Category:
Wayshowing
Project:
Brisbane Multilingual Pedestrian Signage
What was the challenge? One of the strategies from the Australian city of Brisbane’s Economic Development Plan, is to establish stronger links with the Asia Pacific economy. Part of this strategy is to provide multilingual communication to international visitors, including signage and digital guides. Based on the target audience of short stay international tourists and long stay international students, messages in Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese and Arabic are to be included in the signage. The messaging should be inclusive of a variety of languages, however, English should be treated as the dominant language. What was the solution? Multilingual signage in the city centre was developed to support international visitors and reinforce Brisbane’s credentials as a global city. Thirty three new multilingual directional signs, were installed within the city centre, replacing English only signs. An inherent problem with multilingual signage is ensuring that all of the messages are discernible and legible. This was addressed in two ways. First, a sign panel features a single message repeated in multiple languages. A busy location with several messages becomes more visible to the user by dedicating one message per panel. Second, a clear hierarchy is denoted between English and the other four languages. English is still the dominant language spoken.
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Contact: Contact: name: Laura Beattie name: Laura Beattie company/organisation: Dotdash company/organisation: Dotdash e-mail: laura@dotdash.com.au e-mail: laura@dotdash.com.au website: www.dotdash.com.au website: www.dotdash.com.au