Sign guide – 6 tips to consider when ordering a sign
Welcome to our sign guide, we have compiled a list of 6 tips to consider before you order your sign.
1. Goal
First of all, you need to set a goal with your signage. Most important of all is what you want to communicate.
Also think about what kind of impression you want to give to your visitors? Often there can be goals linked to your company’s brand strategy for how you want your brand to be perceived. Consider how your sign will look in the environment where it will be placed so that it harmonizes with the surrounding architecture. If your sign is tasked with informing and referring, it should also be accessible for people with e.g. visual impairments.
2. Materials
Remember to choose a material according to where your sign will be placed.
Certain material choices are more suitable depending on where the sign will be placed. If your sign is heavily exposed to the elements, a certain material may be more suitable. Or that you should consider having a certain thickness of the material so that, for example, the print does not blow away. Or if your sign will be difficult to access for maintenance, perhaps you should choose something else, for example you should not use bright profile letters that are illuminated with LEDs because these can look dirty over time if they are not cleaned, which affects your brand negatively.
3. Sustainability
It’s important to think about is how you view your signage over a longer period of time.
The choice you make today should last over a longer period of time, so ask your sign manufacturer to e.g. the lighting’s energy consumption, that climate-friendly or recyclable materials are used in production and that it is produced under decent conditions. The same applies to packaging and shipping, require that the products be packed in such a way that they take up as little volume as possible and that they are transported in a sensible way. Also think about securing so that the assembly is carried out in a sustainable way, with environmentally friendly machines and local assemblers.
4. Sign fitting to the location
Adapt the design of the sign to its surroundings.
Consider how the sign will look in daylight versus darkness. Simpler light boxes with a white background can, for example, look good in daylight, but give an overly sharp glow in the evening and be difficult to read. The sign’s background in the form of a wall or facade can also affect the visibility of the sign.
5. Laws and regulations
A facade sign may require the property owner’s approval.
In addition, approval in the form of a sign permit from the municipality is often required. Worth remembering is that the municipality has 10 weeks to give notice of sign permits from the time approved documents are received. Then it takes another number of weeks from the approved sign permit until you can start assembly. The municipality usually requires everything from a situation plan, facade drawing, photomontage, technical specification for the sign and control plan.
6. Maintenance
Plan even before your sign is mounted for how control and maintenance will take place over your signs and how any follow-up of results will proceed.
Get help from experts. Your signs and your visual communication are your face. Think about how your brand is perceived if the sign does not shine, is shadowed by dirt or hangs crooked. Take care of your signs and wipe them down (if you have the opportunity yourself) or at least review how they look so you can spot any visible flaws yourself.
Zone Systems is your total supplier for signage and we quality-assure all these flows – we help you with the whole. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, we are here for you. We can help you identify goals with your signage, a sign permit application to the municipality, or help you with maintenance and service of your signs and everything in between. Contact us with your planned project!