nature tourism services logo Interpretive signs at the Chelsea Australian Garden at Olinda

Interpretive signage

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Nature Tourism Services deliver
bespoke interpretation
signs. Our hand-coded
webapps provide
enhanced user accessibility via
online publishing sign content in HTML.

interpretation sign, Furneaux Geotrail interpretive signage at the Meeting place, Mungo National Park interpretive signs on the verandah at Corona Outstation north of Bourke interpretive signs insside room at Corona Outstation north of Bourke Feature interpretation signs at the Mount Canobolas Summit Precinct, Mount Canobolas SCA Feature interpretation signs at the Stringybark Creek Historic Precinct interpretive entry signage on the Ballina Cultural Ways Interpretation signage at entry to Great Victorian Railtrail interpretive post connecting with digital trail, Lissner Park, Charters Towers interpretation signage on the Furneaux Geotrail, Flinders Island Interpretation sign, Mungo Woolshed interpration node, Ballina Cultural Ways pathway interpretive sign in summit precinct, Mount Canobolas interpretation signs in the Chelsea Australian Garden at Olinda interpretive sign at the Walls Lookout, Mount Canobolas State COnservation Area trailhead entry sign to the Riverwalk West Cunnamulla interpretation signage along the Ballina Cultural Ways path Zanci woolshed interpretive signage

Interpretive signs invite users to attach positive meanings and values to their experiences in heritage settings. There are two types of interpretation signs – traditional and digitally integrated.

Traditional interpretation signs are the classic stand-alone entities where the sign content, aesthetic and narrative is limited to what is installed onsite.

Digitally integrated interpretation signs by comparison have customised webapp support meaning they also stand as a portal to a richer online experience.

At a functional level this includes publishing the sign content in HTML to ensure it can be read or heard by a user irrespective of their physical ability or native language. Additional content can also be provided such as to allow the user to follow their own lines of enquiry in relation to the interpretive messages.

interpretive signage and webapp in the Chelsea Australian Garden at Olinda

Above: A webapp both publishing sign content in HTML and providing a guided tour of the garden by the designer Philip Johnson was created as an integral part of the design and roll out of the interpretive signage for the Chelsea Australian Garden at Olinda in 2022. View the webapp ...

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Given the variability of internet coverage across natural areas, both types of signage are important tools for land managers to have access to. Ensuring the experience provider can easily and simply deliver digital content in areas with adequate mobile phone reception requires customised responses that can provide the service at minimal setup costs and no recurrent expenses.

One thing both types of signs have in common is the need to connect with people on both a rational and an emotional level. This requires a considered focus not just on signage content and messaging, but also on the overall sign aesthetic including the landscape setting within which the sign is located.

interpretive signage located within the Mungo Meeting Place

Above: Interpretive signage located within the Mungo Meeting Place, Mungo National Park

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Interpretation signs - UX design

We adopt a user experience (UX) design approach in our interpretation sign design process.

Users need to encounter interpretation signage in a setting that invites them to step aside from their journey in a safe and sheltered location to take a moment to appreciate their surroundings.

As they approach an interpretive sign, they will be responding to it at an aesthetic / intuitive level well before they get close enough to stop and read its written content. The delivery of effective interpretive signs requires a varied and diverse skill set to bring these threads together in an integrated manner.

At Nature Tourism Services we undertake all of the non material fabrication components of the interpretive signage process inhouse. We subcontract out the manufacture and installation of any signage elements to a select supplier base with whom we have fully integrated Total Quality Management systems.

Below: The signage we designed for the Chelsea Australian Garden at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne in 2022 demonstrates our signage design and production workflow. We craft up our design concepts in the Shapr3D drawing package on an iPad Pro. This allows us both to refine our ideas and also generate detailed concept sketches for client approval. From this point the program can export the dimensioned drawing our signage collaborators can use to produce the detailed design files needed to cut the materials and manufacture the signs.

creative interpretive sign designs for the Chelsea Australian Garden at Olinda developed using Shapr 3D modelling program on iPad Pro footprint-motif

Below: The restored Teilta Outstation north of Bourke was repurposed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service as a heritage node in 2024. We produced a 3D model of the building to help design integration of the bespoke interpretive signs we developed for the project. Our inhouse 3D modelling and corten-style powdercoated signs delivered a signage suite in keeping with the scale and heritage finish of the building.

interpretive sign suite for the Teilta Outstation restored pastoral property visitor node in 2024. footprint-motif

Interpretive sign design variety

Nuanced content development and graphic design solutions are central to the delivery of effective interpretive signs. Some examples of our approach in this regard are shown below.

Below: An example of how a consistent design pallette can run across a suite of interpretive signs comes in the case of the interpretation sign ensemble we produced for the Walls of China in Mungo National Park in 2014.

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interpretive signs at the Walls of China in Mungo National Park integrate create design to reflect the beauty and cultural significance of this location Interpretation signs at Mungo National Park show how stylistic consistency acres a suite still allows for each sign to have its own uniqque design quality The interpretation signs at Mungo National Park invested significant effort in the deep etching of graphic elements to clearly present the subjects being described in the text Use of artwork created by Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae in the 1860s and 70s is a feature of the interpretation signs at Mungo National Park walls of china mungo national park interpretive signage interpretation sign at the Wallks of China in Mungo national Park walls of china mungo national park interpretive signage walls of china mungo national park interpretive signage walls of china mungo national park interpretive signage
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interpretive sign landscape integration

The ideal interpretive sign project is one where the signage undertaken as an integral part of the precinct landscape design process.

This ensures that the signage is fully integrated with and supported by the landscaping rather than simply being 'dropped in' as an afterthought.

