The Houston Airport System (HAS) is using an innovative process to redesign and replace thousands of outdoor and indoor directional signs at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The goal is to make it easier for drivers and the traveling public to navigate the airport complex. Under the new “way-finding enhancement project” the airport is printing and mounting new signs using a method that dramatically improves visibility. The new method is expected to quite simply make getting around the airport a lot easier. “Bush is one of the busiest airports in the world. We handle millions of passengers each year and so it is important for airport operations to make sure our visitors have the smoothest possible travel experience when they are here,” says Tom Bartlett, chief operating officer for the Houston Airport System. What is unique about the way-finding project is not the new signs that are popping up around the airport, but rather the way in which they are made. Every step of the process is completed in-house, utilizing the abundant human and technical resources that are already available within the infrastructure of the airport system. Rather than utilizing any costly high-tech graphic design equipment, the signs are developed with a standard computer Photoshop software program. Completed designs are then printed on huge self-adhesive sheets through the use of a specially-sized ink-jet printer that utilizes weatherproof, pigmented inks. Verbiage on the signs is printed in “Myriad Pro” font or typeface and is enhanced by three-dimensional shading and shadowing effects. The adhesive sheets are then mounted on aluminum sheet metal. They are then mounted on the permanent outdoor aluminum backboards, which have been scraped clean and painted bright blue. There are more than 60 outdoor signs, some as large as 8 feet by 50 feet. The directional arrows on some of the signs are actually 6 feet tall. The new signage process is part of a modular system designed for fast and easy adjustments.

© Houston Airport System The new signs at Bush Intercontinental airport are the fruit of a new approach to airport planning - the Balanced Score Card approach.

The project is the brainchild of a special committee made up of employees from various airport divisions including operations, communications, public safety and finance and administration. The group is part of the so-called Balanced Score Card program introduced to HAS by its director, Rick Vacar.

The idea is to take employees with specialized skills and experiences, put them together on a specific committee and have them work as a team on major projects that will eventually benefit both the airport system and the City of Houston as a whole. The signage committee at Bush Intercontinental Airport was one of those Balanced Score Card projects.

William P. Hobby Airport also has its own Balanced Score Card committee, which is working on updating that airport’s signage.

“We used the ‘Myriad’ font because it has exaggerated characters that are fat and heavy, making them more readable,” says John Bowling, a graphic designer whose fulltime job is in the finance and administration division of the Houston Airport System.

He and another coworker, Gray James, from the customer relations division, designed the new signs at IAH. It was a lengthy process that required more planning than what the naked eye might discern.

“We took into account what’s called the night-glow effect that causes trouble for some because of a white-on-dark background,” Bowling adds. “It disturbs some elderly drivers and those with vision problems, so we enhanced the signs to counter that problem.”

Before the new designs, which are mostly laid on a blue background, the majority of signs around the airport utilized a white-on-dark concept.

Airport technicians began mounting the outdoor signs in March. The process will continue most of the summer, mainly during the overnight hours so as to not interrupt traffic flow. Some dayside work, however, will be needed and that will include a limited number of traffic detours.

Mounting new signs inside the airport is expected to begin later this summer.

Another interesting feature of the new signage program is that travelers will be given an opportunity to comment on all of the new signs. Each sign is being tagged with a serial number so that it will be easily identifiable for people wishing to comment on it.

So far, reaction to the new signs has been favorable and that’s good news as a record summer travel season gets underway at IAH.

“This signage process is the first of its kind in the nation and is already generating interest from other airports,” says Bowling. “But the symbol of success is whether travelers think it meets the goals the Balanced Score Card team was trying to achieve.

“We knew our work would be viewed by millions of people for years to come. Our idea was to keep it clean, keep it simple. Different colors, 3D effects, character-shadowing and larger characters all contribute to our ultimate goal – readability.”

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