Material Onboarding

Why is the choice of materials for signage systems so important?

A holistic wayfinding system consists of various carefully coordinated elements. In addition to digital orientation offers, the physical information carrier often remains a central means of orientation. How well information can be perceived, read or felt depends not only on editorial or formal aspects, but also on the material properties of the carrier. The choice of suitable material not only influences the communicative effect, but also plays a key role in terms of the longevity, costs and sustainability of the entire system.

"Material Onboarding" is a mobile, practice-orientated material library developed by Prof. Christina Poth, Prof. Holger Jahn and Stefan Aufrichter at the Department of Design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. The library provides a comprehensive overview of various material groups and their specific properties that are particularly suitable for use in signage systems. In addition to the material samples, there is a range of common system elements such as door signs, guide strips and attention fields. With this wide range of information, "Material Onboarding" supports the design and planning process for indoor and outdoor guidance systems. "Material Onboarding is digitally integrated into the Materialnet database of the Design department.