Supriya Dabholkar

Professor Salvo

English 515- TR 3:00-4:15

1 December 2011

Book Review

The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places

Introduction

For my individual book project, I chose to read The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design

for Public Places, by David Gibson. Although this book discusses many concepts familiar in

regards to what we have previously discussed in class, it was presented in a different and unique

concept, wayfinding. Wayfinding refers to how individuals are able to find their place around

society based upon components such as signage, display and arrangement. This is a very

important concept to society because competent wayfinding is a determining factor of how

successful a town, building or any other place frequently navigated through is. This concept

directly relates to information we have discussed in class, most prevalently, information design.

Information design and wayfinding alike encompass aspects such as strong use of spacing, color,

font, typeface, and other visual factors to produce a versatile and easily communicable final

product. Also, goals of information design and wayfinding are to be able to present important

information to a variety of audiences in a cohesive and clear manner. Collectively, this book is a

very important asset to all professional writers and other professions throughout the workplace

spectrum.

Pertinence of the Readings

This text is a very versatile and clear way for individuals of all professions to understand

universal concepts such as information design in a niche audience serving as a prime example.

Meaning, the concept of wayfinding is simply a specialized sub section of information design.

For technical experts, engineers and scientists, this book holds great importance as well. Reason

being, wayfinding can be a very technical subject. It encompasses aspects such as architecture

design, cartography, and mathematically correct placement of signage, as well as development of

the actual signs. Lack of attention to detail can cause significant negative effects on a

community, and as a result technical attention is vital in wayfinding. Individuals in the

aforementioned technical professions can utilize this book to see how important paying attention

to detail is, and also see how accuracy in their fields impacts the design process at large. They

will greatly benefit from reading this book because they can see how the data obtained in their

fields directly relates to developing signage and other aspects of wayfinding. Also, this will serve

as a continuous reinforcement for them to see how effective communication is still vital in

technical fields. Meaning, although technical professions encompass predominantly data

collection and numbers, that information means nothing if it can’t be effectively communicated

and presented to a wide range of audiences.

What Will Professional Writing Majors Learn?

Professional writing majors will greatly benefit from this book because it explains the universal

concept of information design in a unique way. It explains and demonstrates the versatile aspects

of the design process such as creating, planning and developing things, and how drafting

multiple times is crucial for effective construction and creation of things. Also, it explains how

when creating signage, many of the concepts learned in English 309 (computer aided publishing)

are pertinent in wayfinding. For example, using appropriate color schemes, placement of text,

type of text, spacing, shape, size and other design attributes are so significant in creating signage.

Also, the display and placement of the actual signs is important because this directly effects the

navigation of individuals in a city. The book mentioned how in cities, creating wayfinding

methods that are universal and applicable to broad ranges of audiences is so vital to prevent

individuals from getting lost. Similarly, professional writing majors must often make sure their

writing or visual designs are universal enough to be understood by many audiences, but also on

the contrary be able to target their audiences in the appropriate fashion, when many times we

have niche audiences with specific goals in mind. This book does a great job presenting

imperative concepts such as information design, target audience, effective design and visual

communication methods, all concepts needed to be understood by professional writing majors.

What Types of Future Work can they Look Forward to Doing as a Professional Writer?

Readers interested in wayfinding have a wide array of professions and future work available to

them as professional writers. Wayfinding is essentially a more visual communication method

than written communication, what professional writers expect to do post-graduation in the future.

Through the information presented in this book, possible opportunities in related fields for

professional writers include serving as actual wayfinders, architects, designers, visual

communication experts and graphic designers/ communicators. The book discusses how

wayfinding is becoming a flourishing career path, and professional writers are in high demand to

serve in this profession. Reason being, the articulation with words, design credentials and ability

to cohesively utilize the aforementioned two, are key skills employers seek out in successful

wayfinders. As a wayfinder, duties include creating and designing signage, cohesively uniting

signage throughout communities, improving and remodeling signage in poorly designed

communities, and developing other methods to unify communities for citizens living in them

presently, as well as visitors. These duties will be completed successfully by professional writers

more so than other majors, because we will be able to utilize our communication skills, written

and visual, fully comprehend the design process, and understand the components of successful

design and visual communication. This book, even if one is uninterested in becoming a

wayfinder, is a good resource to read even if one is interested in going into the fields of

architecture, visual design, and even engineering. It shows the creative and technical aspects of

wayfinding that can be utilized in the aforementioned fields as well.

Conclusion

Collectively, this was a very interesting and enjoyable book to read. I learned a great deal about

the universality of information design, and really gained insight into how many of the things I

learn in professional writing can be transferred into my other skills and interests. This book is

nice because it explains concepts I have learned throughout the years in such an innovative

fashion. It really allowed me to gain perspective on how meticulously planned communities

throughout the content are because of the many needs they have. I would definitely recommend

this book to both professional writers, and members in technical fields. It presents conventional

information in a non-traditional manner that really made me think as a reader.