“It seemed to me that the entire city of New York was a permanent exhibition of Vignelli. To get to the office, I travelled on a subway with signage designed by Vignelli.”
This comment from a former Vignelli employee precisely summarises how signage can be key in building the corporate identity of a company, a city or a tourist destination. It can become so important that, in some cases, signage is as recognisable—or even more so—than the brand itself.
Designers who connected corporate identity and signage
Corporate signage does not belong to a single discipline: it connects graphic design, architecture, interior design, industrial design, communication and human behaviour.
Some of the most influential designers of the 20th century devoted their work to developing signage systems that, in many cases, elevated a simple functional object to an artistic level.
Pioneers of modernist design and design culture, Massimo and Lella Vignelli designed the New York City subway signage system within a global visual identity approach. Their work in many of the city’s most iconic spaces was so prolific that, for many years, the “image” of the Big Apple seemed to be shaped by their own designs.
As a former Vignelli employee explained: “It seemed to me that the entire city of New York was a permanent exhibition of Vignelli. To get to the office, I travelled on a subway with signage designed by Vignelli, shared the sidewalk with people carrying Bloomingdale’s shopping bags designed by Vignelli, and walked past St. Peter’s Church with its pipe organ designed by Vignelli visible through the window.”
A graphic designer of boundless talent, Jane Davis Doggett was another key figure in wayfinding. A pioneer in signage and orientation systems in airports and public spaces, she developed typefaces and visual codes legible from long distances. Her designs remain a benchmark in corporate identity and environmental design, guiding travellers in airports around the world.
Spaces are also corporate identity
Just as with brand identity, corporate spaces—such as offices or retail environments—are a key structural element within the set of components that give personality and build brand identity, expressing values through space, objects, architecture, design and signage.
As an essential component, signage has both functional and communicative implications in the built environment. Colours, typography, materials and the visual tone of signage can reflect an organisation’s personality and create a coherent experience aligned with its identity.
In complex environments and large-scale buildings such as hospitals, university campuses, corporate headquarters or airports, signage goes beyond orientation through spatial communication that strengthens the relationship between people, place and brand.
Azerbaijan: tourism as a brand and signage as part of its identity
Tourism is not only a fundamental pillar of a country’s economy, but also a reflection of its cultural and natural identity. In countries that are travel destinations, having a tourism brand that identifies them is key to standing out in a global market.
Azerbaijan, an emerging tourist destination, is building a strong brand that communicates a tourism offering of great cultural, geographical and historical diversity. To achieve this, it decided to implement a tourism signage system across its entire territory.
The tourism signage project for the territory of Azerbaijan was complex due to its national scale and the diversity of variables to consider. At Signes, we approached the project as a comprehensive tourism signage system at a country scale, working transversally across all phases.
Click here to see the signage project for an entire country that was once part of a great empire.
Corporate signage: added industrial value
Brands that develop a corporate image with personality need a signage system aligned with their values.
The same applies to municipal corporations, cities or cultural institutions which, in relation to citizens or their communities, seek to become an increasingly relevant and visible part of society.
Signes is a company specialised in the implementation of corporate identity and signage, founded in 1982.
If you have a high-level project with added value, where graphic design, engineering and industrial design are required, contac us.
