Where?

That is the type of question wayfinding doesn't want to hear but is happy to answer. Wayfinding works very closely with signage, but they don't mean the same. The concept that was firstly introduced, in the way we are looking at today, in 1960 by architect Kevin Lynch in his book, “The Image of the City”, where he referred to maps, street numbers, directional signs and other such elements as “way-finding” devices.

Wayfinding works on the basis where the person will walk around the space almost intuitively, signs are obviously necessary but is all about positioning them in the right place, with the right lighting and the in a clear and effective way.There are many places that have so many signs and directions, that the information in them is simply missed by most human beings because of the image pollution that is being caused.

Retail places are very aware of the concept of wayfinding as they want to sell their products. A good example of wayfinding is Selfridges's in Oxford street, even though the building is old and extremely big, it is quite difficult to get lost in there or miss something you wanted to see, it is also very rare that when you are walking there with tim you need to ask someone where something is.

Then there is Harrods, now some people might know that place like the palm of their hands, well those people have a very confusing hands. Every time I go there I get lost, need to ask people where something is, and even with their directions I still keep walking around in circles, the place is a labyrinth, I'm sure it's some on purpose, so you are always finding something beautiful and exciting on the next corner, but what if I just want the toilets?!

But there is also the 'happy' medium, which for me in in wayfinding terms is John Lewis, easy to go around, don't really need to ask where something is, but you do have to go around a lot to get to one place to another, specially with the way the escalators work, I suppose is for you to walk around the whole floor and maybe on your way you see something you didn't have in mind but want to buy, ok it works, but for that can be a tad annoying.

It also comes to my mind the Cocoon in the National History Museum when wayfinding was mentioned, the place is amazing, impossible to miss anything, all done with ramps, which makes it accessible and easy to navigate not only for most but also for disabled people.

Now these were the videos that helped me understand the meanign of wayfinding: