Washington, DC, January 31, 2023 – Responding to the growing specialty field of trail sign design, the Sign Research Foundation has released a new guide to drive innovation, funding and maintenance processes.
The Trail Sign Manual: A Planning Guide for Parks and Trail Signage, is now available for download on the SRF website.
This manual grew out of SRF’s popular Urban Wayfinding Planning and Implementation Manual, initially published in 2013 and updated in 2020. While working on the updated version, it became clear that trail wayfinding was another area ripe for growth, but without guidance.
“These projects are covered extensively in magazines, websites, and conferences,” the authors wrote. “Yet, like with urban wayfinding, there has not been a single source of methodologies and best practices for sign projects for parks and trails. These projects require a wide integration of landscape, sign, brand identity, print, and digital display, yet there are few resources to review design approaches to consolidate these areas. In addition, there are specific durability, maintenance, and management issues particular to park projects.”
The Trail Sign Manual is the first piece of its kind, exploring the latest trends in trail signage, financing and development, and management and maintenance. A case study explores the successes of the Empire State Trail in New York.
The Trail Sign Manual is available at the SRF website, www.signresearch.org/trail-sign-manual, and can be downloaded for $40 ($30 for ISA members).
The first of three webinars based on content from this manual, SRF Presents: Trail Sign Manual Webinar – Planning, will be presented at 2 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, February 8. It is free for members of the International Sign Association and ISA Affiliated Associations and $35 for non-members. Registration for the webinar includes a complimentary copy of the manual.
Webinar presenters include Craig Berger, Fashion Institute of Technology; India Adolfsson, T-Squared Design Inc.; Jeff Frank, Corbin Design; Gail Wittwer-Laird, Starr Whitehouse; and Paul Dudley, ID Signsystem.
