Points to consider when buying signs ( 06-October-2009 )
Signage - How and when to use Signs
How do signs make a difference in the promotion of a business?
Effective signage can improve any company’s image to a huge degree – it doesn’t always have to be the biggest spend that creates the best impression, although, as in life in general, you get what you’re willing to pay for. Consider a simple manufacturing unit, lost amongst hundreds of others on a not very well maintained industrial estate...... Clean, clear signage can ‘lift’ this one unit and make it easier to find and identify, plus it says to its clients ‘we care about how we look to the outside world’. It’s a bit like having a smart, freshly painted front door at your home: it tells the world you’re proud of what’s inside!
What jobs do signs do?
I always say that signs should do at least one but ideally several of these things: Advise, Instruct, Direct, Inform, Educate, Enhance and occasionally even, Entertain!
How do business owners decide what type of sign they need?
Leaving aside the purely advisory/instructional (such as road traffic and safety signs), practically every company will have a need to do at least one of the following
· direct its customers to its door,
· inform them of opening times, its products or services or even simply its name,
· educate them about technical details or special offers,
· enhance its image
· advise them of new products or offers
· And occasionally take the opportunity to entertain inan effort to be memorable.
A good sign maker should be able to offer you a means of doing all of the above, in style and within your specified budget.
The term ‘signage’ or ‘sign’ is a bit of a catch-all for anything which displays who you are, where you are, what you do, how to contact you etc. It could be a scrap of paper stuck to an office door, saying ‘Joe Smith Systems Co.’, but this isn’t likely to inspire confidence in potential customers, now is it? A professionally designed and manufactured sign will do a much better job.
Let’s take this fictitious ‘systems’ company from start-up to well-established.
Firstly, Joe Smith Systems Co. starts up with a warehouse and will need a sign to identify itself on an industrial estate. This should be large enough to be seen from the nearest main road, and positioned close to the building entrance, but away from goods deliveries areas. As it’s not likely to be visited after office hours it probably doesn’t need to be illuminated.
Materials to suit the sign and location
As to materials, it could be a framed (aluminium frame) foam PVC or acrylic (often referred to as ‘Perspex’ which is simply a brand name) sign, or for a more robust sign, one made from aluminium or aluminium laminate – which won’t need a frame. Shown here (Trafford Electrical) is an aluminium laminate tray sign for the larger sign and aluminium laminate flat panel for the ‘Deliveries’ signs. Note that both signs, despite their different ‘jobs’, display the company logo in the same place and follow the same basic layout. This helps to strengthen the brand image.
Smaller signs may be needed to indicate a variety of specific areas: goods inwards and outwards, car parking, storage, stacking, any safety instructions or trading hours, washroom, staff areas etc & so on.
Then Joe Smith Systems Co. grows and needs to occupy an office to accommodate its sales force. In a nice office building in town, this calls for a more sophisticated approach to signage.
Perhaps engraved signs at the entrance, simply stating the name of the company and its office hours? These could be aluminium, brass or at the top of the range, polished or brushed stainless steel, like those shown here for ‘Top Gear Recruitment’ and ‘Rocket Science Recruitment’.
Simple ‘line’ shapes can be engraved as well as text, so Joe Smith Co. could incorporate its logo here to define its brand. These types of signs are traditionally found at the offices of the ‘professionals’: accountants, doctors, dentists and so on, (think of John Street in Manchester, you’ll get the idea!) but can be equally well employed in many situations, especially where space is limited. Again, Joe Smith’s offices are unlikely to be visited at night, so illumination is not relevant.
A more contemporary alternative may be clear acrylic panels, held away fr om the wall by what are known as ‘stand-off’ fixings. They do what they say, they make the sign stand-off from the wall. The result is very effective at a reasonable cost. The example shown here is obviously ‘internal’ but this style of signage is perfectly happy outside too.
After some time, Joe Smith Systems Co. decides to ‘go retail’ and takes an outlet on the high street. Now we can start doing something a lot more imaginative – both externally & internally! Joe Smith Systems Co. could be well advised to now consider an illuminated sign. The company needs to be identifiable ‘after dark’, and during the winter months that could mean anytime after 3pm.
Planning Permission
This brings up the thorny topic of PLANNING PERMISSION. My advice is always, ‘when in doubt, apply’. I’ve come across many cases where business owners haven’t done so and have been ordered to remove offending signs for which they’ve paid thousands of pounds. Not a happy situation. The larger sign companies may be able to handle this application for you, but at the very least you should expect your signmaker to provide all the necessary specifications and scaled drawings to facilitate this process.
