City of Victoria Wayfinding Strategy
Victoria, B.C.
Studio: Public Communication
Client: PWL Partnership
Studio: Public Communication
Client: PWL Partnership
Completion: 2017
As part of an extensive development plan for the City of Victoria’s downtown public realm, PUBLIC was engaged to create a citywide wayfinding strategy to guide visitors and locals through the city. The process incorporated robust public engagement and close collaboration with city personnel and urban designers at PWL Partnership. The system is built upon tested wayfinding principles of progressive disclosure, legibility and consistency and incorporates place-naming by the Lekwungen First Nation.
A core goal for the system was to provide the city with the institutional knowledge required to implement and maintain the system under its own capacity. The design process included detailed coordination with the city planners and technicians who were to begin implementing the system. In this manner a design workflow was developed which would allow the translation of city GIS data into heads-up maps for any new sign location and the design of the sign hardware was developed to make the best possible use of the city's fabrication capacity. The result is a set of standardized sign types, most of which can be manufactured in-house by the city sign shop. An extensive guidelines and standards document describes in detail the method for implementing and updating the system in a clear consistent manner.
