Signage & Wayfinding in Grey County

1. Signage & Wayfinding in Grey County Opportunities, Challenges & How We Can Move Forward Together

2. Why Signage? Why Now? What we hope to introduce today… • Signage: there’s more to it that we might think! • What we could do with signage in Grey County (and the opportunities and challenges of change)… • What signage in Grey County looks like right now… • How do we develop a signage strategy? • How do we reflect Grey County’s character as a family of unique communities?

3. Signage 101 • Types of signs: • Regulatory (including Warning and Informational) • Municipal Identification/Community Development • Wayfinding/Tourism Destinations • Heritage • Private (advertising) • Important to consider consistent look & feel as well as balance between the number of signs needed to provide information and the need to keep roads clean, clear and without clutter (to keep roadways safe & directions straightforward)

4. County Signage • More complicated than appears on the surface • Must account for: • County identity/brand AND multiple municipal identities/brands • Regulatory requirements/safety AND attractive, welcoming aesthetic • Directional signage AND tourism/community features • Tangible, physical representation of family-like relationship between the County and member municipalities

5. Community/Municipal Identification • Hierarchy of settlement areas (*Official Plan) • Municipal: • Identify the official municipal name at the boundary • Community • Identify settlement communities within a municipality • Tourism & Heritage • (not required, but have tourism/heritage benefits - Relate community to local context)

6. Key Considerations • Consistency • Look and feel • Placement • Information on sign • Road safety • Number of signs • Size • Location • Clarity • Clear identification & purpose • Avoid/reduce duplication

7. Wayfinding Signage • What is “wayfinding”? • The consistent use of signs, maps and other graphic methods to convey location and direction to visitors throughout a region. • Challenge • Bruce Grey Simcoe has identified the lack of consistent, coherent wayfinding signage throughout the region • Opportunity • Each municipality within Grey County offers a unique visitor experience and amenities/attractions, but tourists and visitors are seldom aware of community, county or regional borders

8. Types of Wayfinding signs • Tourist-Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) along provincial roadways. • Signage managed by the County • Signage managed by municipalities • Private signage created by local businesses to provide directional information to visitors.

9. RTO-7Tourism Wayfinding & Signage • Signage system developed specifically to address tourism-based wayfinding needs throughout Grey, Bruce and Simcoe Counties • Designed to provide communities with cohesive, cost-effective promotional platform • Designed to provide flexibility/opportunity to incorporate community-specific branding • Caveat: Provides little direction on municipal identification signage hierarchy (eg. county/municipal/community)

10. Some Examples

11. Time for a Refresh • Many road signs need replacing • Wear & Tear • Faded or damaged • Opportunity to think strategically & regionally about a practical aspect of our County brand and local municipal brands • Incorporating new County brand & local municipal brands • Pair County and Municipal branding for a collaborative approach & image • Integrate regional place-making/destination development principles

12. What’s out there right now….

14. Signage Needs • Safe & Functional • Signage needs to be functional, first and foremost • Need to have strong, reliable criteria for determining where signs are placed, what information they display, what they look like and how they are managed (i.e. consistent approach) • Distinctive & Recognizable • Opportunity to pair municipal branding initiatives with new signage to demonstrate a rich tapestry of communities within Grey County family • Identity & Reputation • Signage is often a “first impression” for visitors & residents • Opportunity to help identify Grey County & its communities as distinct, unique and welcoming

15. Opportunities, Challenges & Considerations • Overall intent of asignage program is to balance the number of signs throughout Grey County & its municipalities to provide a clear, methodical sequence of directional elements to municipal and privately-owned destinations. • A signage system of this nature can provide an efficient, cost effective solution. • Establishing a signage hierarchy and a preliminary wayfinding approach.

16. An example of a signage strategy: Town of Innisfil • Suggests Visual Identity Standards, a Signage System Hierarchy, looks at existing wayfinding locations/gaps • Based on RTO7 wayfinding signage strategy and adds municipal identification signage • Worked with form:media (same company as developed RTO7 wayfinding strategy) • Uses a hierarchy of signage, including: • Tourist Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) • Signage managed by Simcoe County • Signage managed by the Town of Innisfil • Private signage

17. An example of a signage strategy: Town of Innisfil • Overall intent is to “limit the number of signs throughout the Town while providing a clear, methodical sequence of directional elements to municipal and privately-owned destinations.” • Effective, efficient and economical solution to signage - consistency & coherency • Included public consultation • Phased-in implementation, using signage hierarchy and assessment of current assets

18. Next steps… • Initiate consideration of a strategic approach to signage in Grey County • Looking at options for creating consistent, collaborative community signage guidelines • Opportunities to partner Grey County brand and member municipality brands • Potential for seeking consultant guidance • Opportunity to create a working group to consider Tourism, Transportation, Branding, etc across signage needs

19. Moving Forward… • Opportunity to develop a Grey County signage strategy • Options for how we move forward: • Collaborative County approach (utilizing consultant) – full partnership in strategy development & implementation plan • County-led (utilizing consultant), with municipal input • County-led (no consultant), with municipal input • County-only