Wayfinding Strategy
The balance between logic and magic.
GLSW is a wayfinding strategy and signage design firm headquartered in Dubai UAE, operating worldwide. By understanding people, places and perceptions of a space, we define strategies and designs that are specific, relevant and impressive.
The wayfinding strategy defines the user experience in an environment, when and where a customer sees a sign, what it says and what journey you will send them on to their destination, thereby simplifying an informed journey through a space.
- Brand and experience strategy
- Customer experience definition
- Information architecture
- Hierarchy principles
- Experience definition
- User category refinement
- Mapping and cartography
- Best practice study
- User journey mapping
- Strategic principles
- Direction and decision planning
- Zoning and segmentation
- Signing strategies
Signage Design
Creativity lies at the core of our design process.
Our iterative design process has a foundation in truly understanding the customer experience and the design intent of a place.
Collaboration between design disciplines results in signage that is highly functional but also creatively exceptional, relevant, and definitive for a project. Understanding brand, consumer behavior, material properties, graphic and industrial design are all part of achieving boundary breaking solutions.
- Design strategy
- CGI rendering and illustrations
- Visual language development
- Identity signage
- External signage
- Code compliance
- Theme code definition
- Colour strategy
- Braille application
- Front of House signage
- Fire, life and safety signage
- Signage component design
- Typography development
- Technology integration
- Back of House signage
- Urban furniture design
- Signage suite exploration
- Iconography design
- Feature elements signage
- Parking signage
- Light pole design
Technical Documentation
The alchemy is in the details.
Developing a detailed set of instructions for fabricators to follow when they breathe life into our ideas is an essential part of our services.
Our designs will only see the light of day and adhere to the design intent if the technical documentation is sufficient to appreciate materials, sizes, colours, iconography, typography, installation, weathering, lighting, treatment, ageing, theming, location, content, quantity and economies of scale. Our technical team ensures a robust and detailed package inclusive of specifics and excluding ambiguity. We consult our clients on the correct manufacturers to contract, and the best materials and design elements to use that suit every budget.
- Graphic language and guidelines
- Size refinement
- Special materials method statements
- Methodology statements
- Typography and iconography rules
- Material specification
- Location plans
- Specification sheets
- Elevations and details
- Lighting specifications
- Message schedules
- Fittings, fixtures and foundations
- Constructability strategy
- Bills of quantity
Project Management
Time sensitive, fit for purpose.
Our project management team ensures that everything runs smoothly, from conception to completion.
Project management requires patience, attention to detail, an appreciation of human peculiarity and a proactive acumen. Holding an acute understanding of translating design principles into built objects, and the processes and materials that are involved, our team oversees client, fabricator and installation teams, assuring project principals of success throughout the journey. The care and dedication that our project managers put into managing our teams and the components that we are responsible for, means that our clients get the best result, each time.
- Coordination between design disciplines
- Fabricator liaison
- Documentation reviews
- Snagging and handover
- Time management
- Prototype reviews
- RFIs, RFCs, RFQs
- Completion certification
- Team management
- First in place reviews
- Site installation management
- Client management
- Fabricator drawings reviews
- Site and final inspections
Art Direction
Crafting the specifics and the not-so-specific.
Sometimes the essence of a design cannot be communicated through documentation and technical jargon.
This is where art direction plays a key role, ensuring the design intent of a unique material property or thematic approach to a sign is achieved in the finest detail, further enhancing the story of a place and the perception of a visitor within an experience. Our team of designers works closely with speciality makers for a variety of materials, techniques and fabrication challenges, ensuring statement pieces and objects that function both as art and wayfinding are produced as intended.
- Craft guidance
- Research and development (R&D)
- Method statements
- Technical iteration
- Material property exploration
- Sampling
- Experimentation
- Prototype reviews