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Signage & Wayfinding in Grey County

Signage & Wayfinding in Grey County. Opportunities, Challenges & How We Can Move Forward Together. Why Signage? Why Now?. What we hope to introduce today… Signage: there’s more to it that we might think!

joshua-justice
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Signage & Wayfinding in Grey County

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  1. Signage & Wayfinding in Grey County Opportunities, Challenges & How We Can Move Forward Together

  2. Why Signage? Why Now? What we hope to introduce today… • Signage: there’s more to it that we might think! • What we could do with signage in Grey County (and the opportunities and challenges of change)… • What signage in Grey County looks like right now… • How do we develop a signage strategy?

  3. Signage 101 • Types of signs: • Regulatory • Wayfinding • Tourism Destinations • Business Development (Pay to Play) • Community Identification/Community Development • Important to consider balance between the number of signs needed to provide information and the need to keep roads clean, clear and without clutter (to keep roadways safe & directions straightforward)

  4. Wayfinding Signage • What is “wayfinding”? • The consistent use of signs, maps and other graphic methods to convey location and direction to visitors throughout a region. • Challenge • Bruce Grey Simcoe has identified the lack of consistent, coherent wayfinding signage throughout the region • Opportunity • Each municipality within Grey County offers a unique visitor experience and amenities/attractions, but tourists and visitors are seldom aware of community, county or regional borders

  5. Types of Wayfinding signs • Tourist-Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) along provincial roadways. • Signage managed by the County. • Signage managed by municipalities. • Privately constructed signage which has been created by local business operators to provide directional information to visitors.

  6. RTO-7Tourism Wayfinding & Signage • Signage system developed specifically to address tourism-based wayfinding needs throughout Grey, Bruce and Simcoe Counties • Designed to provide communities with cohesive, cost-effective promotional platform • Designed to provide flexibility/opportunity to incorporate community-specific branding • Caveat: unclear exactly how County-level signage fits into this strategy

  7. Some Examples

  8. Time for a Refresh • Many road signs need replacing • Wear & Tear • Faded or damaged • Opportunity to think strategically & regionally about a practical aspect of our County brand • Incorporating new County brand • Pair County and Municipal branding for a collaborative approach & image • Integrate regional place-making/destination development principles

  9. What’s out there right now….

  10. Signage Needs • Functional • Signage needs to be functional, first and foremost • Need to have strong, reliable criteria for determining where signs are placed, what they look like and how they are managed • Distinctive & Recognizable • Opportunity to pair municipal branding initiatives with new signage to demonstrate a rich tapestry of communities within Grey County family • Identity & Reputation • Signage is often a “first impression” for visitors & residents • Opportunity to help identify Grey County & its communities as distinct, unique and welcoming

  11. Opportunities, Challenges & Considerations • Overall intent of asignage program is to balance the number of signs throughout Grey County & its municipalities to provide a clear, methodical sequence of directional elements to municipal and privately-owned destinations. • A signage system of this nature can provide an efficient, cost effective solution. • Establishing a signage hierarchy and a preliminary wayfinding approach.

  12. An example of a signage strategy: Innisfil • Based on RTO-7/BGS wayfinding signage strategy as an aesthetic blueprint • Worked with form:media (same company as developed RTO-7/BGS wayfinding strategy) • Uses a hierarchy of signage, including: • Tourist Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) • Signage managed by Simcoe County • Signage managed by the Town • Private signage

  13. An example of a signage strategy: Innisfil • Overall intent is to “limit the number of signs throughout the Town while providing a clear, methodical sequence of directional elements to municipal and privately-owned destinations.” • Effective, efficient and economical solution to signage - consistency & coherency • Included public consultation • Phased-in implementation, using signage hierarchy and assessment of current assets,

  14. Next steps… • Initiate consideration of a strategic approach to signage in Grey County • Looking at options for creating consistent, collaborative community signage guidelines • Opportunities to partner Grey County brand and member municipality brands • Potential for seeking consultant guidance • Opportunity to create a working group to consider Tourism, Transportation, Branding, etc across signage needs

  15. Moving Forward… • Opportunity to develop a Grey County signage strategy • Options for how we move forward: • Collaborative County approach – full partnership in strategy development • County-led, with municipal input • County-only

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