The Desk Set

A Problem of Our Own Design

Jan 15

KatyFrom Our Guest Bloggers 4 Comments

Ah, library signage. A quick image search confirms, signage-wise, libraries are the worst. We are the place where Comic Sans and clip art goes to die, and where one mark of punctuation is seen as far too polite, or too timid, to really get a message across.

This BuzzFeed article from a year ago on passive aggressive library signs pretty much sums it up. I do not think any other institution has succeeded in being so offensive to graphic design. But the underlying frustration for librarians, and especially public librarians, is that people actually do chew on their headphone cords. Signage like “Do not put trash or food in the book drop” is sadly warranted.

But the worst part is that for all of our all-caps, bold, overly punctuated efforts, computer generated signs are largely ignored and ineffective.

So what do we do about our signage design issues? I think one best practice would be to never use scotch tape to affix a sign to anything ever again. It looks awful and leaves so much moldering, tape-y residue when the sign is inevitably taken down.

Plus there are so many better options available. At the New School’s Fogelman Library, for instance, where I currently spend a good deal of time, information is painted directly onto the walls, like so:

It looks great and professional, and most importantly, seems to be effective at reducing directional library questions. Other options are magnetized signs, wall decals, foam core, or at the very least plastic information holders.

Another consideration is sign placement – what is the flow of traffic through the library, and where will signage be most visible? I think a lot of our signage is ineffective because we have not addressed the flow of traffic and the sight lines of our patrons.

This study by the Metropolitan Library System in Chicago addresses some of these problems and more, and has some great summaries in their key findings, including one fundamental concept that I believe a lot of librarians have trouble accepting – “Don’t try to change people’s behavior: identify it and design for it.”

In a user-centered library, this is key. Attempting to get users to change their behavior is a waste of energy and often does not work. It is much more effective to identify how our patrons are already using the library and then build around that.

And lastly, it would be great if most library signage had a graphic identity or theme, created by a person who knows at least a little bit about graphic design. Some library signage is absolutely painful to look at, and we are better than Comic Sans!