Eden Project Banners

Visitors to Eden Project are welcomed by a series of rather gorgeous banners lining the walkways down from the car parks to the visitor centre. The banners were designed by the Sensory Trust's Accessible Information guru, Stuart Spurring.

The idea was to create the feel of a conversation, as close as you can achieve without a person doing it for real. Each banner has a sentence starting with "If you believe..." and leads to the next one, and on, each one carefully set at a distance that corresponds with the average reading speed. Their success comes from a skilled combination of simplicity, powerful prose and attractive inclusive design.

The design takes into account things like contrast, font size and clarity and we chose single strong images for each banner. The images show a rich mix of people and activity - pictures are a good way of conveying the idea that this is a place for everyone with a great range of things to do. They are also a great way of saying to different people 'we expected you to come'. For some disabled people this is sadly all too rare.

There were a few more subtle issues that we considered when creating and placing the signs. For instance, the height of the main text was designed to be comfortable and easy to read for people walking and in wheelchairs.

One of the more unusual barriers to access that needed to be overcome at the Eden Project was the plants. They will keep growing! The banners have been designed with a redundant image on the lower section of each one so that nothing vital will be obscured as the planting grows.

This is an excellent example of accessible information that is both legible and attractive.

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