Sign companies are accustomed to serving a broad range of clients, but when the customer is a major healthcare provider, the project scope often includes hundreds of signs. In fact, rapid growth and structural changes within the health-care industry represent a boon to the on-premise sign industry, a trend that promises to continue in the future.
标识公司习惯于服务各个行业的客户，但是如果客户是医疗服务供应商，那么该业务范围通常包含几百种标识。事实上，医疗保健行业的迅速发展和内部结构转变，对目前的标识行业来说是一个福音，未来也会继续发展这一趋势。
Healthcare in the US has become an economic juggernaut, experiencing much faster growth than the economy at large. In 2015, healthcare spending by the federal government totaled more than $3 trillion and accounted for more than 18% of the nation’s overall GDP. Looking forward, the International Monetary Fund’s 2015 World Economic Outlook Database forecasts that healthcare spending will grow at a rate of 6% per year during the next 10 years.
医疗保健已经成为美国经济的主导力量，其增长速度比整体经济增长快得多。2015年，据联邦政府调查显示，医疗保健开支总计超过3万亿美元，占全国整体GDP的18%以上。展望未来，国际货币基金组织根据“2015全球经济数据”预测，在未来10年里，医疗保健开支会以每年6%的速率增长。
Additionally, changes occurring in the healthcare marketplace have placed greater emphasis on the costs and convenience of medical services. Besides helping boost the level of hospital construction and renovations, shifting market demands have increasingly spurred construction of community-based outpatient facilities, many of which serve as satellite treatment centers for large, urban hospitals. Like their parent facilities, each of these neighborhood clinics has significant needs for identification and wayfinding signage.
同时，医疗保健行业的内部转变使得人们更加重视医疗服务的成本和便利。除了帮助促进医院建设和翻修的水平，市场需求的转变也推动了以社区为基础的门诊设施建设，其中许多设施都是大型城市医院的卫星诊疗中心，而每个社区诊所对导视标识的需求十分迫切。
The St. Vincent story
St. Vincent医院的故事
Take the Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, WI, for example. It was founded in 1888 when Bishop Frederick Katzer penned a letter to the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Springfield, IL, requesting their help in founding a new hospital in Green Bay. The sisters’ determined efforts led directly to the opening of Green Bay’s first hospital in December of the same year in a 23-room house equipped only with modest resources. Building on this humble foundation for more than a century, today’s HSHS St. Vincent Hospital has become a thriving regional healthcare center with a staff of more than 2,200.
就以修女医疗保健系统（HSHS）的St. Vincent医院为例，来说明标识系统在医疗保健行业的重要性。该医院位于美国威斯康星州格林贝，成立于1888年，当时主教弗雷德里克·卡茨给位于斯普林菲尔德圣弗朗西斯第三修道会的修女写了一封信，请求她们帮助在格林贝建造一所新医院。修女们的坚定努力成就了同年12月格林贝第一家医院的开业，该医院共有23个房间，仅配备了有限的设备资源。在这个简陋的基础上建造翻新一个多世纪以来，如今的HSHS St. Vincent医院已经成为一个蓬勃发展的区域性医疗中心，其员工超过2200人。
The hospital’s rich history and identity in the Green Bay community represented a focal point of design considerations in 2011 when the hospital initially contacted O’Connor Sign Planning & Design Ltd. (OSP&D; Oconomowoc, WI) seeking to upgrade existing signage. Cheryl O’Connor’s firm specializes in providing sign planning, wayfinding and sign design services for healthcare, educational and corporate facilities. OSP&D has been providing design services to the HSHS for nearly 30 years.
2011年该医院负责人联系到奥康纳标识设计有限公司（OSP&D），想要升级现有标识，该医院悠久的历史以及其在格林贝的地位就可以作为标识设计考虑的焦点。谢丽尔·奥康纳的公司是专门为医疗、教育和企业机构提供标识规划、导视系统和标识设计服务的。OSP&D公司为HSHS提供设计服务将近30年了。
A central element in HSHS St. Vincent’s new signage is the custom grapevine icon, a biblical reference significant to the organization. Practicality also was a key consideration, as the hospital sought a signage system that could be changed as its needs evolve.
HSHS St. Vincent医院新标识的中心元素是定制的葡萄藤图标，它来源于圣经，对整个标识系统起到极其重要的作用。实用性也是需要考虑的关键元素，因为医院寻求的是可以随着其需求发展而变化的标识系统。
To initiate this process, HSHS St. Vincent contracted with OSP&D to perform a complete interior and exterior wayfinding assessment and develop a corresponding solution. OSP&D performed an exterior signage audit for HSHS St. Vincent, as well as for Bellin Hospital, a competing facility not affiliated with HSHS but sharing the same city block in Green Bay. This wayfinding audit assessed not only the hospitals’ existing signage, but also incorporated surveys of existing traffic signage, overhead street lighting, pavement markings, cross-walk locations/markings, landscaping, bus stops and typical traffic patterns.
