Guide Studio

06/04/2025

It’s been a while.

We’ve been deep in the work—helping communities uncover their story, navigate change, and design experiences that connect people to place. But behind every strategy, sign, or brand is something even more powerful: a team that brings it to life.

We’re excited to (re)introduce you to the guides of Guide Studio.
Some of us have been walking this path together for over 20 years. Others have recently joined, already infusing our work with fresh perspective and thoughtful creativity.

Together, we are listeners, learners, collaborators, and problem-solvers—united by a belief that communication is the foundation for thriving communities.

Learn more: https://guidestudio.com/about/

07/03/2024

We love when others show off one of our favorite projects 😉 Merced

12/23/2022

Brand Complete: Now What?

You invest a lot of time and energy into producing a new brand for your place. But once it’s complete, that work is all for nothing if you don’t do anything with it. So what’s next? While it’s tempting to throw out the brand in a one-and-done promotional blitz, consider how a well-orchestrated, phased transition plan can take your brand further, faster.

You invest a lot of time and energy into producing a new brand for your place. But once it's complete, that work is all for nothing if you don't do anything with it. So what's next? While it's tempting to throw out the brand in a one-and-done promotional blitz, consider how a well-orchestrated, phas...

12/10/2022

Whether you’re a skilled marketer or new to the game, you’ve probably been taught the art and science of the “4 Ps”: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.

There’s only one problem when it comes to developing a brand for diverse audiences. It’s what is missing from your important equation: People.

It’s easy to nail down your products and value proposition. But identifying your target audiences? That’s a whole other story.

When it comes to developing a brand for diverse audiences, you’ve probably been taught the art and science of the “4 Ps”: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. There's only one problem. It's what is missing from this important equation: People.

12/01/2022

Despite the powerful relationship between architecture and wayfinding, we’ve all seen examples of places where the connection falls short. Sometimes there’s too much wayfinding, causing visual clutter and overwhelmed visitors. Other times, there’s not enough wayfinding, and people are left feeling lost and frustrated,

Nobody wins when the end-user experience disappoints, so it’s important to be particular about the partners supporting your project.

In this article, we share the top 10 ways Guide Studio can help you enhance the architectural experience.

Nobody wins when the end-user experience disappoints, so it’s important to be particular about the partners supporting your project.

11/23/2022

Maybe you fancy yourself as an independent thinker who “does your own thing” and “thinks for yourself.” But in reality, you – along with everyone else – are still subject to outside forces that influence your decision making. Consciously or subconsciously, your family, friends, colleagues, role models, and acquaintances pull you in different directions. That even extends to people you don’t know. Thanks to social media, blogs, and online reviews, the realm of influence extend beyond your inner circle and into the digital world.

They influence where you go and how you navigate through those places. Because of this, we cannot view wayfinding as a solitary process. Sure, there are circumstances where one person travels to/from a destination alone, without the aid of others. But more often than not, it’s a social experience that is greatly influenced by other people’s presence, words, and actions. That’s what it means to be in a community.

“Social” wayfinding influences the experience of place

One of the most obvious examples of “social wayfinding” are two people walking to a destination – a restaurant, ball game, store, wherever. Together, they determine the most effective route, identify landmarks and discuss what they see and hear along the way. Other times, one person takes the lead while the other follows.

Another example includes guided tours – one person leading other people – through a city, museum or university. A tour guide has a tremendous influence on what we see, hear and experience, as well as how we feel about that experience afterward. Many college decisions are probably made based on the effectiveness of the tour guide. Hopefully, your human guides are leaving your audience with a positive first impression.

Social wayfinding happens in less obvious ways, too. Have you ever followed someone because you think they’re going to the same place? Or maybe you took a shortcut because you noticed other people did, too? When we work with university clients, we always come across both well-manicured paths as well as unintentional, worn paths formed by students taking quicker shortcuts to their classrooms or dorms. Which path do you think is more traveled? Usually, the latter. Again, it’s all about people influencing other people.

Maybe you fancy yourself as an independent thinker who “does your own thing” and “thinks for yourself.” But in reality, you – along with everyone else – are

11/11/2022

Developing sign standards are important for creating consistent and smart sign programs that uphold the design integrity of a space or place.

They can communicate the aesthetic requirements that allow the program to live in harmony with a space’s interior or exterior design; they can provide guidance in how information needs to be presented to make a place highly usable. Most importantly, sign standards set the parameters for how all of these objectives can be maintained in the future.

When a Design Consultant speaks of Standards, two applications typically come to mind; the first is Sign Standards. Developed by a consultant, sign standards are designed to document a comprehensive sign system and protect the purpose and longevity of the wayfinding and identification program for a particular place or space. These standards are often used by large institutional buildings or campuses such as hospitals, schools, airports, etc.

The other application is Design Guidelines for signage. These are usually developed for a place that has a pre-established design vernacular. Guidelines are important for places where many different parties may implement signs, such as shopping/lifestyle centers or perhaps in a city or historic streetscape.

Developing sign standards are important for creating consistent and smart sign programs that uphold the design integrity of a space or place. They can

11/03/2022

How to determine the right wayfinding strategy for you

Here’s a story: Community X realized it had a big wayfinding problem. Actually, many problems. They heard people complain that existing parking was impossible to find while others said there just wasn’t enough of it. When asking another group, they heard the current signs were useless while others said they were helpful – but super ugly. Some city officials were concerned that visitors didn’t feel welcomed when they rolled into town and new businesses expressed they weren’t getting enough traffic. The list went on and on. None of it consistent.

Sound familiar?

You’re not alone. A lot of places – cities, neighborhoods, businesses, shopping centers, and more – encounter these headaches regardless of their history, size, shape, purpose, or audience. It can be difficult to figure out which problems are real and how to address them.

Unfortunately, many of them hear the complaints, make assumptions and jump to an all too common solution: MORE SIGNS!

While, in some cases, more signage may be helpful, the fundamental drawback is that places are trying to solve a problem without knowing what the actual problem is, which can be a catalyst for – you know it! – even more wayfinding problems.
Here’s how to know WHICH wayfinding strategy is going to be right for your community.

First off: There is No one-size fits all when it comes to a wayfinding solution
Just like you can’t get a reliable medical diagnosis without an evaluation by a specialist and unbiased analysis, wayfinding problems are hard to diagnose without an expert. While we understand and appreciate the ‘just do it’ mentality, testing out solutions to an undiagnosed wayfinding problem can be costly and problematic.

As one of the most important aspects of your place’s experience, it’s worth taking the time and resources to evaluate your wayfinding before jumping to a conclusion or solution.
As we’ve mentioned before, true wayfinding doesn’t use signs as Band-Aids to cover up the cracks and problems.

Furthermore, there are no universal best practices, assumptions or one-size-fits-all approaches that can be copied and applied to your wayfinding. What works for one place probably won’t work for yours.
With that being said, there is a unique wayfinding strategy for your place, and the key to figuring it out is to ask and listen.

Read more:

Here’s a story: Community X realized it had a big wayfinding problem. Actually, many problems. They heard people complain that existing parking was impossible

12/17/2021

Happy Holidays from all of us at Guide Studio!