How can wall graphics and colour help visitors find their way around a clinic or workplace?

Wall graphics and colour can make areas easier to recognise and give people useful landmarks. They work best alongside clear words, consistent arrows and a planned sign system. Colour alone is not enough: visitors need to understand where they are, where to go next and when they have arrived.

Start with the journey, not the wall

Walk the route as someone who has never visited before. Begin where that person actually arrives, which might be a car park, lift or secondary entrance. List the places where they must choose a direction and the destinations they need to recognise.

In a clinic, a visitor may be anxious, carrying belongings or accompanying someone with limited mobility. In a workplace, they may only know the meeting-room name on an invitation. Test the route against those situations rather than assuming everyone knows the building.

Give each type of information a clear job

• Arrival information: confirms the building, department or reception point.
• Directional signs: appear before someone must choose a route.
• Destination signs: identify the room or service at the end.
• Landmarks and graphics: make areas more recognisable and give staff a useful reference when explaining directions.

A distinctive botanical graphic might help someone remember a waiting area. It should not hide the room name or require a visitor to interpret an illustration to find a service.

Use colour as a supporting cue

A colour assigned to a zone can appear on its entrance, signs and selected wall details. Pair it with a name, number or recognisable symbol so the meaning does not depend on colour perception. Check contrast and legibility against the actual background, including changing daylight and reflections.

Keep decorative detail away from essential messages. Large graphics can provide identity, but a busy pattern behind small lettering can make the information harder to read. Agree consistent names across appointment instructions, maps, reception directions and installed signs.

Connect the design with the place

Our General Surgery and Puawānanga project brought custom wall graphics and wayfinding signage together with architect Alex Heperi and artist Shanon Hawea. It is an example of identity and practical information being considered within the same environment. Cultural narratives and artwork are developed with the people entitled to guide them, rather than borrowed as generic decoration.

Test before committing to the full scheme

Use temporary proofs or a marked-up plan to walk the proposed routes. Include people unfamiliar with the site and seek input from the people responsible for accessibility, facilities and daily operations. Check whether a sign is visible before the turn, whether furniture blocks it and whether the wording is understood.

Required safety, emergency and accessible signage needs its own project-specific review. Decorative graphics do not establish compliance or replace that signage.

Send us a floor plan, key destinations and photographs of the difficult decision points. We can discuss commercial murals, graphics and signage that work with the building and its users, alongside your responsible project team.