为了开展这个项目，HSHS St. Vincent医院与OSP&D公司签订合约，对医院内部和外部导视系统做出完整的评估，并制定相应的解决方案。OSP&D对HSHS St. Vincent做了外部标识系统审计，同时也为一家不隶属于HSHS但在格林贝同一街区的竞争机构——Bellin医院做了审计。这种导视系统审计不仅对医院的现有标识进行评估，而且还包含对现有交通指示牌、头顶的路灯、路面标识、人行横道标识、绿化、公共汽车站台和典型交通模式做出了评估。
They shared the findings with the City of Green Bay and, shortly after the review was completed, HSHS St. Vincent contracted with OSP&D to move forward with the exterior signage (Fig. 1). “During the course of our wayfinding study,” said O’Connor, “the hospital was rebranding its logo, which created an immediate need to implement the exterior signage package and also to address ongoing issues with the public’s ability to find the hospital’s emergency entrance [Fig. 2].” Why? Because HSHS St. Vincent’s main entrance and Bellin’s emergency entrance are both located on the same street; Bellin’s main entrance and HSHS St. Vincent’s emergency entrance also are both located on an adjacent street. OSP&D worked with the city to rewrite sign codes to meet the needs of both hospitals.
他们对格林贝城市研究报告进行分析、评估后不久，HSHS St. Vincent医院与OSP&D公司达成了先制作外部标识的协议（图1）。奥康纳说：“在研究导视系统的过程中，我们发现，该医院急需一套重塑的外部标识系统，而当前需要解决的问题是确定医院急诊室入口的位置[图2]。”为什么？因为HSHS St. Vincent医院的大门和Bellin医院的急诊室入口都位于同一条街道上；Bellin医院的大门和HSHS St. Vincent医院的急诊室入口也都位于一个邻街。OSP&D公司不断分析研究该城市，重新设计标识以满足两所医院各自的需求。
Colortech of Wisconsin Inc. (Green Bay) manufactured and installed the exterior signage designed by OSP&D. Mike Klaus coordinated the project for Color-tech. “St. Vincent Hospital is located in the Astor Park Historical District,” he said, “which meant meeting with members of the historical district organization and affected neighbors to affirm that this project would be beneficial to all parties. Although this permitting process spanned three years, installation of the entire project was to be completed within only 10 working days.”
威斯康星Colortech公司（格林贝）对OSP&D公司设计的外部标识进行了制作和安装工作，该项目负责人由迈克·克劳斯担任。他说：“St. Vincent医院坐落于阿斯特公园历史街区，这就意味着要会见历史街区组织成员，并且让他们相信该项目对各方都有益。尽管这个说服过程跨越了三年的时间，但是整个项目的安装仅在10个工作日就完成了。”
APCO Architectural Sign Systems (Atlanta) manufactured the interior signage (Fig. 3 & 4), which was ordered after completion of the exterior sign package and was also installed by Colortech. HSHS St. Vincent requested that OSP&D apply the same design concepts developed for the exterior to achieve a consistent visual image and flow. But because of departmental name changes and floor remodeling in the hospital related to updated space planning, they completed a new interior signage study.
APCO建筑标识系统公司（亚特兰大）制作了该医院的内部标识系统（图3和图4），内部标识是在外部标识系统完成之后启动的，也是由Colortech公司安装的。HSHS St. Vincent医院要求OSP&D公司设计出和外部标识同一理念的内部标识，从而达到统一的视觉效果。但是由于医院部门名称变更和楼层改造要与升级空间规划相匹配，因此他们做出了一套全新的内部标识系统。
The HSHS St. Vincent Hospital project represents successful coordination among firms operating locally, regionally and nationally. “This project really was a collaborative effort,” said APCO’s Teresa Cox. “It emphasizes our capabilities to team with designers and local sign companies to provide the best combination of products and services.”
HSHS St. Vincent医院的标识项目在本地运营公司、区域性运营公司和全国性运营公司中是一个成功的案例。APCO公司特蕾莎·考克斯说：“这个项目是我们共同努力的结果，增强了我们与设计团队和当地标识公司相互配合的能力，从而为客户提供最好的产品和服务。
Signing a medical campus
医科大学标识
Key aspects in planning architectural and wayfinding signage projects also come into play when once-separate facilities are combined via acquisitions and mergers, or when the physical site is a sprawling campus, as in the case of many university-affiliated medical centers. ID Signsystems (Rochester, NY) has developed a comprehensive system for such projects, which is reflected in signage the firm recently provided for Rochester Regional Health and the University of Rochester Medical Center (Fig. 5 & 6).
