Wayfinding totem / information pillar

Wayfinding totems and information pillars at the entrance to your site

A wayfinding totem is the first thing a visitor sees when driving onto your site, and it is the moment at which they decide whether to go left or right. A good totem answers three questions at a glance: am I in the right place, where do I have to be, and where do I park. The signs and arrows that follow build on that. Without that starting point, signage stays a collection of loose signs.

We design, produce and install totems and information pillars for business parks, care campuses, schools, sports sites, local authorities and retail zones. Just as important as the pillar itself is the thinking behind it: which destinations get a place, in what order, and in which words. We do that with you, because a handsome totem with the wrong content solves nothing.

Where you use them

• At the main entrance to a site, as a landmark and orientation point
• At the entrance to a car park, showing the layout in zones
• On a campus with several buildings, as an intermediate step along the route

Versions

Single-sided and double-sided

Single-sided is enough when visitors always approach the pillar from the same side. Choose double-sided at a combined entrance and exit, or where the pillar stands in a through route. Think that through in advance, because converting afterwards costs more than getting it right at the outset.

Information pillars with interchangeable panels

For sites where companies, departments or tenants change. The pillar stays put, the nameplates slide out and are replaced. Over the long term the only affordable version where occupancy changes.

Illuminated totems

Internally illuminated or floodlit, so that the pillar still works in the evening. For sites with shift work or evening activity that is not a luxury. Allow for a power supply and switching, and include it in the groundworks.

Material and construction

The supporting structure is usually an aluminium profile frame or a welded steel construction, finished with aluminium or composite panelling and powder-coated in your house style colours. The graphics are applied as UV-resistant print, vinyl or routed lettering; built-up lettering gives depth and lasts longest. The pillar is anchored on a concrete base or with a ground anchor, on a foundation calculated for the wind load of the format.

In practice

• Limit the number of lines: a totem with more than six or seven destinations is not read by somebody who is driving
• Use the words visitors use themselves, not your internal names or department codes
• Choose the letter height on the basis of reading distance and speed, with strong contrast between lettering and background
• Place the pillar before the decision point, not on it; anybody who has passed it can no longer choose
• For installation on the public domain, follow what the permit and the tender specification impose

When a totem is not the right answer

If visitors get lost because the route is complicated, a bigger pillar will not solve it. What you need then is a wayfinding plan with smaller indications at every decision point. And on a site with one building and one entrance, a good facade sign is usually enough. We would rather tell you that than sell you a pillar that adds nothing.

What determines the price?

The price depends on the dimensions and the height, the method of construction, the material and the coating finish, single-sided or double-sided execution, the number of interchangeable panels, the way the graphics are applied and whether illumination is included. Design work and drawing up the wayfinding plan also weigh in, as do the foundation, groundworks, an electrical connection and installation on site.

Discuss your wayfinding with us

Send us a plan of the site, the destinations that have to be indicated and a few photos of the entrance. We will propose a totem and an approach, and provide a quotation to suit.