Visitor nodes are especially valuable assets to include as they provide 'step aside' places where people are invited to break their journey and consider the interpretive experience on offer.

On rare occasions there is also the opportunity to connect the signage directly with landscaping elements such as occurred in the case of the redevelopment of the summit precinct at Mount Canobolas in 2021.

Here a major interpretive sign featured the first public presentation of the Three Brothers creation story speaking to the formation of Mount Canobolas. A special artwork created by Mick Crook was commissioned by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service as part of this storytelling.

With the artist's permission, this artwork was then adapted by Marianne Walsh as a pavement installation that people pass across as they approach the sign from the carpark. The challenging work of constructing and installing this installation was delivered by Screenmakers and Botanic Landscapes.

mount canobolas interpretive sign and pavement feature
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interpretive research

The more supporting context that surrounds an interpretive narrative, the easier it is for us to connect with it and attach value to the interpretive sign.

The preparation of every interpretive sign is a journey of discovery into the hidden meanings and contexts surrounding some time, thing or place. Sharing the fruits of this research with the reader then underpins the design and production phase of the interpretive project.

A striking example of how this approach works in practice comes from our interpretive work for the redesign of the Stringybark Creek Historic Reserve visitor experience near Mansfield, Victoria in 2017/18.

Some details of this work at the site where three policemen were murdered on the evening of 26 October 1878 by a group of four men who thereafter became known as the Kelly Gang are outlined below.

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Creative research contributes to interpretive sign designs at Stringybark Creek Historic Area

RESEARCH - THE FIRST STEP

As one of Australia's best known cultural heritage sites, Stringybark Creek has never wanted for lack of interpretation.

The challenge for our project was to peel back the layers of meaning that have been draped over the locale to reveal how the events of 26 October 1878 were viewed by the communities who watched the aftermath of that day unfold around them in real time.

This questioning process revealed some exciting new insights.

One was the discovery in the archives of the charge sheet that led to Ned Kelly being hanged for the murder of Constable Lonigan. Another was our research that revealed the likely type of rifle Ned Kelly used in the attack on the police camp.

stringybark creek interpretive memorial plinths
stringybark creek interpretive sign project clipping

READ ALL ABOUT IT

The value of letting the events of the day speak for themselves provided a very simple and strong base for the interpretive sign project.

These primary materials were such a powerful record of the events of the day that Ned Kelly's own barrister at his commital hearing in Beechworth in August 1880 requested an adjournment so that he could read through the Argus newspaper reports in order to get a thorough account of what happened and when.

By using these accounts as the bedrock of the sign designs a layering effect was achieved. People wanting a quick and clean account of events can read the signs' headline narrative. Those wanting more detail can delve into the newspaper sections that feature as "graphics" on the signage.

Stringybark creek interpretation sign The importance of custom landscape design solutions as an integral part of interpretive signage is evident at Stringybark Creek Historic maps play a vital role in delivering creative interpretive sign solutions at Stringybark Creek Including historic newspaper accounts as images helps deliver detailed narratives in interpretive signs Interpretive sign showing how message heirarchy delivers multiple levels of visitor engagement Including historic content on interpretive signs provides first hand accounts of how heritage events were viewed by contemporary society interpretation signs provided the backdrop to official proceedings at Stringybark Creek in 2018 Custom interpretive sign structural designs coupled with bespoke landscape installations were a feature of the redevelopment of the Stringybark Creek Historic Precinct in 2018. the commemoration of the 140th anniversary of the deaths of three policemen featured the Victorian Police honour guard stringybark creek interpretive memorial plinths
footprint-motif interpretive sign showing deep etched birds

interpretive sign visual storytelling

The power of visual storytelling is enhanced by deep etching out the elements of interest in Photoshop. This is an approach we use in many of our interpretive signs.

A feature of our interpretive design process is that we always shape the story through images composed in Photoshop backdrops in the first instance. The text is then customised to describe and effectively caption the visual narrative. Good design transcends language barriers. Interpretive signs are a form of public art. They should be aesthetically pleasing.

interpretive sign showing the use deep etched images footprint-motif

Interpretive signs shape experiences

Interpretive signs should do more than assist people to attribute positive meanings and values to their heritage experience. They can also help to shape and enhance the nature of the experience itself.

A simple example here comes in the case of installing signage at a lookout at the end of a walking trail. Here the sign helps supports a sense of arrival and reinforces the notion of successfully reaching a destination.

This same approach also applies to the installation of signs along a track or other visitor corridor. Signs are strategic interventions that need to be used in a considered manner with the support of at least some landscape intervention. Creating a small node with the support of seating invites the user to break their journey and to more fully consider and engage with their surroundings. Additionally there may also be user safety issues in play where implicitly suggesting people stop mid track and congregate around a sign may put them or others at risk.

An example of this comes from the work we assisted Ballina Shire Council with in 2017 with the creation of a shared use cycle / walk path through the culturally highly sensitive location of East Ballina Aboriginal Place. Here the entry sign installation was carefully positioned so as to draw people well off the shared path into a safe and undisturbed interpretive node where they could take in the content on offer.

interpretive sign at entry to East Ballina Aboriginal Place

Thereafter along the course of the trail a similar approach was adopted where Ballina Shire Council responded positively to our idea to integrate a series of "step aside nodes" into the course of the path in such a way as to invite peple to safely break their journey.

interpretive sign Ballina Coastal Pathway

Another example of this approach comes from our work helping craft The Gully Aboriginal Place pathway experience at Katoomba in 2012. Here the concept of developing step aside nodes along the pathway was central to our approach. This was then integrated into the pathway construction design. Works also included installing a sheltered node to provide space for groups to congregate.

signage at The Gully Aboriginal Place Katoomba