01
It is not at a decision
A sign twenty metres past the fork is worse than no sign, because it confirms a choice already made. We map the forks first and hang signs only there.
Wayfinding / Oslo / siden 2011
A sign is only
useful where
somebody chooses.
We map every fork in a building, name things the way people already name them, and then hand a stranger a stopwatch.
- 46
- Schemes since 2011
- 1 156
- Decision points mapped
- 12
- Testers per scheme
- 1
- Type size on a fingerpost
Four steps
- 01
Walk it as a stranger
Before anything is drawn, we walk the building the way a first-time visitor does: from the wrong entrance, in a hurry, carrying something.
- 02
Find the decision points
A sign is only useful where a person has to choose. We map every fork in the building, count them, and then remove the signs that are not at one.
- 03
Say what the place is called
Not what the department is called on the org chart. If everyone calls it the old wing, the sign says the old wing.
- 04
Test with strangers
Twelve people who have never been in the building, given a destination and a stopwatch. We publish the failure rate to the client, including the embarrassing one.
Recent schemes
- K-46Bergen SentralstasjonRail interchange2122026
- K-42Ullevål sykehusHospital campus4862025
- K-38Universitetet i TromsøCampus3042024
- K-33Trondheim HavnPort terminal962024
- K-27Oslo RådhusCivic building582022
Testing
Twelve strangers, one destination each, one stopwatch. If more than two of them stop and look around, the sign is in the wrong place and we move it before anyone signs off.
The report goes to the client with the failure rate on the first page, not in an appendix. In eleven of forty-six schemes the first round failed, and saying so is the entire value of doing it.
We test again after installation, with different people, in the weather the building actually gets. Signs that work in June and fail in a January afternoon are a real category.
Studio
- Office
- Youngstorget 3
0181 Oslo - Write
- skilt@kryss.example
- Engage us
- At plan stage. Signs cannot fix a corridor that lies.
- Team
- Seven, of whom two are always on site somewhere
Three ways a sign fails
Almost never legibility. These three account for most of what we are called in to fix.
02
It uses the wrong name
The org chart says Department of Ambulatory Services. Everybody says the day unit. The sign that says both is the sign that works.
03
It arrives too late
Read at thirty metres, twelve metres and two metres, in that order, with a different amount of information at each. Most systems only design the last one.
Typography and materials
The house specification. Deviating from it needs a reason written down.
- Primary destinationInter, 50035 mm capAt 12 m reading distance
- SecondaryInter, 40022 mm capNever more than four per panel
- ArrowDrawn, houseCap heightLeading edge aligns to type
- PanelAnodised aluminium3 mmPowder coat on the reverse
- Contrast70 % minimumLRV differenceMeasured, not judged
- MountingSuspended or post2 100 mmClear headroom
Questions from clients
- Can you just do the signs?
- We can, and it will not work. If the corridor lies, no sign fixes it. We would rather tell you that in week one than in year two.
- How long does a scheme take?
- Four to nine months depending on size. Testing is six weeks of it and it is not the part to compress.
- Do you handle fabrication?
- No. We specify, tender and inspect. Keeping the design and the fabrication separate is how we can reject a batch.
- What if the building changes?
- The system is drawn so panels can be replaced individually. Nobody has ever regretted that and several clients have regretted the alternative.