This Big Ten school with a 2,300-acre campus needed an updated wayfinding system to direct its 38,000 students along with its many visitors. We recommended an 11-point strategy to improve campus wayfinding. This included using a series of vehicular signs to direct drivers to appropriate parking, and pedestrian signage to direct to destinations; designing strong gateway experiences that say “you have arrived” and integrate into the campus aesthetic; and installing a thorough pedestrian guide and mapping system.
We then designed a signage system to implement that strategy. The visual design reflects the classic red brick, mortar and limestone campus architecture. Most proposed sign types use the Purdue colors of “old gold and black” to remind visitors that they’re on the campus. Athletic signage uses a brighter “yellow gold” and the Purdue Boilermakers “P” to differentiate athletic facilities. The proposed illuminated pedestrian map kiosks display a map of the campus day and night.
At Discovery Park, home to Purdue’s interdisciplinary research programs, the proposed pedestrian map kiosks sit atop a base of aluminum rather than limestone or cast concrete base, to match the more contemporary architecture there
