Foto's van bewegwijzering en interieur luchthaven Schiphol (foto met bord 'B22/B33' door Aart Klein)

Showpiece

Schiphol Airport

Work for the new Amsterdam airport started in 1962. Industrial designer Kho Liang Ie was responsible for the interior decoration, Benno Wissing for the directional signage.

Generally speaking, sign posts were rather unclear in the early 1960s. Signs were difficult to read and pictograms were overused. Wissing was asked to design a clear and easily legible system of signs and sign posts for the airport.

He located the signs high up, over the heads of travelers. The main signs were located at a right angle to the principal traffic patterns. The information was given structure by making use of colors. Main signs were yellow, those carrying secondary information were green. Benno Wissing did not utilize pictograms and deliberately chose Akzidenz Grotesk for the lettering, since this typeface is legible from a great distance. The signage at Schiphol served as a model for other new airports.

In the mid-1990s, signs designed by Bureau Mijksenaar replaced the old ones. The new signs once more included pictograms since many of the travelers arriving or transferring at Schiphol airport could not understand either Dutch or English.

Date of creation

1962-1967

Collection

Collection Dutch Graphic Designers Archives Foundation

Institution

• Nederlands Archief Grafisch Ontwerpers

Source

• TD03371 (), Collectie NAGO, Nederlands Archief Grafisch Ontwerpers

Copyright

for information contact: Nederlands Archief Grafisch Ontwerpers