CivicBrand wins Ketchikan pedestrian wayfinding project

CivicBrand will develop a new pedestrian wayfinding strategy and system for Ketchikan, Alaska, a cruise-heavy community of about 8,000 that receives more than 1.5 million visitors a year. The project is aimed at making downtown easier to navigate while encouraging exploration and reflecting the city’s character.

Why it matters: - Ketchikan sees unusual foot traffic for a town of its size, with many visitors arriving by cruise ship and spending only a few hours downtown. - A clearer pedestrian wayfinding system could help visitors move more easily between destinations and spread activity across downtown. - The project also matters for how Ketchikan presents its identity, culture and sense of place to millions of annual visitors.

What happened: - The City of Ketchikan selected CivicBrand to develop a new pedestrian wayfinding strategy and system for the Alaska community. - Ketchikan has roughly 8,000 residents and welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors each year. - On some days, more than 15,000 visitors enter the community, and most explore downtown on foot.

The details: - CivicBrand will start with on-the-ground fieldwork in Ketchikan using a human-centered design process. - The team will walk key routes from visitor arrival points into downtown and experience the current system firsthand. - CivicBrand will observe how people move through the community and talk with visitors about their experience. - The project includes a systematic audit of existing pedestrian wayfinding, with documentation of signs, decision points, gaps and opportunities. - The final work will include a comprehensive wayfinding plan, sign designs, location recommendations and fabrication-ready documentation for future implementation. - Ryan Short, CEO and co-founder of CivicBrand, said wayfinding is about more than signs and connects navigation, placemaking, identity and culture. - CivicBrand is a place branding and placemaking firm focused on public engagement, place branding, placemaking, wayfinding and destination strategy. - The firm has worked with cities, counties and destinations for 18 years.

Between the lines: - Ketchikan’s challenge is not just directional signage; it is managing a concentrated burst of visitors in a compact downtown with limited time and heavy pedestrian movement. - The city can use the wayfinding project to steer visitors toward a more coherent downtown experience and reinforce local character at the same time. - CivicBrand’s process suggests the system will be designed from actual user behavior, not just from map-based assumptions. - The company’s approach treats wayfinding as part of the larger experience of place, which could influence everything from sign placement to visual identity.

What's next: - CivicBrand will complete field observations and the existing-system audit before developing the new strategy. - The city will receive design guidance that can be used to move toward fabrication and implementation. - Future changes are expected to make downtown navigation more intuitive for visitors while supporting broader exploration of Ketchikan. - More information is available through CivicBrand’s social channels, including LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

The bottom line: - Ketchikan is investing in wayfinding as a visitor-experience tool, a downtown-connectivity tool and a place-branding tool at the same time.