Case Study: Victoria & Albert Museum improves visitor wayfinding with dn&co.

Victoria & Albert Museum unifies seven miles of galleries with dn&co.

dn&co. was engaged by the Victoria & Albert Museum to address a significant wayfinding challenge. With visitor numbers having tripled over a decade, the museum needed a comprehensive system to help its four million annual visitors navigate seven miles of galleries across three interconnected buildings, ensuring they could reliably find paid exhibitions and explore the vast collection with confidence.

The solution implemented by dn&co. centered on a strategic use of color, reserved as a beacon for paid exhibitions, and a city wayfinding approach that included renumbering floors to make distant galleries feel more accessible. They redesigned the printed map for better legibility and digital use and created a discreet, material-sensitive signage system from tulipwood. As a result, the system successfully protects a core revenue stream while encouraging broader exploration, with specific impacts like the Ceramics gallery appearing to move from Level 6 to a more approachable Level 4. The work has been recognized with awards including an SEGD Honor and Transform Gold.

Victoria & Albert Museum