Essential Signs for Your Business
Directory Signage & Wayfinding
Signage has a significant impact on customers and their impression of your business. For example, a well-maintained and modern sign will help you earn a customer’s trust. If your sign is faded, worn, can’t be read, contains the wrong information, or is damaged, people may wonder if your business is up to their standards. Signs are the first thing they see as they approach your store, business building, a school, or hospital, even a place of worship.
What message are your signs conveying about your establishment?
A gaudy handmade sign might be acceptable for a fruit and vegetable stand you might pass on the side of the road and maybe considered quaint, but could you imagine if that same sign was advertising a dentist or lawyer’s office? Signs are everywhere and affect our daily lives in almost every aspect. The following is a look at some of the different kinds of signs you see every day and may have even come across when you have been somewhere. These directory and wayfinding sign systems work together to ensure you have an informed and positive experience getting to where you need to go. When you are unfamiliar with a place or a space, they can guide you.
Hospitality Signage
This type of signage helps get people where they need to go. Without them, visitors may find navigating the building and grounds a virtual maze, and of course, experiences like this are frustrating. Making sure your hospitality signage is updated, looking sharp, and enhancing the guest experience is vital. From elevators to floor levels, room ids, emergency exit, amenities, and restrooms, these collections of directory signage allow you to traverse through a hotel or resort with ease.
Business Directory Signage
Effective business directory signs can do more than just inform. The best signs attract and retain loyal customers to your business. The purpose of business directory signs is to provide valuable information to visitors and potential customers. The following are examples of what signs you will see on the exterior and interior of a business. Wayfinding signs that direct visitors to your locations, parking signs that tell them where to park, monument or 3D logo signs, doors signs, and lobby signs that get visitors into your space are all part of a collection of signage within a business. Once in a business complex or building, further directory signs inform visitors how many levels are in the building, where to locate the elevators or stairs, what businesses are in the structure, who works in each company, and where they can find a restroom.
Many material options are available to fit any budget to create a complete directory sign system. Some of the most popular are acrylic, aluminum composite, wood, and PVC plastic. These can be directly printed on, making them weather-resistant and durable. Easy to read signs, ones kept in good condition and visible, is the key. Keep them simple and include arrows and short text. Decide whether your sign is permanent or temporary. Yard signs and A-frame signs are temporary ones that can direct people to your business from the street or tell them about a special sale or event you have going on.
University-School District Signage
Signage is an essential element for both the successful operation and public appearance of schools. Big or small, school campuses rely on signs to provide direction and guide visitors and students to individual buildings, classrooms, restrooms, and offices and help relieve the stress for the first day or returning students to maneuver around the campus. Creating an effective wayfinding system requires consistent signs in material, color, and font. This way, there is a consistent look and makes it easier to identify for guests to navigate where they need to go.
Construction Signage
Every construction site is different. Many different types of signage fit the needs of a construction site, from signs for the entrance to the site and boundary fences to decals for your equipment. Construction sites are places with many hazards. They are full of heavy equipment, uneven ground, and constant activity. To ensure your construction site is safe, using a variety of well-placed and colorful signs to grab attention is highly recommended. Some types of signage on a site are large banners on the fences and trailers, entrance signs to prevent unauthorized personnel from entering, and company-branded signs. Two material options that are excellent choices for weather resistance and durability are aluminum and wood.
Warning signs are another essential type, especially in heavy equipment and dangerous environments full of hazards. Signs are needed to remind workers to wear their safety equipment and navigate away from hazardous zones. Aluminum signs work well for these cautionary messages because they are vibrant, weather-resistant, and easily installed on posts, walls, or fences. These signs will last for years despite exposure to the elements. Reflective aluminum is yet another alternative material that can be seen clearly at night. The collection of construction site signage is there to inform everyone how to stay safe and who is building the project.
Restaurant Signage
Restaurants are far more successful when they effectively use signage to entice customers into their locations. Customers are exposed to signage before they see the inside or taste the food, which is why the right signage is essential to bringing them in. Signage is not only used as outdoor advertising for your location but necessary as regulatory signs, including store hours, maximum occupancy limits, restroom signs, and handwashing signs. More sign options include menus, branding and décor, and temporary displays such as an A-Frame used for the day’s specials.
Wall-mounted menu signs come in an array of material choices from gator-board to acrylic to backlit material. Window posters and decals promote specials, and perforated window film can advertise while keeping the sun out. Restaurants need to display public health notices, alcohol service signs and warnings, emergency exits, directional signs to tell patrons where to stand in line, how to pay, even what the wi-fi password is. All these signages help to enhance a patron’s visit and provide information that allows them to navigate your location with ease.
