Custom Signs

Urban wayfinding has several components. Good urban planners pay attention to all of these components and work assiduously to make them work in harmony.   Each component uses the right colors, typography, shapes, logos, materials and nomenclature. If you are an urban planner, ensure that you use the right types of outdoor signs for each of these areas so that people who visit your area can navigate easily.

Gateways and Area Identification

City, regional and district gateways are the first places that should have well-built signs. People should know when they are both entering and leaving these major areas.  Both the entry and exit signs should follow the same format and have the same type of look and material. Signs for city gateways can be freestanding or attached to other landmarks including bridges, buildings and parks. District gateways can include cultural districts, commercial districts, or political districts. The point is to make these areas easy to identify.

Vehicular Wayfinding

Vehicular wayfinding signs are along roadways and direct motorists to districts, cities, parks, heritage areas, destinations and parking. Visibility at high speeds is a must. Vehicular wayfinding signs fall into 3 categories: Controlled Access Road Signs, Regional Signs, Large Scale Signs and Downtown and Neighborhood Signs.

Controlled Access Road Signs direct motorists to destinations along highways. They must follow Federal Highway Administration guidelines even though they are administered by individual states. Regional Signs guide motorists to parks, agricultural facilities, institutional and commercial destinations, and heritage areas outside of urban areas. Distance is typically included on these signs and they are administered either by state bodies, counties, or a combination of counties and towns. Large Scale Signs direct motorists to large scale destination and urban districts.  Finally, Downtown and Neighborhood Signs direct motorists to localized destinations and parking. They can also direct motorists back to interstate and state roads.

Pedestrian Wayfinding

Pedestrian wayfinding signs help pedestrians navigate within a district or neighborhood. There are three types of Pedestrian Wayfinding Signs: Pedestrian Directional Signs, Map Signs and Directories. The names are self-explanatory.

Destination Identity

These signs characterize destinations.  There are 5 types of Destination Identity Signs: Institutional Identity, Gateway, Interpretive Identity, On-Premise Commercial Landmarks, and Parking.  Institutional Identity signs clearly identify government, cultural, educational, transportation or health buildings. Gateway signs are often placed at the entrances of educational, corporate, transportation, and healthcare locations. Interpretive identity signs require some form of interpretation. On-Premise Commercial Landmark signs clearly identify commercial or corporate offices and also serve as landmarks. Parking signs identify parking areas within the district.

Urban and Street Identity

These signs include: street signs, regulatory signs, street furniture, public art, civic banner programs, and visitor centers.

Media and Print Support

Media and print support integrates physical elements, websites, mobile media, print maps and directories with tangible urban design elements.

ShieldCo designs custom metal signs that would be perfect for your state, county, or urban district signs. Contact one of our representatives today to get a quotation for your specific needs.

Custom signs aren’t limited to storefronts and interior retail spaces. They are also important elements in urban landscapes. Busy commercial districts, parks, playgrounds and other urban areas typically have signs that perform various roles. Understanding their importance will probably make you take a second look at these signs that you see every day. This article focuses on 5 reasons for the importance of signs in wayfinding in urban areas.

Defining a Sense of Place

The ability to identify exactly where we are is extremely important. Street signs follow specific guidelines stipulated by state and federal laws and help us identify the specific names of streets . There are other signs, however, that can help us identify locations. Municipal wayfinding systems generally identify destinations within a city and provide useful information about each destination. These types of signs create what Kevin Lynch, a popular urban geographer, calls the “legible city”.

Highlighting Complementary Destinations

GPS is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand it helps us easily find unfamiliar locations. On the other hand, it causes us to easily pass by less popular areas that may be equally interesting. A city’s wayfinding program incorporates signs that clearly showcase the museums, retail districts, historical areas, and landmarks that visitors may overlook.

Supporting the Community

A community is a brand. All landmarks, storefronts, business places, and areas of interest within that community should, therefore, create a cohesive image that fits into the city’s brand. Each major American city has architectural standards that must be upheld, promotes the production and display of high-quality commercial on-premise signs, creates distinguishable monuments, and builds mounted identifications and marquees.  Additionally, on-premise signage plays a role in real-estate value and business success. Both factors contribute to the overall financial success of a community.

Controlling Traffic and Parking

Vehicular traffic is a necessary component of a traveler’s commute through a city. Motorists have to be able to easily identify public and private parking lots, road traffic signs, and directions to popular destinations in the city. The movement of traffic also has to be controlled. Appropriate signage is one way to effectively address both areas of concern.

Creating Consistency

Organization and consistency make urban wayfinding easier. A proliferation of mismatched signs and random posters creates confusion in a passerby’s mind. Questions that run through the person’s mind include:

• What should I focus on?
• Why do I feel overstimulated?
• How can I know where to go when I can barely see that sign in the midst of the clutter? I’m confused!

Cities that create a consistent environment make it easier for a passerby to quickly read and comprehend signs.

