Toronto Airport – I Heart Thee

October 21, 2008 • 9:37 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning

Canadian national anthem

I do a decent amount of work related traveling. And while I like going to different spots around this fine planet there is the inevitable punch in the gut associated with airline travel. Sometimes you get punched early – no parking, a delayed flight, security shaking down an 87 year-old woman as you wait for an available bin to put your belt in. Sometimes you get punched late – the 2 hour tarmac wait once your on the plane, the obese guy sitting next to you, the broken chair you’ve managed to be assigned to.

But what if there was a place where security was nice to you? What if the all the wayfinding was well-designed and beautiful to look at? What if it was harder to find trash then a bathroom? What if the bathroom stalls not only had hooks on the doors but a shelf where you could rest your belongings? What if there was free wi-fi… everywhere in the airport? What if there were beautiful men and woman showering confetti over you as you passed through customs? Alright – well that last one was a lie but I’ll tell you that is how I felt after my Toronto Airport experience.

Let me geek out a minute and speak to the signage specifically. The large scale signage is based on a simple grid of dots that light up. Reminiscent of Graphic Thought Facility’s Mebox, this system allows for instant customization and looks really cool too. That same theory is then translated across other components of the wayfinding throughout the airport. Now apply that same thinking and attention to detail to the entire airport experience and well – you’ve got Toronto.