Navigating an elite sports arena on a budget.

AIS Arena’s 5,275sqm refurbishment included its spectator wayfinding, so I built the system around simplicity: 16 sign types, 350+ pieces, each with one clear job. The trade-off was fewer showpiece moments for more consistency, because a crowd on the move doesn’t have time to decode anything.

Then the Canberra Brave temporarily turned the arena into an ice rink. More than 42,000 people came through to find their seat across 14 games, with nearly 3,000 a night, the biggest crowds seen in the Australian Ice Hockey League.

The best compliment a sign can get is being ignored.