About us

Our user-centric approach encourages visitors to walk a little further and stay a little longer.

No two places are the same. Yet any town, campus, hospital or housing development share the same fundamental requirements:

To be legible and communicate a sense of place.

But this isn't just about signs.

That's why we work closely with local authorities, developers and institutions to develop bespoke strategies that put people movement first. We help turn masterplans into destinations to connect people with your place and make an impact.

Whether it's a historic market town, a brand new urban extension or something in between, our wayfinding strategies cut through complexities enabling everyone to engage with their surroundings.

Projects

What is wayfinding?

Wayfinding addresses the age-old problem that people are confronted with when they find themselves in a new place:

How do I find my destination?

Wayfinding is the art of gently nudging people along their way, using signs like stepping stones.

Many places are a complex mix of users and destinations. Understanding who the users are and where they want to go is key to getting this right.

What is interpretation?

Beyond navigation, there is another, crucial problem to solve:

How do we help people connect with a place?

We uncover what makes a place unique, shining a light on stories from its past that have shaped it and helping users build connections with the place they're in.

Whether a place has been standing for hundreds of years or is still being built out, its stories put it in context.

This connection-building tactic is called interpretation and it's an important element to successful placemaking.

Our expertise

Don't just take our word for it...

Award winning work...

Education + healthcare

Ray Dolby Centre

2025

Unique internal wayfinding for a unique research laboratory at the University of Cambridge’s world-renowned physics department, the Cavendish Laboratory.

Towns + cities

City Of London

2004

Wayfinding in the City of London

Education + healthcare

University of Bedfordshire

2023

An award-winning spatial branding project to create a sense of place and belonging across its faculties and schools.

Meet our team

We boast a diverse set of skills. From architects and masterplanners, to graphics, UX and 3D designers, we're uniquely positioned to understand complex spaces and have the insight and design skills to deliver exciting and beautiful results.

Sophie devises wayfinding strategies that get to the heart of a client's problem. She loves to uncover hidden gems that can become design inspiration for a project.

Sophie Campbell

Managing Director

An architect by training, Sue founded Placemarque in 2000 after discovering her passion was designing ways to help people connect with places.

Sue Manley

Consultant

Guy loves to get under the skin of a place and is particularly interested in how typography and graphic design can be used to reflect a place's identity.

Guy Warren

Consultant

Tom's background in product design and 3D design brings a practical perspective on how concepts will translate to a physical object in situ.

Tom Brookson

Project Director

Ellie's training in graphic design and visual communications gives her the insight to carry out wayfinding audits and understand the users' needs.

Ellie Firrell

Senior Designer, Project Manager

Jessie brings her creative flair to concept designs, inspired by her background in digital and print design, and her interest in nature and sustainable design.

Jessie-Jo Scaife

Graphic Designer

Tom has a strong background in the arts and environmental design and uses his skills in web design across all our projects.

Tom Tymon

Graphic Designer

Barnaby studied urban design and international planning and brings inspiration on designing places for people into his design work.

Barnaby Thomas

Graphic Designer

Alessia designs wayfinding interventions that help people get to grips with where they’re standing. Her love for the detail of found in tactile, handmade design influences her design work and storytelling.

Alessia Powell

Graphic Designer

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What we're talking about...

October 27, 2026

Designing for everyone, in every space

Designing for accessibility should be a key objective on every design project, but there are a few simple tactics that can be incorporated into schemes that will make a huge difference to achieving genuine accessibility for all.

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September 30, 2026

Future-proofing the evolving commercial estate

Future-proofing an estate is about recognising that change is inevitable and designing accordingly. For wayfinding, that means thinking beyond the individual sign. We create clear hierarchies of information, establish consistent design principles and develop guidelines that can be picked up by different teams at different points in the estate's life.

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August 13, 2026

Finding the DNA of a family of places

How do you create one coherent identity across multiple towns without losing what makes each one unique? The answer starts by uncovering the DNA of every place.

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