Street and Wayfinding Signs Part 1

7 min read
Share on Twitter, LinkedIn

About The Author

Katrín Svana Eyþórsdóttir is a media artist and designer from Iceland. You can follow her on twitter. More about Katrín Eyþórsdóttir ↬

Email Newsletter

Weekly tips on front-end & UX.
Trusted by 200,000+ folks.

The topic of this gallery is Street and Wayfinding signs, signs which intention, in a clear and effective way, is to assist locals and travelers alike in their wayfinding. Please notice: each photo has a certain license, provided in the description of the photo. Before using the images for private or commercial projects, make sure that the license allows you to do so. Also, you can click on the photos for a larger preview.

This gallery presents the collection of photos submitted for the World Of Signage Photo Contest by the readers of Smashing Magazine. We received over 2,500+ photos from our readers across the globe, and present a selection of the most interesting photos in the overview below.

Please feel free to take a look at other submissions as well (links to other galleries are listed in the end of this gallery).

Street wayfinding signs

Casa Manila Museum

Casa Manila Museum [ large preview ]
“I just love the rustic signage.” By Patrick Rivera from Manila, Philippines.

Small Japanesse House

Small Japanesse House [ large preview ]
“A small sign we don’t know where you go to, but it’s perfectly protected against the weather.” License: GNU. By Antonia Guerra Bravo from Spain.

Lost in Translation (Quite Often)

Lost in Translation (Quite Often) [ large preview ]
“Tourist guide sign along Nanjing City Wall near Yangtze River, Nanjing, Jiangsu.” By Taylor Mcconnell from USA.

Paris street signs

Paris street signs [ large preview ]
“Street signs like these are rare in Paris. The street numbers are very rarely shown.” License: CC NC BY SA. By Adrian from France.

Glowing signs

Glowing signs [ large preview ]
“Photo taken with diana mini lomo camera - cross processed.” By Svenja Peters from Germany.

Church Cottages

Church Cottages [ large preview ]
“Street signage is a very interesting feature on the streets of the UK. During my visit to Guildford, Farnham and London, I documented all the road signs that I came across. I have compiled them together to form an interesting series. I have used monotones to focus on the similarity between the architectural style, signage and type of streets and remove the distinguishing factors. All shots have been taken using a Hasselblad, a medium format camera. All photographs have been named after the streets they represent.” Licensed: Copyright Ankita Asthana. By Ankita Asthana from India.

Middle Church Lane

Middle Church Lane [ large preview ]
“Street signage is a very interesting feature on the streets of the UK. During my visit to Guildford, Farnham and London, I documented all the road signs that I came across. I have compiled them together to form an interesting series. I have used monotones to focus on the similarity between the architectural style, signage and type of streets and remove the distinguishing factors. All shots have been taken using a Hasselblad, a medium format camera.All photographs have been named after the streets they represent.” Licensed: Copyright Ankita Asthana. By Ankita Asthana from India.

St. George’s Road

St. George’s Road [ large preview ]
“Street signage is a very interesting feature on the streets of the UK. During my visit to Guildford, Farnham and London, I documented all the road signs that I came across. I have compiled them together to form an interesting series. I have used monotones to focus on the similarity between the architectural style, signage and type of streets and remove the distinguishing factors. All shots have been taken using a Hasselblad, a medium format camera. All photographs have been named after the streets they represent.” Licensed: Copyright Ankita Asthana. By Ankita Asthana from India.

Lost in Vermont

Lost in Vermont [ large preview ]
“I headed to Vermont for a weekend with bunch of friends couple of weeks ago. These arrows were on a tree that we stumbled upon while we were trailing. I loved the juxtaposition of the vastness of the forrest and the vague directions that these arrows were pointing. Oh and hipstamatic added a wonderful effect to the overall eeriness of the picture.” By Ahmet Zehir from USA.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo [ large preview ]
“Marco Polo wall sign.” By Olariu Ionel from Romania.

Village and Road Work Signs

Village and Road Work Signs [ large preview ]
“Village Sign Post and Roadwork sign, Shackleford, Surrey..” By Marcus Kalantarian from England.

Snow Country Accomodation Signage Japan

Snow Country Accomodation Signage Japan [ large preview ]
“Short description of the photo.” Licensed: SmashingMag Comp Use Only. By Anthony Edge from Australia.

The way to Rumuruti

The way to Rumuruti [ large preview ]
“Roadsign in Kenya.” Licensed: All rights reserved. By Paul van Roekel from Netherlands.

Three Signs In A Row

Three Signs In A Row [ large preview ]
“I liked the three layers of the signs. One on the glas window, one behind on the wall, and the reflection of one sign on the oppsite side of the glas window..” By Andris Linz from Switzerland.

Port Sign Boote

Port Sign Boote [ large preview ]
“Simple port sign photo in Austria.” By Olariu Ionel from Romania.

London directional signpost

London directional signpost [ large preview ]
“A signpost in London to help you find your way.” By Will Parker from England.

Everywhichway

Everywhichway [ large preview ]
“California Science Center.” By Enrico Santana from USA.

Valley of the kings

Valley of the kings [ large preview ]
“Valley of the kings tombs Egypt.” By Kristina Ivandic from Croatia.

Hallstatt boats

Hallstatt boats [ large preview ]
“Sign at a boat rental service, Hallstatt, Austria.” Photo taken by Dieter Veverka from Austria.

Sign board showing village with in Kadavoor Basin

Sign board showing village with in Kadavoor Basin [ large preview ]
“The photograph location is on of the cart path among three paths reaching three village from out side of the basin.” Photo taken by Balan.P from India.

Heygate

Heygate [ large preview ]
“This was taken on the notorious and soon to be demolished Heygate estate in London. I liked the simplicity, but also the sense of decay and abandonment embodied by the crooked sign.” Photo taken by Lewis Bush from UK.

New York Tourism

New York Tourism [ large preview ]
“A directional sign located in Battery Park, New York, USA.” Photo taken by Tracey L. Warner from USA.

Manufaktura garbage

Manufaktura garbage [ large preview ]
“Creative way to use typography in dust-bin design.” Photo taken by Wojciech Jachowicz from Poland.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Mapa turístico de Minas

Mapa turístico de Minas [ large preview ]
“Touristic map of the city of Minas (Uruguay) and its surroundings.” Licensed: Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives. By Martín Batallés from Uruguay.

Wayfinding and Typographic Signs - mapa-turistico-de-minas

Thank you!

Thanks to all participants for taking their time for preparing and sending submissions for the contest and creating a unique and diversified gallery presented above. We truly appreciate and respect your efforts and your time, folks!

Further Galleries

You may want to take a look at other contest galleries, too: