Waynding Sans Pro

THE ULTI MATE SI GNAGE TYPEFACE

Legibility
redened.
Gates A1A7
Pharmacy & First Aid
Duty-free shops
Emergency Exit
Airport Lounge
Rental Cars
Departures
Passkontrolle
Stationnement
STAFF ONLY!
Aankomst
NO TRESPASSI NG
WAI TI NG AREA
Check-in Area
Lost & Found
Air Lounge
Club members only.
OTF
DESIGNED BY:
RALF HERRMANN, SEBASTIAN NAGEL
DESTINATION: SIGNAGE FOR AIRPORTS,
ROADS, PARKS, OFFICE BUILDINGS,
HOSPITALS, MALLS, LIBRARIES
STYLES: 20 (2 WEIGHTS, 3 WIDTHS)
CHARACTERS PER STYLE: >800
LATIN EXTENDED, GREEK, CYRILLIC
Birmingham
6
Snfellsjkull
Birmingham
Birmingham
Amsterdam
Magdeburg 36 km

esk Budjovice
Gare de lEst
Shefeld Square
Goetheplatz
Eight Mile Road
Faubourg Montmartre
Mind the Gap!

Alexanderplatz
Karlv most
Muzeum lskie
Piccadilly Circus
auf engem Raum LEXI NGTON AV.
ORANIENSTRAE
Spielwiese

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Non Fiction Arts, Human Sciences, Business
Printers & Photocopiers
Conference Room A Michelangelo
Study Spaces AC
Journal Archive
Special Collections
Wardrobe | Restrooms
Parking Level 1
Wayfinding Sans is not just yet another signage typeface. This
project is unique in many ways. Ralf Herrmann, the designer of
Wayfinding Sans, started this projects with extensive field stud-
ies, driving tens of thousands of miles to explore the legibilty of
road signage typeface in dozens of countries around the world.
After building his own theoretic framework of relevant legibility
parameters, the design process used a unique custom real-time
simulation software, which could simulate difficult reading con-
ditions (distance, fog, halation, positive/negative contrast) while
the letters where actually designed. This process made it possible
to optimize even the tiniest details of each letter for maximum
legibility.
Being made specifically for wayfinding purposes, this type fam-
ily does not compromise on any aspect of legibilityand yet, the
typeface is a beautiful, clean and modern sans serif. With its
broad language support and the large number of available styles
it is perfectly suitable for any possible signage project anywhere
on the world.
Six Years
of Research and
Development
In an independent empirical study at the University of Applied
Sciences htw in Berlin different typefaces where recently test-
ed when used on signs and Wayfinding Sans Pro (bold extended)
was the winner in all conducted tests, being significantly more
legible and therefore superior to all other styles of the tested
typefacesamong them typical signage typefaces like Frutiger,
DIN 1451, Johnston Underground and Futura.

Superior legibility.
Empirically proven.

Source: Eine Untersuchung zur Leserlichkeit im ffentlichen Raum.
Juli 2011, HTW Berlin. Sven Neumann, Betreut durch Prof. Florian Adler, Prof. Daniela Hensel
http://kd.htw-berlin.de/studienprojekte/abschlussarbeiten/leserlichkeit-von-schriften/
Die Grafk zeigt die Mittelwerte sowie die Minimalwerte aller neun
getesteten Schrifen innerhalb der verschiedenen Ebenen. Dabei
zeigt die Futura im Vergleich zwischen gleicher Versalhhe und
gleicher x-Hhe von 1,67 m in Ebene 1 den grten Unterschied auf.
Die Richtwerte der DIN 1450 liegen zwar in der Regel weit hinter
den durchschnittlichen Leseweiten, der Vergleich mit den Minimal-
werten belegt aber, dass die Richtwerte der DIN auch Personen
mit Sehschwchen bercksichtigt.
Leseentfernung
aller getesteten Schrifen
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Wayf nding Sans
Frutiger LT Roman
P
22 Johnston Underground
Arial
DIN Mittelschrif
Franklin Gothic Medium
Futura
G
aram
ond Premier Pro
Swif LT Std
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

