Around this office, we have some projects which are bi-lingual, some trilingual and even one which has over seven languages involved. Multi-lingual signage for hospitals, airports, and casinos often challenges the designer to layout text before knowing the meaning and translation of the words involved. With Chinese characters, the designer might use a series of boxes to represent an estimated length for the word.
But it’s always a guessing game. Of course, online translation services might help, but what if they’re wrong? Imagine the horror to designer and client if a sign project is fabricated and installed with the wrong text? This predicament is not exclusive to sign designers. This packaging example demonstrates the danger of waiting for translated text.