Steps
1. Orientation - First, you want to make sure the person understands where they are. Telling a person to go straight depends on which way they are facing. So the first step is to help the person determine their location, and understand where the goal is. 
2. Route decision - You obviously want to select the easiest route. This may not be the shortest, and will require other considerations. A woman in high heels may not appreciate being told to go on the shortest route when that route is irregular and uneven. 
3. Route monitoring - You want to have signs that assure the person they are going in the correct direction and tell them how far they need to continue. 
4. Destination recognition - It is important to tell people when they have arrived at the destination. Sometimes, it may seem obvious, but what is obvious to your staff may not be so obvious to visitors! 

for further reference

Signs can age includes information (such as maps and instructions), wayfinding (directions, arrows, etc.), identification (restrooms, building names, floors, entrance/exits), and regulations (warnings, traffic signs, and rules). Labeling tells about a product: identification of the product, instructions on how to use it, environmental advice, warnings and advertisements. Labeling can be considered a subset of signage.

We can broadly classify three different types of signage:

1. Branding = “decorating" / Labeling / Identifying Identifies "what something is", including presentation of image

2. Directing = Wayfinding Tells how to get somewhere, often including arrows

3. Instructing = Offering / Informing / Requesting / Advising / Warning / Forbidding Gives information on what is available, how to use and NOT use it, including safety advice and caution

1. BRANDING

One type of branding is a label or identification of the item, product, company or designer (similar to a logo). This usually requires only a simple one-to-one translation (病院　= hospital) or transliteration (高島屋 = Takashimaya).

Sometimes the choice between translation and transliteration is difficult. With proper names, using both can be a solution (e.g. 高島屋 = Takashimaya department store). But should 市役所 be translated as City Hall or transliterated as Shiyakusho? The choice here depends on the location of the sign, the intended reader, and the message.

Another type of "decorative" branding promotes an image through font, color, and choice of language (English for globalization, French for fashion, Chinese for orientalism, etc.). The message is not in its content but rather in its form.

Branding is not required to be grammatical or even to make sense, but it should reflect the desired image and not be offensive or misleading.

2. DIRECTING (WAYFINDING)

3. INFORMING / INSTRUCTING / WARNING

           Offering   Informing   Requesting    Advising   Instructing     Warning    Forbidding

           Offering   Informing   Requesting    Advising   Instructing     Warning    Forbidding

Linguistic landscapes () are the written and spoken words and pictures we see and hear around us, made up mostly of signs.

Signage includes information (such as maps and instructions), wayfinding (directions, arrows, etc.), identification (restrooms, building names, floors, entrance/exits), and regulations (warnings, traffic signs, and rules). Labeling tells about a product: identification of the product, instructions on how to use it, environmental advice, warnings and advertisements. Labeling can be considered a subset of signage.

BRANDING

Branding refers to the function of providing an image for the product which does not have any other communicative purpose. It is similar to a product logo, more important for its or aesthetic sense than for the actual meaning of the words it uses.

One type of branding is the name of the product, company or designer (similar to a logo), but a different type of "decorative" branding can be seen on T-shirts, bags, stationary, etc. It promotes an image through font, color, and choice of language (English for globalization, French for fashion, Chinese for orientalism, etc.). The message is not in its content but rather in its form.

"Branding" is not required to be grammatical or even to make sense, but it should reflect the desired image and not be offensive or misleading.

Two examples of unintentionally offensive branding can be seen below. Fig. Xa shows a group of entertainers in a 48-hour marathon program hosted by Fuji TV in 2015, with T-shirts with the program slogan “DO HONKY. No TV. No life.” "Honky” (or honkie) is a racial slur against white people, often used in contrast to the “N” word for black people. Fig. Xb shows another taboo word (the “F” word) boldly used to describe a sale in XXX when?

WAYFINDING

Wayfinder signs are a simple means of directing how people find their way to reach a destination.

This is the basic process: 1. Orientation - Attempting to determine one's location, with respect to objects that may be nearby and how the desired destination can be reached. 2. Route decision - Selecting the optimal route from their destination to their intended location. 3. Route monitoring - Keeping frequent signage so visitors can keep checking in order to make sure that the selected route is heading towards to the right destination. 4. Destination recognition - giving ample signage to inform the visitors that they are at their intended location http://aplus.com/a/apexsign/-d5b44b8f-123a-47bc-a746-8f1fa5cb19ed?no_monetization=true

INFORMING

INSTRUCTING

WARNING

Safety signage

BOTTOM-UP vs TOP-DOWN

SIGNAGE CLINES

A final factor to consider is presentation. Signage that is meant to introduce a product will want to use a pleasant presentation that holds the eye. On the other hand, an ominous sign will want to capture the attention of the readers only long enough to make it perfectly clear that they should stop doing something or react in a manner necessary to protect themselves or others. The former might want to use a flowery script with a colorful background, or images that suggest rather than scream, even if the meaning is clear. On the other hand, the latter would want to be in clear and overt colors, most typically white, black, and red, with short words and strikingly urgent symbols.

There are two distinct polarities in translation. One is literal and complete translation, with clarity and accuracy in meaning. The other is more figurative, emphasizing beauty, form, and cultural reinterpretation.

Depending on the type of sign, the method of translation may be different. Some types of signage demand a more literal translation, whereas others require a more figurative one. The graph below shows a cline of signage (including both sign and label) types (=functions) and the methods of translation they prefer.

Another polarity is politeness vs. conciseness, which goes hand and hand with the question of length. Even adding the simple word “please” can convince a potential customer to use the service, but can also create a false atmosphere of choice in a life-threatening situation.

The opposite of politeness, i.e. rudeness, should never be permitted—no sign should be allowed to offend. Likewise, a sign should not be overly wordy, the opposite of concise, or this will discourage the reader altogether. Thus, the polarities in the graph below are neither negative nor contradictory qualities, but they are desired differently by different sign functions. We propose another cline of translation function with respect to the polarities of politeness vs. conciseness as follows:

A final factor to consider is presentation. Signage that is meant to introduce a product will want to use a pleasant presentation—one that holds the eye. On the other hand, an ominous sign will want to capture the attention of the reader only long enough to make it perfectly clear that he or she is expected to stop doing something or otherwise react in a manner that is necessary to protect their own safety or that of others. Therefore, the former might want to use a flowery script with a colorful background, or images that suggest rather than scream, even if the meaning is clear. On the other hand, the latter would want to be in clear and overt colors, most typically white, black, and red, and use short words and strikingly urgent symbols.

A final point that is necessary to answer for any multilingual sign is the question of language itself: the choice of language or languages, which depends not only on the target audience but on the environment as well, and both of these are mutually dependent. The environment will to a certain extent dictate the target audience; after all, one will not want to spend time worrying about translating hotel signs in a small Midwestern town into Chinese and Japanese. On the other hand, even if a sign is translated for its target audience, it can be wrong or even offensive within the context of the sign’s environment. A case in point is the example of a sign in the women’s restroom at a Japanese tourist attraction, written solely in Korean, admonishing the reader to keep the door closed. The fact that only one language was chosen for this sign indicates that the writer believes that only one cultural group could possibly be responsible for the transgression. Here is a case where politeness dictates that if a sign is put up it all, it should be put up in the major languages of all possible readers and/or, preferably, using iconic images to get the message across without having to resort to a written language at all.