7
8
9
1 0
1 1
1 2
1
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33
34
35
Richtwerte DIN 1450
Schrifgre 49 mm bei guter Lesebedingung
Schrifgre 20 mm bei guter Lesebedingung
Schrifgre 5 mm bei guter Lesebedingung
Farbindex
Ebene 1 Versalhhe 49 mm
Ebene 1 x-Hhe 33,825 mm
Ebene 2 Versalhhe 20 mm
Ebene 2 x-Hhe 13,794 mm
Ebene 3 Versalhhe 5 mm
Ebene 3 x-Hhe 3,452 mm
1
2
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Leseentfernung
in Abhngigkeit von Versal- & x-Hhe
Bei der Betrachtung der Leseentfernung beider Versuche, wird
deutlich, dass die Proportionen der Versalhhe und der x-Hhe
entscheidend die Leserlichkeit beeinfussen. Denn bei gleich-
bleibender Versalhhe sind die getesteten Schrifen, deren x-Hhe
grer als 69 % der Versalhhe ist, bereits aus weiteren Entfern-
ungen lesbar als Schrifen mit kleinerer x-Hhe. Bei gleicher
x-Hhe sind Schrifen mit einer greren Versalhhe aus
weiteren Entfernungen lesbar. Dies geht bei den Schrifen jedoch
mit deutlich hheren Punktgren einher.

29
30
31
32
33
34
35
27
28
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Leesentfernung
bei gleicher x-Hhe
Leesentfernung
bei gleicher Versalhhe
x-Hhe = > 69 %
gleiche Versalhhe besser lesbar
x-Hhe = < 67 %
x-Hhe besser lesbar
x-Hhe
6769 %
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Leseentfernung
in m
x-Hhe
69 %
67 %
> 69 %
gleiche Versalhhe
< 67 %
gleiche x-Hhe
Identische Werte
Resultat
Die Proportionen von Versal- & x-Hhe
beeinfussen die Leserlichkeit.
aiy
Designed for
recognizability
To increase the possible viewing distance, the skeleton of the let-
ters of a signage typeface need to be generic and familiar but
also unmistakable. And this is exactly how Wayfinding Sans Pro
was designed from the ground up.
agq
agq
Designed for
distinguishability
Optimized distinguishability is not so much an issue with print
typefaces, which are supposed to be read at an ideal reading dis-
tance. But when type is read under difficult viewing condition,
letter differenciation becomes crucial and can make a big differ-
ence.
Geometric designs might look clean and simple and therefore
promise a good legibility, but actually, the opposite is true: under
difficult viewing conditions, the simple geometric designs per-
form poorly, because they dont provide the structural difference
to achieve a good distinguishability.
Polish road signage typeface (top)
Wayfinding Sans (bottom)
CG OQ f l t
f l t
Dutch road signage typeface (top)
Wayfinding Sans (bottom)
French road signage typeface (top)
Wayfinding Sans (bottom)
German road signage typeface (top)
Wayfinding Sans (bottom)
Wayfinding Sans takes special care of letters which are easily
misread. By making the differences of these letters more promi-
nent, the legibility can be improved dramatically.
BR 1Il
The letters of sans serif print typefaces like Helvetica are sup-
posed to look as uniform as possible and should create an even
color on the page. But what might be desirable in print, can de-
crease the legibility when used for signage.
Helvetica (top)
Wayfinding Sans (bottom)
Figures are usually designed in a way, so they can blend in with the
regular letters. But the figures of Wayfinding Sans are optimized
for the requirements of signage use: maximum distinguishability
and lining tabular design. Oldstyle and proportional figures are
available as well as OpenType features.
CODE: OX0AT2
Is it a capital letter O or a zero? You cant always tell for sure
in some typefaces. The difference is obvious in Wayfinding Sans
and if necessary, you can turn on the OpenType feature Slashed
Zero to increase the differenciation even more.
Figures optimized
for signage use
Weimar 14km
Berlin 319km
Hamburg 526km
Diacritical marks:
details that matter
Diacritical marks are an important part of many languages using
the Latin script. Again, what might be desirable in print, might
not work for signage. On signs the diacritical marks must be un-
mistakable in their design and prominent in their size, because
such separated letter parts will be the first that become illegible
or even invisible when viewed from a distance.
X
X X
British road signage typeface (top)
Polish road signage typeface (bottom)
Wayfinding Sans
Arrows,
the easy way
Entering and positioning arrows along with text in a signage layout
can be a time-consuming task. But not so with Wayfinding Sans
Pro: The arrows can be easily typed along with the text. Just acti-
vate the Stylistic Set and type the appropriate code. These codes
follow a simple naming scheme based on the cardinal directions:
hyphen hyphen n will create an arrow pointing up (North).
Add an e for East and the arrow will point North-East. Its that
simple!
And if the typical 8 directions are not sufficient for your project:
Wayfinding Sans also offers arrows for targets which are located
around a corner or can only be reached by turning around.

