Opened in 2018, Simferopol International Airport’s striking design has led to it being nicknamed the Crimean Wave. The airport is packed with distinctive architectural features and plant life.
Art. Lebedev Studio was tasked with creating an intuitive navigation system to complement the bright, spacious interior.
Carefully considered routes
The perfect navigation system helps people find their way and avoid getting lost. This is exactly what ours does.
Navigation at Simferopol is helpful, bright, and easy to follow. Large signs are visible from any point, and navigation columns are spaced within line of sight of each other. Because of the cascading architecture of the interior, the media is positioned to make it visible from anywhere.
Visitor routes have been carefully planned, with registration 
on the first floor and security checks 
on the third. After the checks, passengers enter the main waiting hall and from there move on to their gates 
. The first two floors have restaurants, souvenir shops and rest areas.
The navigation points visitors in the right direction and reiterates at each stage so they know they are still on track.
Clear navigation
All elements of the navigation system are easy to see and styled in the same way. For example, information columns are a distinctive orange which can be made out even from a distance.
No looking around nervously to find a navigation sign. Just find some orange and move towards it!
Key information can be seen from 25 meters away thanks to the large typeface.
Columns on the first floor have pictograms of services 
available on the second and third floors.
Arrows show directions.
Pictograms explain what is located on upper floors.
Information about the current floor is presented in more detail.
Smartly sorted information
We came up with a special grading system to determine if a piece of information should be included on each column. This helps prevent subjectivity and allows to add and remove new items easily.
The columns are designed so that information panels can be replaced quickly.
Blending in with the architecture
The airport is as beautiful as a Crimean sunset on a warm summer’s night 
. The same goes for the navigation elements.
Letters and numbers in volumetric signs are white with colored edges. Icons are visually-pleasing and highly-detailed (people look like people, rather than geometric shapes).
Playful drawings over the doors cheer you up before your flight and add a little more clarity to the navigation. That’s an airplane , get your flight here!
Suspended consoles and panels provide more help with navigation.
Double-sided maps give a detailed overview of the airport.
Bonus: the map itself is easy to navigate.
Colourfully coded
The navigation system uses four colors to show the four main directions for passenger traffic.
- Departures
- Check-in
- Ticket offices
- Shops
- Arrivals
- Waiting area
- First aid
- WC
- Green corridor
- Phytosanitary control
- Control zone
- Red corridor
- Declaration
Pictograms
We drew a lot of simple and clear pictograms. Some of them are incredibly cute!
Pictograms can be found on the doors of halls, cafés, shops, pharmacies and restrooms.
Technical areas are numbered to help service workers.
Signs lead newly arrived passengers to the exit to the city 
.
Terminal square
The navigation covers the terminal square, too. Entrances have side signs that are easy to read from a car, while pedestrians are aided by navigation columns.
Outdoor columns use a larger typeface and icons so information is visible, even from a distance.
Drivers 
can find their way with the help of big banners.
art director
designers
- The studio wishes to thank Dmitry Chernenkov, Lev Ilyukevich and Lyudmila Goncharova for their help with the project
