Safety Signage that Stands Out

When Geo launched 12 years ago, the vision and purpose was to create original design with a clear, visual message.

Overall we aim to create design that can positively affect the lives of our audience. As an agency we have never specialised in a specific sector and this enables us to work with organisations that can really change lives.

Over the years we have worked with some inspirational non-profit organisations. Whether it’s designing creative appeals for The Wildlife Trust, developing new identities and visual strategy for London’s Air Ambulance, or building a unique website for visually impaired people for Moorfields Eye hospital, as a team we take great pride in creating visual solutions that make a real difference.

With the issues and obstacles created in every day life by the Covid pandemic, we now see a huge amount of directional signage. We found most of the solutions to be confusing, bland or more reminiscent of warning signs than direction systems. As designers we felt this was a real opportunity to make a real difference.

Our Chairman Terry Hewett shares his thoughts on the impact of Covid-19 on the creative industry.

Our ongoing work for The Portman Estate grabbed a lot of attention in the Marylebone area for its vibrant, original approach to advertising vacant units. Over a number of years our team have developed an original font and packaged this with positive messaging and vibrant messaging.

Based on this portfolio of work, The Portman Estate approached us to develop a series of strategic visual messages designed to keep people safe but also presenting the message in a bright and engaging way.

Unlike a lot of the ill-considered, generic social distancing signage we all see everyday, we felt it was important to approach this project much more like a traditional brand development process.

We used the same vibrant typographic approach used on previous work around the estate to create a continuity with the overall Portman brand, packaged in a system which had its own unique identity too.

Following the success of this project and as schools returned in September, we then turned our attention to the educational sector. Working with St Michaels School in Maidstone we created a system of way-finding which was not only informative and clear but was playful, informal and fun.