Museum Practice

Digital signs are appropriate for situations like ticket desks, where they can provide information to people queuing about the range of attractions and tickets on offer. Similarly in free museums they can have a marketing role in orientation areas, raising awareness of temporary exhibitions, events and activities. Where they don't work as well is as a replacement for traditional wayfinding signage. We used to have digital signage outside the lifts on each level, but the screens suffered from long term screen burn, and the provision of floor plans and directions does not significantly benefit from the possibilities offered by digital media in most situations. It would be interesting to see an environmental comparison between print and digital signage. Longer term, devices like smartphones may come to play a greater part in wayfinding, but until takeup of these is universal, there will always be a need to provide traditional signage.

The problem with digital signage is that it can, and does, fail. It may be old-fashioned but at least traditional signs are always there doing their job. Not everything has to be technical.