- - - -

- Victoria Line
Pointing up?
Or straight ahead?
An arrow pointing upwards can mean go straight ahead or go
up the stairs/escalator. But what to do if both directions are re-
quired on one sign? Not to worry! Wayfinding Sans contains an
optional 3D arrow for straight ahead.
Condensed
Condensed N
Condensed Bold
Condensed Bold N
Regular
Regular N
Bold
Bold N
Extended
Extended N
Extended Bold
Extended Bold N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Wayfinding Sans Pro uses the naming conventions of typical print
fonts, but the main style of this font family is actually the Bold
Extended. It provides the best performance and legibility when
used on signs.
The regular weights are perfect for additional information and
have a more elegant, geometric look.
When the available space is limited, the additional widths (nor-
mal and condensed) can be used.
Every style of this type family comes in a version for positive
and negative contrast. This compensates for the effect, that
light text on dark background looks bolder than dark text on light
background. By using the positive and negative versions of Way-
finding Sans Pro your text will appear optically corrected, when
both contrasts are used on one sign.
A versatile family
with 20 styles
Extended N
Extended Bold N
Italic N
Italic N
Extended
Extended N
Extended Bold
Extended Bold N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Regular N
Bold N
Extended N
Extended Bold N
Italic N
Italic N
Italic N
Italic N
Regular
Regular N
Bold
Bold N
Extended
Extended N
Extended Bold
Extended Bold N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N

Condensed N
Condensed Bold N
Regular N
Bold N
Extended N
Extended Bold N
Italic N
Italic N
Italic N
Italic N
Condensed
Condensed N
Condensed Bold
Condensed Bold N
Regular
Regular N
Bold
Bold N
Extended
Extended N
Extended Bold
Extended Bold N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Italic
Italic N
Predened sets
A
one contrast
only
B
positive
and negative
contrast
styles
Basic Set B, 8 styles
Basic Set A, 4 styles
Intermediate Set B, 16 styles
Intermediate Set A, 8 styles
Complete Set B, 20 styles
Complete Set A, 10 styles
LATIN UPPERCASE
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
LATIN LOWERCASE
a b c d e f g h i
j k l m n o p q r s t u
v w x y z
SMALL CAPS



CYRILLIC



GREEK


FIGURES
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [tabular lining] [proportional lining]
[proportional oldstyle] [tabular oldstyle]
MISCELLANEOUS SYMBOLS

$ ~ = > < % + & @ |
^ `
LIGATURES & ALTERNATE CHARACTERS
f f f
ARROWS
- - - -

ot feature case feature
aBc [ABC]
ot feature stylistic set 1
Baggage Claim Baae Claim
ot feature taBular lining figures DEFAULT
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ot feature proportional lining figures

ot feature proportional oldstyle figures

ot feature taBular oldstyle figures

ot feature slashed zero
0 |
ot feature stylistic set 2
n upwards arrow ne upwards tip rightwards
s downwards arrow nw upwards tip leftwards
e rightwards arrow se downwards tip rightwards
w leftwards arrow sw downwards tip leftwards
ne north east arrow en rightwards tip upwards
nw north west arrow es rightwards tip downwards
se south east arrow wn leftwards tip upwards
sw south west arrow ws leftwards tip downwards
ns north south arrow in - entrance
we left right arrow out - exit
te turn east 3n - 3D arrow upwards
tw turn west 3s - 3D arrow downwards
ot feature stylistic set 3




By popular request, we are also working on set of pictograms
which can be used along with Wayfinding Sans Pro. The symbol
set will contain hundreds of typical wayfinding icons in a unique
and professional style. They can be easily accessed thru Open-
Type replacement and will work perfectly with Wayfinding Sans
Pro.
Follow us on Facebook so you dont miss the release:
facebook.com/WayfindingSans
Coming soon:
Pictograms


Wayfinding Sans Symbols
See fonts.info for more information (e.g. education discounts and multi-user licenses).
Wayfinding Sans

is a registered trademark of Robach & Herrmann GbR.

fonts.info
c/o Robach & Herrmann GbR
JenTower, Leutragraben 1
07743 Jena
GERMANY