If your OBJECTIVE is to introduce visitors to different creatures that inhabit your natural area, ones visitors may not be aware of at your site, AND you feel self-guided signage is a way to accomplish this, THEN here is a fun example. It packs a lot of information onto one sign and may get away with it for several reasons as it stimulates your eye and mind. How is this being achieved:
courtesy Bill Reynolds So many positive aspects to this interpretive sign
· The sign is divided into 3 differently coloured sub-panels
· There is a cute, anatomically accurate image of a woodcock associated with each text block
· The typeface comes in two sizes in case you either want to get a quick overview (the larger size) or have a deeper interest and want to read more (the smaller size)
· There are eight separate images of a woodcock so the shape for recognition purposes is well reinforced
· The text is mostly well spaced and not too long for easy reading
· Most of the facts presented are intriguing and pique a wide-range of interests
· The writing is conversational and first-person style
· The title is large, colourful, and declarative in a boastful way (I almost expected to read a sub-line saying …and hear me roar)
This said, if you were to time how long it takes someone to read all the content and compare it to the average visitor’s reading/standing time in one spot (somewhere between 8 - 30 seconds), I would wager there is too much content. Each coloured sub-panel is a sign in itself. The blue section especially is a bit crammed and I would create another section for the four texts circling the probing woodcock image just left of centre.
Also, you are not asked to do anything with what is mentioned while at the sign (like using tweezers to forage and pick up worms) or to follow up at the visitor’s centre regarding evening trips to listen to or catch a glimpse of the spring mating display.
On another note, there is an interesting text that says, “I have a dedicated following of hunters in the fall and bird watchers in the spring.” This conservation site appeals to users that enjoy the resource in different ways and doesn’t shy away from its mission, so they must have a management approach allowing for compatibility between these uses.
There are a few word choices that may be unfamiliar to the general public in the text - can you find them? What wording do you think should be altered to be more easily understood? Send us your thought via email – respondents always receive some gift to recognize their contribution.
Also, on an avian bent, I present a different style of sign that deals with bird knowledge by using a similar large size in an outdoor setting. The approachability occurs through the appeal of reading (eavesdropping on) a letter from an avian snowbird travelling between homes. It is a clever way to use a conversational tone again, this time with fewer declarative facts and more poetic, descriptive, and humourous anthropomorphism to boost the visitors’ knowledge banks.
While the letter reads well, it is a bit lengthy (15-18 lines), the lettering is a bit small, and cursive writing might be an obstacle. Some other thoughts came to mind…It is easily recognizable as a letter to an adult familiar with airmail or any snail mail for that matter, but can that be assumed for those under 30 years of age? Would a screen shot of an email or an Instagram format work for a wider age range? Is the use of a stamp with the bird-in-question’s image too subtle for those visitors who are NOT already familiar with what a sanderling or plover looks like? Nice touch but perhaps needs more image reinforcement on the sign.
With the line beginning, “Could you mention me to the visitors you see…” the interpretive text cleverly explores a sensitive management issue regarding nesting. The sign works at raising awareness of this shorebird’s beach-nesting habits and the necessity of keeping a distance at critical times. The text also inserts an anticipatory feeling of having (at a safe distance) a glimpse of the plover’s hilarious running bird dance. Again, though, there is no interactive component or follow-up with interpretive programming that would connect the visitor to a real life view of the plover in a controlled encounter. Pointing out the availability of binoculars for rent in order to get a good look at the bird would be one way of doing this.
courtesy Bill Reynolds AKA EID Coach AKA Curiosity Catalyst
And here is another avian letter to consider. Starting with “Greetings to my two-legged friends” as the letter opening line, it does a good job of catching one’s attention. Then the mention of food and an exotic destination gets the travel interest hooks in you as the sanderling says, “got my beak in the sand checking out Chile’s gastronomic delights.” Interspersing a catchy little phrase like this one of, “all the while maintaining my curvaceous silhouette,” keeps the reader chuckling and alert.
The choice of letters from two migratory bird - one species being a nester on the islands and one species being a stopover rest and recovery type - is a good decision and critical to getting across the knowledge of these two major reasons for migratory bird protection areas. I would have highlighted these two important aspects more pointedly as I am assuming these are the desired conceptual take-aways. There is a bit of a tug at the visitors’ emotions and an attempt at forming a relationship with the life cycle of these two birds who share their beach home, food, efforts at raising a family (every year) and travel great distances under meteorological hardships in order to exist with the “two legged friends.”
If these birds believed in possessivse property rights, this home invasion by the humans would be viewed as a form of trespassing. Luckily the natural world has a different boundary perspective and land sharing deals go on without exclusive ownership. Hmmm!!