Elements of Good Signage: Choosing The Right Signage for Your
Facility
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How well a sign
works, depends in large from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for
part on how easy it is for people to see and making sure your
sign can be seen and read read it. The following is a
step-by-step guide in time for potential customers to react and
stop at your business.
Successful signage involves more than creating an attractive
arrangement of logos and slogans. It is also a blending of
complex elements such as marketing, demographics, an
understanding of visual acuity, presence and message.
Complicating the task is the fact that for outside signs, the
reader is usually moving, and the sign must be seen, read and
understood in an instant.
No matter how good your company’s product or service is, if your
sign does not make people stop and look, you will not be able to
compete. In our highly competitive and media-rich world, an
investment in professional sign design is worthwhile.
Placement
Before opening a business, you should always do a preliminary
check of the location to see whether approaching drivers can see
your sign in time to read it, react to it, and stop safely. This
depends on the speed of traffic and the number of lanes in each
direction.
The table below shows how far a car at different speeds will
travel from the time a driver first sees a sign until the car
safely comes to a stop. This
assumes the sign is mounted perpendicular to the roadway and
includes the amount of distance needed to read a typical sign
and make a decision to stop. Minimum Required Legibility
Distances in Varying Situations:
If the sign is mounted on the front of the building parallel to
the roadway, research shows it needs to be at least 70 percent
larger than the sign mounted perpendicular to the roadway, or it
cannot be read in time. Note that if a sign has unfamiliar words
or lots of words, it will also take longer to read.
The figures in the table can help determine whether your
prospective business site will be visible to customers. For
example, if the speed of traffic in front of the site is 30 mph,
and the street has two lanes in each direction so that a lane
change is needed, your customers will need to be able to see
and read your sign from 410 feet away.
If customers cannot see the business sign from that distance,
consider another location.
Size
Assuming the sign can be seen from the distance listed in the
table, the next step is to figure out how large the letters on
your sign need to be so that your message can be read.
Experts recommend designing signs with letters a minimum of
1-inch tall for every 25 feet of distance. This makes them
readable for all legal drivers. In our example, then, the
smallest letters on a sign would be 16.4 inches in height if it
were to be read from 410 feet away (assuming 30 mph traffic
moving in two lanes in each direction). Note that if your sign
is using fancy lettering that is more difficult to read, the
minimum letter size must be increased significantly.
Most businesses are not going to be well served by a small,
plain sign with no graphics. The lettering style, the ability
of graphics and logos to be easily recognized, whether or not
the words on the sign are familiar and easy to read, the
lighting methods used, and even the colors used all impact
people’s ability to see and read a sign.
Height
Now that you know where your sign will be placed and how large
it needs to be the next question is how tall the sign needs to
be. The further away the sign will be read, and the further it
is from the road, the taller the sign must be to be visible from
a car. Freeway signs intended to be read from great distances
should be very tall; signs located in a business district with
30 mph traffic only need to be tall enough that parked and
moving vehicles will not block them from view.
Although the length and content of a sign’s message generally
dictates the overall sign dimensions, the next table sets out
generally accepted sign height guidelines. They assume that the
sign is mounted perpendicular to the roadway, that the size of
the letters meets the minimum size standards listed above, and
that the sign is mounted within five to 10 feet of the nearest
edge of the public right-of-way. Note that although the table
lists heights measured to the top of the sign face, the height
from the ground to the bottom of the face should always measure
a minimum of seven feet so the sign is not blocked from view by
passing or parked vehicles.
Illumination
Lighting is essential for most signage. It allows your sign to
be visible and readable day and night, in all kinds of weather.
When a sign is illuminated, drivers can read it more quickly.
Another benefit of an illuminated sign is that 24-hours a day it
is advertising your business. Even when your business is closed,
that constant reminder helps build memory of your business.
Signs are generally illuminated by one or a combination of three
basic methods: by lamps mounted outside it and oriented to shine
on the sign’s face, by internal illumination that shines
through the sign’s face, or by illuminated elements such as
exposed bulbs, LEDs, or neon-style tubing. A wide variety of
illumination methods are available, and rapidly developing
technology is creating a virtually unlimited variety of
possibilities, many of which are very economical to install and
maintain, as well as being energy-efficient. When you select the
color scheme for your business, you should consider your sign’s
illumination options at the same time, because the illumination
you choose can have an effect on the sign’s appearance. Some
businesses want their sign’s colors to match their print and
other media advertising exactly. Some forms of illumination are
much better than others at accurately displaying color. If
accurate portrayal of your business’s colors is important, you
should choose an illumination source with a high Color Rendering
Index (CRI) rating.
A properly lighted sign should be bright enough that it can
compete with other signs in the area without being annoying.
Many cities are beginning to impose limits on brightness, so
before designing a sign you should check to see what those
limits might be to determine whether your sign will be visible
at night. ❑
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce |
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