Design
Back to the exciting bit – the design. Joe Smith Systems Co. has already used the services of a good graphic designer and so is able to supply the necessary logo artwork and colour references for the signmaker to work from. If he hadn’t, he’d have found that most signmakers can offer this design service either in-house or sub-contracted. The actual detail of this sign will depend on so many things: budget, personal preference, differentiation from the competition, physical constraints (not all buildings are suitable for all types of signs), time available, and safety.
 Typically Joe Smith Systems Co. might opt for a ‘lightbox’ (like the picture here) which is basically an aluminium box containing fluorescent tubes with an acrylic face and translucent graphics. This allows the illumination to either affect the graphics or the background (the substrate). This construction is suitable for internal or external use.
Or if he wants to go a lot more up-market, he could go for something ‘architectural’ i.e. with a thickness, in perhaps stainless steel (as shown here) or acrylic.
The addition of LED lighting within the structure ensures an even more dramatic effect.
There are many options and your signmaker should give you all the relevant information to help you make the right decision for your business.
Vehicles
Joe Smith Systems Co. now purchases a fleet of vehicles. Perfect for promoting the company and should never be wasted as an opportunity to confirm the brand image. D ay and night, these moving advertisements earn their keep many times over.
For Joe’s personal car, (which he wants to use at weekends,
devoid of company branding), magnetic signage is the answer.
So now Joe Smith Systems Co. is well established with his warehouse, his office, his chain of retail outlets & his fleet of vehicles – what more could a sign company do to help deal with future growth?
Exhibitions!
Sooner or later he’ll need to exhibit at specialist trade shows.
This calls for transportable displays: often referred to as ‘pop-ups’or ‘rollerbanners’ these are invaluable and can be used time and time again, so are a good investment. The one shown here has been used at many 'bridal fairs' by wedding photographer Issy Jones and has won her several jobs.
Joe Smith is also a keen golfer and supporter of his local junior football team – so regular banners are now also part of his sign portfolio. Incredibly cost effective, pvc banners are so much more sophisticated than the old ‘happy hour’ pu b banners we used to see everywhere. With the advent of digital printing, full colour photographic work is now easily incorporated into something costing around £100 and which he’ll be able to use time after time, indoors and outdoors.
So, apart from the legislative requirements which it must comply with, we’ve taken Joe Smith Systems Co. pretty much through its sign requirements as it grows.
Finally, to achieve effective, affordable signage, like any sensible business, Joe Smith Systems Co. considered these points when selecting its signmaker.
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· Testimonials and referrals –A reputable sign company should be able to provide photos of something similar to what you have in mind
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· State your budget – this will save lots of time for all concerned & prevent your signmaker from going off into flights of fancy!
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· Be clear about what you want to achieve – is it long or short-term effectiveness you’re after?
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· Look around you and make note of what you like – tell your signmaker about it.
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· Don’t be afraid to show your ignorance about materials etc. Your signmaker knows signs, and doesn’t expect you to the way you know your business.
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· When purchasing a ‘permanent’ sign, like the ‘fascia’ sign described earlier, a reputable signmaker will not quote until he has carried out a site visit. There are too many variables and safety issues to consider. Give him the opportunity to do this.
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· Make sure you give reasonable lead times. Any signmaker can ditch current clients to chase a new, profitable job, but a reputable one won’t. And without the ‘rush’ factor, you’ll get a better job in the end.
 
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TESTIMONIALS
We have dealt with Vital Signs & Graphics on a regular basis for quite some time now and have always found them to be extremely efficient.
Designer Flowers ( 03-July-2009 )
by cutting it 
as an integral part of ‘Designer Flowers’ business, and to capitalise on brand recognition, the phrase ‘by Rodgers’ was added as a by-line. Finally, contact details were included in self-adhesive vinyl to complete the signs.
Booth Ainsworth ( 05-February-2009 )
'Unitown Hire' ...Signs for new building June 2008 ( 07-July-2008 )
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appearance of a 30mm thick solid shape. This method of construction allows for the fixings to be hidden within the return and gives a very clean look to the finished job. The black colour was selected in order to provide maximum contrast against the grey aluminium cladding which covered a large part of the building.
