A study on the design of a universal signage system for the Ruijin Soviet cultural heritage site

Abstract Ruijin, the birthplace of China’s first red regime, has always been the core of the central revolutionary base. Integrating the design of cultural heritage sites with universal signage systems is an effective way to protect and pass on red cultural heritage while promoting the continued dissemination of the national image. In heritage site tourism, the signage system is crucial in guiding, indicating, and explaining, serving as a critical component of essential public infrastructure. Given Ruijin’s rich and historic red cultural resources, the design of the signage system must consider the diverse needs of visitors from different nationalities, cultural backgrounds, and age groups. This study adopts a universal design perspective, using the red cultural heritage of the Ruijin Soviet period as a case study. It constructs universal metadata from three key aspects: Cultural Type, Data Attribute, and Data Type. These elements are then visually represented through digital technology. The study also incorporates theoretical support from semiotics, Gestalt psychology, cognitive psychology, and semantics. Through surveys, in-depth interviews, and a “structure-humanity” composite evaluation method, we thoroughly explores the relationships between perception, comprehensibility, visual cognition, and the design of universal signage systems. Additionally, the study analyzes the key factors affecting the universality of the signage system. The results indicate that visual cognition positively impacts the design of universal signage systems. Key factors influencing the universality of signage systems include symbolic element modeling, the familiarity of graphics, the semantic distance of graphics, and the rationality of graphic usage. These findings offer a strategy for creating a universal signage system guided by the heritage routes and based on the dimensions of perception, comprehensibility, and visual cognition. It provides new methods and perspectives for cultural education and heritage preservation in Ruijin and other red cultural heritage sites.