New visitor signs for St Helier

Monday 25 July 2016

Visitors to St Helier will be seeing new signs to help them find their way around the town, after they were unveiled at the weekend.

The 2.4m high signs have been installed at 16 locations around the town area, ranging from Howard Davis Park to Jardins de la Mer and will include visitor information, such as maps and directions to public facilities and nearby attractions, as well as historical information on the surrounding area.

The signage project has been led by the Parish of St Helier, with significant funding and support from the Jersey Development Company and Tourism Development Fund, working with locally-based design partners The Idea Works.

Pictured above (left to right) are John Stievenard, Richard Lumborg, Geraint Jennings and project manager Laurence Phillips. 

Each sign has an individual map (and ‘You are Here’ symbol) which is orientated to the visitor’s line of sight, i.e. the direction they are facing when looking at the sign, which makes it easier for them to navigate their way around.

There are also 11 way-finding points on each sign, together with indicator arrows and estimated walking times and every sign includes information on the nearest public toilets, parking areas, shopping areas, bus terminal and nearby places of interest.

On the reverse of each sign, there are six information panels, each incorporating a historic image or representation together with a brief history or explanation of the area in which they’re located in both English and French, apart from one panel on each of the signs which is written in Jèrriais (Jersey Norman-French) and English. This work would not have been possible without the input and assistance of La Société Jersiaise, Jersey Heritage and Maison de Normandie.

It’s also intended to develop a series of audio tours which can be downloaded at each of the signage locations and the project managers will be working with Visit Jersey and media students from Highlands College to research, write and produce these audio tours, for introduction in 2017.