Dwell: Can you tell us about some of the components of the signs? How did you pick the landmarks to feature? What was the editing process like in terms of deciding what information to relay and what to skip? Bierut: We had a "more is more" attitude about the signs. As opposed to a reductive diagram meant to be taken in at a glance, we wanted the maps to be comprehensive: people need to feel reassured that if they're looking for something, they'll find it on he map. Of course, there is always editing. We picked landmarks from a list of the obvious suspects—destinations that people might be looking for—but we also added some more obscure buildings that may not be well known, but that function as wayfinding aids. As the senior designer on the project here at Pentagram, Hamish Smyth, has pointed out, most people, even New Yorkers, don't know what the Newtown Creek Digester Eggs Sewage Treatment Plant is. It's not on many tourist must see lists. But these big shiny egg-shaped orbs—a beautiful design by Ennead Architects—are visual landmarks in Brooklyn. Photo 2 of 9 in How New York City Developed its Wayfinding Signage by Diana Budds

How New York City Developed its Wayfinding Signage

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Dwell: Can you tell us about some of the components of the signs? How did you pick the landmarks to feature? What was the editing process like in terms of deciding what information to relay and what to skip?

Bierut: We had a "more is more" attitude about the signs. As opposed to a reductive diagram meant to be taken in at a glance, we wanted the maps to be comprehensive: people need to feel reassured that if they're looking for something, they'll find it on he map.

Of course, there is always editing. We picked landmarks from a list of the obvious suspects—destinations that people might be looking for—but we also added some more obscure buildings that may not be well known, but that function as wayfinding aids. As the senior designer on the project here at Pentagram, Hamish Smyth, has pointed out, most people, even New Yorkers, don't know what the Newtown Creek Digester Eggs Sewage Treatment Plant is. It's not on many tourist must see lists. But these big shiny egg-shaped orbs—a beautiful design by Ennead Architects—are visual landmarks in Brooklyn.