Hospital Signage & Wayfinding That Puts Visitors at Ease
Visual Communications has a diverse healthcare portfolio, providing ongoing design and consulting services for both interior and exterior hospital and medical campus signage. We understand that stress levels are often high for hospital visitors, making easy-to-understand directions and graphics of utmost importance. We investigate every detail of a structure and work through many stages of understanding signage paths including directories, maps, directional signs and room markers that fit the campus users’ needs. Medical pictograms and/or multilingual messaging are incorporated into our signage as appropriate.
Our Gallery contains many examples of healthcare solutions. For Allina Health, we developed an exterior and interior master plan that supports new branding at over 12 hospitals and 65 clinics throughout Minnesota including former Aspen Medical Clinic and Quello Clinic sites. This two-year project included a study of each site followed by redesign of signage and wayfinding to fit the new standard. We also helped implement branding for Allina Health’s newly merged Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Center, involving over 25 locations—again, requiring redesign and implementation of each site’s signage system.
Working with the state’s largest publicly owned healthcare facility, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), has presented unique challenges. Straddling five buildings and encumbered by an outdated wayfinding system, HCMC came to Visual Communications looking for a fresh look and revitalization. We designed a new, contemporary signage and wayfinding system appropriate for HCMC’s urban setting, rethinking and reorganizing navigational paths and bringing a rejuvenated image to the medical campus. Newly created directory maps, room markers, and wayfinding signs were color coded for easy recognition, and incorporated international symbols to communicate to a culturally diverse clientele. The project was recognized by the United States Sign Council, earning a first-place award for design in 2011.