Watch the Video! Take a Survey! Write a Letter of Support!
Do you have trouble finding your way around New Jersey?
Don't we all deserve better?
Get Involved... Watch the Video... Take a Brief Survey
Together we can create a Wayfinding System that works!
Learn more about the Wayfinding Initiative ...
Presentations and Promotional Tools
Finding Your Way in NJ Presentation- PDF
NJ Points of Interest Community Map Flyer- PDF
Reports
Symposium Summary Report- December 7, 2007
Advisory Board Call Notes- January 16, 2008
Advisory Board Call Notes - March 4, 2008
Advisory Board Call Notes- March 25, 2008
Media Generated
Op-Ed by Marguerite Chandler and Karen Hatcher
Courier News
NJ.Com Blog-- Saturday, December 8, 2007
"Finding your way to historic New Jersey" -- Enter your comments
Saturday, December 8, 2007
"All signs point to a state finding its way" by Mark DiIonno
See Mark DiIonno's column in the Star Ledger
Sunday, December 9, 2007
"Group points the way to improving NJ signs" by Tom Baldwin
Asbury Park Press
Morris Daily Record
Ocean County Observer
Courier News
Many thanks to our Wayfinding Event sponsors:
A WAYFINDING SIGNAGE INITIATIVE FOR NEW JERSEY
Our goal is to have consensus by May 15, 2008 for
an innovative, first-class, tiered, statewide, Wayfinding signage program.
Scroll down for resource links
What is Wayfinding?
When signage works, it helps us move with confidence in unfamiliar locations. Because state, county and local authorities do not coordinate signage in New Jersey, it's often easy to lose the trail when trying to find a particular point of interest. The exception may be hospitals-the big, blue "H" is universally understood as the Wayfinding symbol for a hospital, and in most cases these signs lead you right to the Emergency Room door.
A successful Wayfinding program has the potential for making all our important points of interest as easy to find as a hospital without creating unnecessary and confusing sign clutter.
Why is Wayfinding important?
A good Wayfinding program not only reduces the frustration of traveling in unfamiliar neighborhoods, it also enhances pride in our sense of place by reminding us of the sites which give character to our surroundings. It makes business sense too. Tourism is a $35 billion industry in New Jersey. Neighboring states have already begun to enhance Wayfinding to support their own tourism. New Jersey needs to keep pace and be competitive.
New Jersey deserves the best
A first-class Wayfinding program creates signage that:
1. Enhances safety and reduces sign proliferation
2. Has symbols that are language independent
3. Reflects the environment the icons must function in
4. Accurately interprets the message
5. Is recognizable from a distance without reading words
6. Encapsulates the power of obvious symbols
7. Creates a unifying element and amplifies a sense of place
8. Uses symbols that are timeless
9. Interfaces easily with GPS in cars and cell phones
Why now?
The next 12 months are a prime window of opportunity that won't come again for another 10 years. The state's directional signage program has been in place for almost 10 years. In August, 2008, NJ DOT will begin accepting proposals to enhance or replace the existing program. A comprehensive, statewide Wayfinding signage program is sorely missing, as anyone who travels New Jersey's roadways can attest.
Why not just adopt a program from some other state?
New Jersey has some unique challenges. Many of New Jersey's recreational areas, cultural sites, historic venues, and other attractions (e.g., farmer's markets, zoos, botanical gardens and parks, marinas, resorts, ski areas, wineries) are not directly accessible from major highways. The current state directional signage program is a template used in 17 other states. Since Colonial times, New Jersey has been the most densely populated and culturally diverse state in the nation with a tradition of Home Rule. A successful Wayfinding program in New Jersey would involve not just sites within a short distance of state highway crossroads, but "tiered" signage that directs a person from federal, state, county or local roads to a destination.
How can this be accomplished?
The one year window before we're locked in for 10 years ends in August, 2008. Celebrate NJ! proposes to accelerate the process by facilitating the involvement of a wide spectrum of stakeholders, encouraging public/private collaboration, coordinating meetings to develop a process of consensus building, and forging a common vision. No one person or group singly can do what all of us can do easily together. This is not an impossible challenge, but an opportunity for creativity, imagination, and commitment. The first meeting of stakeholders, facilitated by Marty Bierbaum and the Municipal Land Use Center, is scheduled for December 7th in Trenton. The keynote speaker will be New York designer Lance Wyman, famous for his Wayfinding programs for projects that include the National Mall in Washington, Calgary, Albuquerque, , the Smithsonian Institution, the Olympic Games in Mexico City, Rockefeller Center, and corporations like Merrill Lynch.
Who are our partners?
So far, NJDOT, the NJ Heritage Tourism Task Force, NJ DEP, New Jersey History Advocates, the state Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads of the American Revolution Association, ArtPride, the Municipal Land Use Center, and the Community Foundation of New Jersey have signed on as partners in this initiative. Invitees will include representatives of many statewide groups including the NJ Office of Travel & Tourism, NJ Historical Commission, the NJ State Council on the Arts, NJ Audubon, the NJ Hotel/Motel Association, the League of Municipalities, the NJ Restaurant Association, the NJ Association of Counties, NJBIA, the NJ Campground Association, NJ History Advocates, NJ Parks & Recreation Association, and NJ Transit.
Download this Executive Summary
To Learn More, Visit these Resource Links:
Lance Wyman (Feature Article)
Lance Wyman's Website
NJ's Tourist Oriented Destination Signage Program TODS (Choose "Offices","New Jersey")
TODS Brochure (Current Signage Program in NJ)
Indiana's Wayfinding Program
Maryland's Wayfinding Program
Pittsburgh's Wayfinder Program
Santa Fe's Wayfinding Program (designed by Lance Wyman)
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Wayfinding Guide Signing (June, 2006)
NYTimes.com "The Road to Clarity" article
Have you seen a great Wayfinding System in your travels? Tell us about it!
Seen some really poor ones? Tell us about those, too!
