In recent years, Glasgow has consolidated its reputation as an international centre for the arts, culture and sports. It has long been a shining example of imperial and Edwardian splendour. With Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art and the Kelvingrove Gallery among its famous landmarks it was named European City of Culture in 1999 and successfully hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

 

Architecturally, it has been undergoing a renaissance, with striking developments such as the Glasgow Science Centre and the Clyde Auditorium, adding to its dramatic skyline.

With four million visitors a year contributing £1billion to the economy and creating 55,000 jobs, Glasgow City Council is keenly aware of the importance of its visitor economy. Wayfinding is a crucial factor in making a city accessible to tourists and the Council recognised the need to optimise the city’s wayfinding tools. Applied were commissioned in 2008 to create a major city-wide pedestrian wayfinding system totalling 149 signs. The system is comprised of map-based information signage, fingerposts, plus a further 76 information posters housed in freestanding advertising units. The system was entirely funded by Clear Channel, the UK’s largest outdoor advertising business, on the understanding that they would be allocated specific units on radial routes around the city. As a result, the project wasn’t plagued with the usual budgetary issues a public sector job faces.

The heart of the system is a 15 square kilometre pedestrian master map of the City Centre and West End, highlighting 250 local landmarks and visitor destinations. The sign product range was custom-designed specifically for Glasgow