| New York, 25 May 2004 |
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| A touch of the Dutch in Steven Spielberg’s new movie, ‘The Terminal’ Signage seen in the movie ‘The Terminal’ was designed by the award-winning Dutch signage specialists Mijksenaar USA. The set of Steven Spielberg’s new movie, ‘The Terminal’, scheduled to open nationwide on June 18, 2004, is a full-scale mock-up of JFK International Airport in New York. Spielberg asked the designers of the user-friendly, color-coded signage at JFK –the award-winning Dutch signage firm Mijksenaar USA– to lend the set a vital touch of credibility. In 1999 Mijksenaar USA began work on a signage system for the major airports of the Port Authority New York & New Jersey: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark. The resulting design led to a coherent communication system that connects the various roads, parking facilities and terminals involved in this project. Signage at JFK International Airport has become something of a trademark. Most people viewing a photograph taken at JFK –a scene with a sign or a flight-information monitor in the background– have no trouble identifying the location. The design of JFK’s familiar signage features color-coding, that makes the airport’s signs highly recognizable. To make the mock-up as authentic as possible –a set that convinces moviegoers they’re looking at the real thing– Spielberg’s designers used the manual that Mijksenaar USA prepared for the Port Authority New York & New Jersey. Spielberg also hired Mijksenaar USA to double-check all set designs for correct graphics, accuracy of signage locations, references, terminology and pictograms. Some of the firm’s activities took place on the set itself. The movie Directed by Steven Spielberg, ‘The Terminal’ stars Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stanley Tucci. It tells the story of Viktor Navorsky, an Eastern European visitor to New York. Navorsky is on a plane headed for the United States when a coup in his homeland leads to the breakout of war. The uncertain situation not only prevents him from going home, but also invalidates his passport. He is refused entry to the United States. Stranded at JFK, he makes the airport his temporary home in the months that follow. In the midst of this absurd state of limbo, he falls in love with Amelia, a flight attendant. The movie is based on the real-life experiences of an Iranian refugee who spent 12 years camping out at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. |
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| Left: Steven Spielberg, right: Paul Mijksenaar Airport sign appears in the background |
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The set during filming |
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| Flight-information panel | |
Signage on the set |
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| The set during filming | Signage against a painted backdrop |
Visit www.theterminal-themovie.com for a trailer, a 3-D virtual tour of the set, and additional information on the movie. |
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| SEGD awards Mijksenaar with honors. New York, NY, May 2003 - Mijksenaar, international information design and consultancy firm, calls two new design awards their own. Only shortly after I.D. magazine praised Mijksenaar’s wayfinding system at New York and New Jersey airports as ?the best signage of the 21st century, bar none?, the Society of Environmental Design (SEGD) congratulated Mijksenaar as recipient of two 2003 design awards: one Honor Award in the category Wayfinding for the wayfinding system for New York and New Jersey airports, and one Merit Award in the category Wayfinding for graphics and signage at ArboNed, Netherlands. The Honor Award ranks as the highest award by the SEGD. |
| All award-winning designs will be exhibited and celebrated by jurors, designers, clients, and fabricators at the 2003 SEGD Annual Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, |
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For more information about SEGD awards, go to: www.segd.com/awards/2003.html Photography graphics ArboNed: Roos Aldershoff |
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| Simplicity and claricy makes wayfinding system ‘the best of the 21st century’. In I.D. (International Design) Magazine of February 2003, our new signing system as developed for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and as implemented at Terminal 4 at JFK and being rolled out not only at all other terminals of all 3 New York and New Jersey airports but also at Columbia International Airport, Ohio, is proclaimed ‘The best signage of the 21st Century’! For complete article click here |
| Schiphol Signage Best In ‘Ease of Finding Your Way’ Mijksenaar’s signage system for Schiphol Airport emerged as best in the IATA Global Airport Monitor 2001. This study, carried out by the international umbrella organization for air travel, evaluated European airports in a number of categories. Of all major airports studied, Schiphol took top honors in the ‘Ease of Finding Your Way’ category. This award confirms Mijksenaar’s expertise in the area of visual information. The following article illustrates the relevance of good airport signage. |
| Magazine Date Authors |
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Airport World June - July 2002 Sviti Pabari and Peter Morris |
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| Airport Services The Global Airport Monitor reveals in which aspects of airport services top score most highly. The top performers of the newly defined category ‘Very Large Airports’ group on average received the highest ratings for the personal touch - ‘courtesy/helpfulness of airport staff. The next highest rated service item is ‘Ease of finding your way through the airport/ Signposting’. Accessibility is also tackled well by airports in the ‘Very Large Airports’ category. as ‘Ground transportation to/from airport’ also received one of the highest ratings. Airports are very sensitive to the need of passengers for good clear information as they journey through the airport. It is also an area where they take effective steps to ensure these needs are meta as ‘Ease of finding way through the airport/Signposting’ is one of the highest rated services amongst the top three in all airport size categories. Another information related item, ‘Flight information screens’ is also highly rated by the top three airports in 25m to 40mppa and under 15mppa airport size categories. |
