BYU students may have noticed the new ‘wayfinding’ signs located on light posts around campus, as well as vinyl signs posted at entrances to campus buildings.
One student, Grant Hardy, headed the project this summer, with help from BYUSA and the Campus Planning Committee. Hardy is an intern for the landscape architect on campus.
“Right now we have 12 ‘wayfinding’ signs,” Hardy said. “It’s a pilot program as it stands right now.”
The seven buildings the signs point to are the Smoot Building, Wilkinson Student Center, Harris Fine Arts Center, Joseph Smith Building, Museum of Art, Eyring Science Center and the Harold B. Lee Library.
“Jonathan Kau … added another dimension to the project when he proposed and produced ‘vinyl cling’ signs to be placed on the front of major campus buildings,” said Assistant Dean of Students Neal Cox. Kau is also an associate dean of students for BYU.
The ‘wayfinding’ signs were combined with vinyl signs placed in buildings to be most effective in directing students and visitors to their destinations.
“[Hardy’s] plan included consideration of progressive signage where a student would be directed from one sign to another which would give further directions to help the student find the intended destination,” Cox said.
Hardy said the directions the ‘wayfinding’ signs send students and visitors may not be the most direct path but it’s the path that will guide them most efficiently.
“We had to put it on a grid as much as possible,” said Hardy.
The signs are a trial program to see if students are using them and then the school may add more later, Hardy said.
The specific buildings were chosen because they are most used by the freshman and visitors to campus, Hardy said. These signs will help with big events as well, including Especially for Youth and Women’s Conference.
“[The new signage] was helpful,” said Brock Solomon, a freshman from Dallas studying exercise science. “What they really need is signs directing you to classes in the JKB. That place is impossible to find anything in.”
With the signs up around campus for New Student Orientation and the first week of school, a lot of students utilized the new campus feature.
“Seeing students using them — it’s a good feeling,” Hardy said.
