April 18, 2024

Wayfinding System Connects Community

Somerset, KY, unveiled a new wayfinding system that features directional and informational signs throughout downtown streets.

The signs carry the city’s brand and logo, and their role is both practical and less obvious revealing connections, highlighting diversity, and demonstrating community pride.

The network was launched in Somerset’s downtown core with plans to expand to other parts of the city.

The wayfinding and placemaking network was designed by Kinetic Strategic Design. It includes 110 signs that highlight parking areas, historical information and community events, and walking paths.

"In reality, visitors coming to our community and residents who are here every day have an extremely fragmented set of shared information and experiences," says Kirby Stephens, president of Kinetic Strategic Design.

"For instance," he adds, "how many Somerset residents could tell you there is a Piano Park and where it is? How many could tell you when the buildings on East Mount Vernon Street were built and why they look the way they do? Or that Somerset once had trolley cars? And, more importantly, why does any of this matter in the continued development of the city we call Somerset?"

The civic life of a city is enriched when its public space is meaningful, interesting, and worth visiting, Stephens says.

More on Somerset’s wayfinding system appears in the April issue of Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter. Click below to learn more about Downtown Idea Exchange and other resources for revitalizing downtowns and commercial corridors.

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