通过收购和兼并的方式联合起来的独立机构，或是许多隶属于大学的医疗中心，在为其设计标识的时候，需要考虑规划建筑和导视标识系统的关键方面。ID标识系统公司（纽约罗切斯特）为这种标识项目制定了一套综合型系统，就像该公司最近为罗切斯特区域保健公司和罗切斯特大学医学中心制作的标识系统（图5和图6）。
“A major part of the planning and design process crucial for ongoing system development is the creation of powerful guidelines,” said Steve Harroun, the firm’s director of wayfinding. “These documents profile every sign type, as well as the planning logic, color, material and modular system palette that grounds each element. Effective guidelines not only enforce consistency, they also make expanding the system far easier by ensuring that new additions fit well into the existing vocabulary.”
ID标识系统公司导视系统设计负责人史蒂夫·哈恩说：“在规划设计过程中，对系统持续性发展起决定作用的是建立强有力的设计准则。这些设计准则包括每一种标识类型、规划设计逻辑、颜色、材质以及模块化系统调色板等等。高效的设计准则不仅能达到整体的一致性，而且能确保新元素匹配现有标识，更易于扩大标识系统。”
Reflecting on the fact that change has become endemic to the contemporary healthcare industry, Harroun said, “A strong planning process results in a wayfinding system that can survive the many changes and expansions that occur over time. The signage system must have a powerful, modular logic that extends beyond the signs them-selves to the management of new signs and alterations of existing signs.”
这也折射出一种现象，当代医疗行业的转变是极为普遍的。哈恩说：“一套高效的规划过程能够保证导视系统会随着时间的推移不断转变和发展。标识系统必须有一套强大的、模块化的逻辑准则，来管理新增标识和现有标识。”
Choctaw clinic project
乔克托诊所项目
The additional signage opportunities stemming from the expansion of community outpatient facilities are exemplified by a recent project designed and manufactured by ASI Signage Innovations (Kenner, LA). ASI furnished colorful interior signage (Fig. 7 & 8) for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ new outpatient facility which incorporates three floors, 35 treatment rooms, an emergency department and public health clinics.
扩展社区门诊机构也会带来额外的标识项目，ASI标识创新公司（肯纳拉，洛杉矶）最近设计制作的一个标识项目就是很好的例证。ASI公司为密西西比州乔克托印第安人的新门诊制作了彩色的内部标识系统，包含三层楼、35间病房、一个急诊室和公共健康门诊的所有标识。
“The wayfinding concept at Choctaw Health Center was enhanced through the use of digital imagery added to the modular sign system,” said ASI President Jim Bishop. “ASI/Louisiana, in conjunction with the client and Singleton Architects, selected photo-graphic images from the Choctaw Nation and coordinated a unique wayfinding concept by adding these images to the signs via print-on-panel technology. The images were organized into separate themes for each floor of the facility. Beadwork was designated for the first floor, basketry for the second floor and wooden handicrafts for the third floor. All of the objects photographed were individually produced by artisans living on the Choctaw lands. These items thus carried cultural elements of the Choctaw Nation throughout this project. The overhead department signage also includes secondary translations of English to Choctaw.”
ASI公司总裁吉姆·比绍说：“通过将数码图像添加到模块化标识系统中，增强了乔克托保健中心的导视系统设计理念。ASI公司和客户以及Singleton Architects制作公司进行合作，从Choctaw Nation网站选择一些图像，通过喷印技术将其添加到标识上，形成一种独特的导视系统设计理念。这些图像被设计为整个门诊机构每一楼层的独立主题。串珠饰是一楼的主题，编织物是二楼的主题，木制品是三楼的主题。图像中的所有物品都是住在乔克托地区的工匠们做出来的，它们将乔克托族文化元素融入其中，贯穿于整个标识系统。所有的部门标识都包含英语和乔克托语。”
Rising with the tide
持续发展
Changes in today’s healthcare marketplace have spurred greater emphasis than ever before on the various elements influencing patients’ experience and overall satisfaction. Signage has become the calling card for progressive healthcare organizations nationwide, representing a principal focus in the branding and planning process for every medical facility, regardless of size or location.
当今发生在医疗保健市场的变化，比以往任何时候都重视影响病人体验和整体满意度的各种因素。标识已经成为先进的全国性医疗保健组织的名片，代表了所有医疗机构在品牌规划过程中考虑的主焦点。
