The Salvation Army’s Open Arms Centre faced with a universal semiotic issue due to its signage. The centre provides community and family services to the neighbourhood of Uniacke Square, Halifax. Most of the kids that come in are new immigrants between the ages five to twelve. 

Diversity in language and culture combined with design abstractions was leading to misinterpretation. Regardless of language, there is also a young demographic that may not read and follow signage.

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There needed to be a shift away from the emphasis on conceptual icons. The solution was to remove the person and focusing the object/activity of each space we can instead focus on our shared experience.