Highlights

• Know your audience: Thorough qualitative research provided deep insights into the diverse needs of the visitors.
• Involve all relevant stakeholders: We facilitated co-creative validation rounds with all stakeholders by visualizing the impact of various alternative scenarios.
• Customized art and park experience: We transformed the detailed feedback from visitors, staff and other stakeholders into a clear, tailored wayfinding vision for the Middelheim Museum.
• Modular and multifunctional: Using this framework, we designed a flexible signage system that stands out when it should and blends in when it can.

Key challenge

A framework for the future

The Middelheim Museum is constantly evolving and wants to purposely plot its own course. To offer visitors the perfect experience, the museum team needed a deeper understanding of the visitor motivations, needs, and expectations. Our thorough qualitative analysis laid the groundwork for a robust, sustainable, and future-proof solution. We focused particularly on wayfinding and wayshowing, while also enhancing the overall museum and park experience.

01

Roadmap

To move forward, you must know where you start. We assessed the current situation with our expert eye and gathered insights by interviewing visitors. This allowed us to pinpoint key issues that needed addressing. By breaking them down into a roadmap for short, mid, and long-term actions, we made these challenges manageable.

02

Beyond the arrow

It's not just about direction signs. We took into account the entire site—the buildings, art, pathways, trees, and more—to effectively guide people through a series of structured decisions, seamlessly leading them to the desired destination. To unlock the full potential of the Middelheim Museum site, we visualized diverse contexts—both tangible, like signage elements, and intangible, like the allure of a narrowing path. This approach allowed us to explore the potential and interplay between these contexts during the co-creation sessions.

03

Walk the talk

Once the vision was implementation-ready, our cross-disciplinary design team was tasked with creating the necessary wayfinding elements aligned with the museum’s visual identity. The information panels in the signage system were conceived as a collage, creating a cohesive and flexible solution that adapts to the park and visitor needs. By strategically differentiating between various signage types, we achieved the perfect mix to guide, nudge, inform, and inspire visitors.

04

Balancing act

The signage should never compete with the art collection or the surrounding nature. That's why we opted for a layered 2D concept. Information panels are mounted on supporting profiles, with horizontal elements placed on vertical ones. At junctions, the profiles extend beyond the corners, forming a nod to urban furniture but with a unique twist. These unconventional details create a subtle, layered depth that perfectly complements the unique museum park.