Urban wayfinding isn’t a job reserved for urban planners. Each person in the community plays a role. Ensure that you research the sign and building regulations of your area before building your space or creating a sign. Make a positive contribution to your community.

Wayfinding signs have become the norm in retail spaces. They combine a variety of visual, tactile and audible elements to attract shoppers to particular areas of a store. As the name suggests, wayfinding signs help customers find the way to what they need. The aisle signs in a supermarket are typical examples of wayfinding signs, but their use isn’t limited to supermarkets and retail spaces. Any office space that needs to provide some type of direction to customers, or highlight a particular area in the space, needs wayfinding signs. Custom metal signage can be used to create wayfinding signs that truly stand out. Well-built and strategically placed wayfinding signs only serve their desired purpose, however, if the best practices outlined in this article are followed.

Do Your Research

Successful stores continuously assess the performance of the signs they use. They also try various approaches to attract customers. One strategy that can be used to determine the effectiveness of your wayfinding signs is to measure the increase in employee productivity. Employees should be spending less time directing customers and more time assisting customers in other ways (or doing other meaningful activities). This ultimately leads to an increased ROI. If you notice no significant change, something is wrong with your signs. Therefore, research is necessary to the profitability of the wayfinding signs you’ve created.  

Utilize Buyer Psychology

Your aim is to persuade buyers to make purchases by directing them to the right places.  Buyers sometimes unconsciously purchase items they never intended to purchase simply based on strategic planning of the store’s layout, display placement and use of signs. Feeding their subconscious with the right messages will compel them to spend more.

Pay Attention to Store Layout

Product displays should always be carefully planned so that they attract attention. Appropriate signage and placement play a major role in this. Think about the last time you walked into a store and saw a nicely dressed display promoting a new product or special promotion. Didn’t the way the display was set up arouse your curiosity? For a few minutes you probably even forgot what you entered the store to do because you were side-tracked by the intrigue of the display. Keep that image in your mind and attempt to replicate it in your own store.

Signs and displays can also have a powerful impact if they’re arranged in a hierarchy.  A hierarchical arrangement visually breaks the store into components that make it easier for customers to navigate.  Easier navigation adds a great boost to the customer experience.

Signs can also help you implement a store-in-store strategy. Think about the last time you walked into Macy’s and saw an entire section dedicated to popular brands such as Lark and Co. The store-in-store strategy allows brands to take over an entire section of a store with their own branding, fixtures and displays. This strategy is ideal for brands that sell well in your store.

Wayfinding signs also help with the consistency of branding in a store’s layout. The signs used in –store should mimic the image portrayed on websites, marketing materials and outdoor signs. Consistency improves a brand’s image in the eyes of consumers.

Legibility is Vital

Creative store planners can expertly place signs in corners without obscuring the intended message. It’s important to utilize as much of your store’s space as possible. The corner approach does this while maintaining the sign’s legibility.

As with outdoor signs, wayfinding signs should use a legible font, an appropriate scale, and the right contrast to their background. Stay away from the cursive scripts. They are gorgeous, but standard fonts such as Helvetica and Serif Fonts are best for signs because of their legibility.

Use High Quality Materials

Quality should be one of the first words that customers associate with your brand. It’s easy to pay little attention to the quality of your signs and focus completely on improving quality elsewhere. However, the best approach is to incorporate high quality signs in your brand’s overall standard of quality.

Consider Modularity

Modularity in this context refers to the ability to match store signs to the same material standards as fixtures. Digital signage is applicable here since these types of signs can be incorporated into entertainment fixtures such as televisions and laptops.

Dimensionality Adds Interest

Dimensionality merges elements of exterior signs with wayfinding signs. These elements include: channel letters, projecting signs and awnings. The idea is to give that area of the store an urban or eclectic vibe.

Illumination Never Gets Stale

There is something about a well-lit sign that just makes it more attractive. LED technology has made it highly possible to create the right glow on interior signs. One of the most recent interior sign lighting trends has been the use of cove and soffit lighting.

Retail Disciplines and Wayfinding Signs

Signs alone do not create effective wayfinding in retail environments. Successful store navigation requires bringing together architecture and display to create a complete environment that both directs and informs.

Incorporate Wayfinding Signs in Visual Merchandising

Macro level visual merchandising signs typically identify important sections of a store. They are fixed and not easy to change. Checkout visual merchandising signs, on the other hand, are flexible and can be changed to suit the environment. Effective management of macro level and checkout signs is often used as an indication of wayfinding sign excellence. Top companies expertly allow both types of signs to work seamlessly together.

 Several factors affect a customer’s overall in-store experience. Effective use of wayfinding signs is one such factor. Some entrepreneurs may view wayfinding signs as frivolous investments, but play a crucial role in helping customers enjoy the in-store experience. ShieldCo can create custom metal indoor wayfinding signs that add a consistent and high quality feel to your store or office.