During my latest project we had a lot of discussions concerning signage and way finding in terminal buildings. We all take it as given but have you ever thought about the many different ways of coloring, using arrows, writing texts etc.?

Here are some examples I want to share with you and it would be great to receive your thoughts on this topic:

Issue 1: How do you tell the passenger to go straight ahead? Arrow up or arrow down? The jackpot question. Both applications are used whereas the arrow pointing upwards seems to be more popular. Here are some examples: VIE, BCN (and all other AENA airports)-> arrow down; MUC, FRA, AMS -> arrow up. Both seem to work just fine.

Issue 2: Baggage reclaim or baggage claim. Have you ever noticed that in airports one can find both 'baggage claim' and 'baggage reclaim'? I received a comment on this from Dr. William J. Hill, a BHS expert I know:

Dear Max,

I understand from you that Mr XYZ wants to change the term 'Reclaim' to 'Claim' on existing static signs in XYZ.

Both of the above terms are used in airports around the world. The travelling public and airport operators use and understand either term.
For example Brisbane, Brussels, Gatwick, Heathrow, Kuala Lumpur and Schiphol airports use the term 'Baggage Reclaim' whilst Changi, Frankfurt, John F. Kennedy, Munich, Narita and Suvarnabhumi airports use the term 'Baggage Claim'.

The term 'Baggage Claim' is perhaps more of an Americanism and it can be argued that 'Baggage Reclaim' is the grammatically correct term in this context. The Oxford English Dictionary definition for 'reclaim' is "to seek the return of one's property". One of the definitions for 'claim'
is "to demand as one's due or property", the inference being that the object being demanded had not been, or may not have been one's property initially. This is not the case in an airport context. In addition, the passenger is not demanding, but rather seeking.

I therefore believe that there is no problem in using the term 'Baggage Reclaim' on XYZ signs as this term is used in many well known international airports and will be understood easily, particularly in conjunction with the baggage icon.

Best Regards,
Bill

Really interesting if you take a moment to think about it. How about you? Have you ever come across further interesting signage controversies, or struggled with confusing signage, or recognized an ideal or unusual signage solution?