you think about it, the whole point in the first place is to design these locations for the successful movement and guidance of people. So it stands to make sense that whilst we guide them, we also want the users to enjoy the experience!
A positive user experience during wayfinding has certain commercial sales benefits for location owners (such as greater sales in retail outlets in an airport or in a souvenir shop at a tourist attraction).
You make the route to include such retail points at the end of the experience or at a point where they have dwell time and will be in a positive mood to be open to spending.
Placemaking is certainly an area worth reading up on and WHW has a few decent pages on this topic area.
Read the WHW content on Placemaking here.
15. Maps People
Indoor navigation is always one of the biggest challenges facing those wanting to map their locations. Getting signals indoors is still a challenge in terms of trying to get very accurate pinpoint locations indoors.
Mapspeople do a lot of fo work with universities and on university campuses and they are worth investigating if you are interested in mapping.
Learn more about Maps People.
16. Maze Map
Mazemap.com is another company that works to develop indoor wayfinding solutions and technology.
Mazemap also focuses at this time on university mapping and navigation and they produce smartphone apps to guide students through and across campus.
More on Mazemap.com
16. Wayfinding Psychology Article – Transit Talent
If you are especially interested in the psychology of wayfinding, then one article I did find interesting is from transit talent.
In the article, they include mention of issues such as ‘brain freeze’ and the timeframes in which we make navigation decisions when we walk and drive.
The article touches on a couple of wayfinding psychology points.
Transit Talent Wayfinding Psychology article
17. Wayfinding as a Social Activity and UX
If you are also interested in the more academic side of things, then understanding the importance of socio-cultural aspects of wayfinding is very much worth reading about.
Think about it, almost all the time when we are trying to physically find our way from A to B, we do so in the presence of other people and often also, with other people.
To truly get your head around what wayfinding really is and how to design systems to guide people in any location, understanding the social side is key.
>> Read the article on Exploring an Absent Presence: Wayfinding as an Embodied Sociocultural Experience by Dr Paul Symonds of this site.
18. YouTube Channel
If you prefer to watch videos to learn, then the ‘Wayfinding Expert’ Youtube channel is a great place to get started. Basic concepts and theories and ways of designing systems to guide people are covered.
Wayfinding Expert Youtube channel.
19. Seattle Transport Wayfinding Program
The Seattle Department of Transports’ wayfinding program is a worthwhile read if you are looking for case studies to learn more about planning and strategies for introducing a new guidance system.
20. Fuze Interiors New Zealand
For some great photos to get ideas on designs for guiding users, the Fuze Interiors site has some lovely photos worth taking a peek at.
View the Fuze Interiors site.
Dr Paul Symonds has a PhD in Wayfinding from Cardiff Metropolitan University in the UK. Paul works with the signage industry, airports and other locations providing wayfinding audits, consultancy and training.
