China High-Speed Railway — National Signage System

Beijing South Station, one of China’s largest high-speed rail hubs and the pilot site for a national signage system

Background

With China’s high-speed rail network accelerating at an unprecedented pace, Beijing South Station faced the challenge of guiding massive passenger volumes through an extremely complex spatial environment—at a time when no unified signage standards existed for transportation hubs of this scale.

This project was initiated by the Ministry of Railways to support the opening of Beijing South Station as a national high-speed rail gateway.

Outcome & Impact

• Adopted as the complete signage system for Beijing South Station

• Supported growth from ~20,000 daily passengers (2007) to 185,000+ (2025)

• Became the foundation of the national railway passenger information signage standards

• Deployed across China’s high-speed rail network

Role & Leadership

Client: Ministry of Railways of China

Project Duration: 2007–2009

My Role

• Information Design Lead

• Led a team of 4 information designers

• Collaborated with Industrial Design, Graphic Design, and Copywriting teams (45+ designers total)

• Led information design end-to-end, integrating research, spatial logic, and system standards

• Conducted design research and legibility testing

• Delivered the Design Research Report

• Co-authored the Railway Passenger Information Signage System Graphic Signs & Elements Application Norm

Design Framework

Rather than separating information, graphic, and industrial design into isolated phases, I led information design as a system that informed every design decision throughout the project.

The work centered on three fundamental questions:

1. Where — Signage distribution & location

2. What — Information content and hierarchy

3. How — Form, legibility, and physical expression

This framework guided the entire project from planning through implementation.

Where - Signage Distribution & Location

Now we go into process, but structured and selective.

Stage 1: Spatial Planning

Using the client’s initial architectural plans, we modeled three primary station levels:

• Elevated floor: ticketing, waiting areas

• Ground floor: boarding gates, platforms, transfers

• Underground floor: parking and access

Key actions:

• Identified all usable spatial units

• Grouped units into functional zones

• Mapped relationships between zones

Outcome: a spatial foundation for consistent information placement.

Stage 3: Decision Points

This stage connected space and information.

Based on circulation analysis, we identified all decision points—locations where passengers must:

• choose a direction

• confirm a route

• or correct a path

At each decision point, we:

• defined required information types

• determined information priority

• specified signage placement and orientation

Decision points became the anchors of the signage system, ensuring that information appeared:

• exactly when needed

• in the correct sequence

• without redundancy

Outcome: a decision-driven signage placement strategy that reduced cognitive load and unnecessary signage.

What - Information Content & Hierarchy

Once decision points were defined, we determined what information belonged at each point.

Information was structured into:

• First-level: primary navigation (destinations, exits, platforms)

• Second-level: directional clarification

• Third-level: confirmation and reassurance

This hierarchy enabled:

• fast decision-making under pressure

• reduced cognitive load

• consistency across the station

How - legibility, Form, and physical expression

Legibility Testing

Existing international standards did not adequately address:

• Chinese character complexity

• extreme viewing distances

• dense passenger flow

I led original field research at Beijing South Station to establish minimum readable dimensions under real conditions.

Key Findings (25m viewing distance)

• Chinese characters ≥ 10 cm

• English letters ≥ 7 cm

• Numbers ≥ 7 cm

• Graphic symbols ≥ 15 cm

We also tested:

• sign height and angle

• lighting conditions

• degraded visibility environments

Graphic Design Collaboration

The information design team supported the graphic design process by:

• providing data-backed size standards

• advising on typography, spacing, contrast, and lighting

• ensuring semantic clarity of symbols and arrows

Signage Scale & Architectural Integration

The setting of signage and the expression of information are inherently tied to architectural scale—including ceiling height, viewing distance, and the physical size of the signage.

Beyond information clarity, the signage system needed to visually integrate with the station’s spatial environment to ensure consistency across different zones.

Final signage specifications were determined only after aligning:

• plate size

• installation height

• spatial proportions

• and architectural context

to maintain visual coherence throughout the station.

Industry Design Collaboration

During industrial design exploration:

• tested visibility under varied lighting conditions

• validated legibility ratios in poor environments

• ensured consistency between structure, scale, and information

Final System & Legacy

The final signage system integrated:

• spatial logic

• decision-point-based information hierarchy

• research-driven legibility standards

• coordinated graphic and industrial form

The project established a repeatable, scalable model for large transportation hubs and continues to influence China’s railway infrastructure today.