Downtown Wayfinding Master Plan

Downtown Naperville is a thriving destination for Naperville residents and visitors from throughout the Chicago region and beyond. While many people rely on personal digital devices to navigate, key stakeholders believe that a coordinated system of motorist and pedestrian-scale signage (wayfinding signage) remains an important part of the downtown hospitality infrastructure.

Good wayfinding signage is an integral part of a branded, visitor centered streetscape, and the best wayfinding signage communicates valuable information with a distinctive style and carefully crafted message that is completely aligned with the downtown strategy. 

While current signage exists in and around downtown, a comprehensive refresh that includes the Downtown Naperville Alliance's (DNA) current logo and graphic standards, and a carefully crafted message that is completely aligned with the downtown strategy, is overdue.

Downtown Wayfinding Master Plan

Beginning in late 2022, the DNA partnered with the City of Naperville and project consultant Hitchcock Design Group to develop a Downtown Wayfinding Master Plan to guide the implementation of a coordinated system of motorist and pedestrian-scale signage.

The Downtown Wayfinding Master Plan summarizes the conceptual design, budget and implementation strategy for a coordinated family of graphic signs in and leading to downtown which are carefully aligned with the DNA's marketing strategy and brand/graphic standards:

• Directional signs - motorist and pedestrian-scale guidance leading to and within downtown
• Informational signs - static and/or digital pedestrian-scale information and maps within downtown
• Identification signs - gateway markers, public facilities, parking

The master plan also includes an opinion of probable construction cost for each sign type, an estimated budget (including both probable costs and funding sources) for the entire downtown, and an implementation strategy that summarizes potential phasing, timing, and responsibilities.

Once the Wayfinding Master Plan is approved, it is anticipated that the city will take the appropriate steps to establish a budget and prepare construction documents for bidding, fabricating, and potentially installing the first group of signs in late 2023. *Project plans and timeline subject to change.