: Well-Organized Directional Signs to Help to Approach Destinations Effectively

Kintex showed its magnificent appearance on 29th April 2005 after completing the first stage of construction plan. Based on the goal of organizing a great number of worldwide trade shows and exhibitions, it is expected that numerous visitors from all over the world will stop by the exhibition center. Consequently, fabricating and installing visible and suitable sign systems on the accurate places are an urgent matter for the Kintex.

The Newest and Biggest Exhibition Center in Northeast areas
The KINTEX is the leading international exhibition complex in Northeast Asia in size, operational systems and service quality. It is equipped with facilities and infrastructure superior to other exhibition centers all over the world. In particular, the KINTEX exhibition hall is a single-floor pillarless structure, while most of the other exhibition centers in Northeast Asia consist of multiple floors. This unique feature makes it possible for KINTEX to effectively accommodate exhibition organizers' various demands and boost its reputation as an advanced international exhibition center. The Convention hall at KINTEX serves as an arena for business discussion, exchange and provides meetings between people from all over the world in a refined and relaxing atmosphere.

First Consideration on Sign System Project
For the representative exhibition center in Northeast area, Kintex was highly considering planning and organizing the complete sign systems. The sign system project took about seven months from Oct 2004 to April 2005. The project was mainly focused on the directional function of sign systems to prevent visitors from confusing locations and help them to attend and access conveniently shows. Therefore, to enhance its visibility, the proper and appropriate size of sign systems was first determined for the project. Since the distance from the main entrance to north entrance is over 300m, the height of the building is lofty and the gross area of the exhibition center is enormous, the images and texts on sign systems should be in a concise style and the number of sign systems need to be minimized, but the size of them could be produced getting bigger to get them noticeable to visitors. For right and effective placement of sign systems, the staff of the Kintex went around the outside and inside of the exhibition center to find out the optimal location of sign systems. There are Sign systems showing the each floor’s facilities at the front of escalators. They are designed to provide and remind visitors with directional information.

Different Types of Sign Systems
MecaArts Co. Ltd., designed all the sign systems, but the Kintex wanted to enhance the quality of sign system by outsourcing the project to the specialist sign company. The Kintex was looking for another company, which could modify the first draft of fonts, sizes, shapes and colors of sign systems. Eventually, Kintex selected Namhyo A&A Inc., for this project. Namhyo A&A amended all of the design of sign systems. A blue and sliver colors are used to all the sign systems for uniform appearance. These two colors are well in harmony with the colors of a structure. And the basic shape of sign systems look like a butterfly is fluttering in the sky because two panels are partly layered. For high durability, the frame of outdoor sign systems was made with stainless steels, while the frame of indoor sign system was made with galvanic steels and acrylic materials. The Kintex adopted pictograms, which the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy just developed. On the each exhibition hall, are large sign systems displaying each hall number. And a large-size LED message centers on each hall shows real-time information on the ongoing exhibition. Other striking sign systems are large-sized channel letter installed on the north and south entrances, and canopy sign on channel letter at the north entrances. Because the exhibition center is huge, safety issue must be highly considered in installing sign systems. Cheolwoong Woo, manager of Namhyo A&A, mentioned that despite of several works for exact structure calculation, we were asked to re-install sign system by a supervising company. He added that we were experiencing a difficult time in producing the complete sign systems.