Spotted a perfect design system in the wild at the Denver airport

I was stuck on a long layover and noticed all the wayfinding signs used the same typeface, arrow style, and blue color, making it super easy to navigate a huge place. It made me think about how our own component library could use that kind of strict consistency for icons. Has anyone else found inspiration for their system in unexpected public places?

2 comments

2 Comments

evana716d agoMost Upvoted

Totally get what you mean about finding inspiration in public places... I had the same feeling in a big hospital last year. Every single sign, from the parking garage to the patient rooms, used the exact same green color and a really clear, simple icon set. It made me realize our own icon library had like three different styles for a simple "check mark"... We went back and made a hard rule that every icon has to use the same stroke weight and corner radius now. That kind of real world consistency is way more powerful than any style guide talk.

patricia_wright6d ago

But what if that consistency makes things boring? Sometimes a little visual variety helps people notice important info. Too much sameness can make everything blend together.