Tralee is one of County Kerry’s main tourist hubs. It functions as a stepping stone to explore Kerry and the Dingle Coastline more widely as well as it being a destination in its own right. Yet it didn’t have a cohesive wayfinding scheme to help visitors make the most of their stay.
The timing for this project was perfect – we were brought onboard while the Council was undergoing a brand refresh, bringing clean lines and a modern edge to County Kerry’s brand personality. Our concept design showcased the new brand by incorporating the brand colours and simple crown shape logo at the top of the sign.
We created mapping on two scales: a local map to help visitors explore the town, and a larger scale to give a sense of what else was on offer outside the town.
All in all, we designed a suite of signs for monoliths, digital arrival hubs, maps and fingerposts – plus interpretation plinths for parks and heritage trail plinths.
Working with historian Judith Hill, our signs gave snippets of the town’s historical stories, supplementing the Council’s own heritage trail app. With QR codes on each sign along the trail, visitors wanting to know more can scan the code for more in depth historical storytelling.
That wasn’t the only digital advancement that Tralee’s signs adopted. We proposed the use of NaviLens technology, which allows users to interact more easily with their environment by sending alerts to their phone when within a set radius – improving inclusivity and easing navigation.
And, like all our other projects in Ireland, everything was dual language.
The use of digital technology here really helps improve visitor experience and engagement.
Not only does NaviLens technology improve accessibility and inclusivity, which really is a game changer, but visitors can engage with the signage in two different levels of depth. Our interpretation panels offer story highlights to give visitors a good sense of where they are, but by linking signs to the digital trail, visitors have the chance to dive into more detail if they are hungry for more.
