What is signage?

What does signage mean?

Signage is every sign a place uses to tell people something: who you are, what you sell, where to go and what to watch out for. The word groups them together — the name over the door, the menu board, the arrow to the toilets, the fire exit sign and the poster in the window.

Thinking of it as one group matters. A customer never sees separate orders from separate suppliers. They see one business, and every sign either helps them understand it or gets in the way. Good signage is consistent, readable from where people actually stand, and says one thing at a time.

What is exterior signage?

Exterior signage is everything on the outside of the building: the fascia over the shopfront, built-up letters, projecting signs, totems, window graphics and pavement boards. Its job is recognition. Someone driving past gets a couple of seconds, so the name, the colours and the mark have to land fast.

Outside signs also come with rules. Many need advertisement consent from the local planning authority, especially anything illuminated or projecting, and anything on a listed building or in a conservation area. A limited company must also display its registered name wherever it does business, readable at any time and not only when it is open.

What is interior signage?

Interior signage is what people read once they are through the door. Menu boards, counter graphics, wall graphics, directional signs and room names all count. It is read from much closer than the fascia, so type sizes, finishes and lighting all change.

Inside, the job moves from being noticed to being understood. The questions are practical. What can I order? Where do I queue? Where do I pay? Where are the toilets? Answer them in the right place and people relax, spend longer looking and ask staff fewer questions.

What is wayfinding signage?

Wayfinding signage helps people get from where they are to where they want to be without asking. It covers directional arrows, identification signs on doors and rooms, maps and information boards. It matters most in larger or more complicated buildings: offices, clinics, schools, shopping centres and sites spread over several floors.

A good scheme is planned as a route, not bought as a set of separate signs. It follows the decisions people make — at entrances, junctions, lifts and stairs — and uses the same style, words and symbols every time. Accessibility is part of the design from the start. Our guide to wayfinding signage goes into more detail.

What is regulatory and safety signage?

Regulatory signage is the signage the law or a risk assessment calls for. Fire exit and escape route signs, fire equipment signs, no-smoking signs, warning signs and mandatory instructions all sit here. In Great Britain the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 set the shapes and colours: green for escape routes and first aid, red for prohibitions and fire-fighting equipment, yellow for warnings and blue for things you must do.

These signs should never be restyled to match a brand. They work because everyone recognises them instantly, so the standard comes first. Where they are needed is decided by the risk assessment for the premises, not by the sign maker.

What is promotional signage?

Promotional signage sells something specific, usually for a limited time. Window posters, pavement boards, banners, flags, point of sale at the counter and digital screens are the usual tools. It changes far more often than the fascia, so it should be quick to swap and easy to update.

The common mistake is letting it pile up. Ten offers in the window read as clutter and none of them gets read. One clear message, changed often, does more. Screens suit businesses whose prices or offers move regularly, because a change costs nothing to make.

What makes a sign easy to read?

Three things decide whether a sign gets read: contrast, size and position. Contrast is light against dark — pale grey on white disappears however good the typeface. Size depends on distance, so a sign read from across a car park needs far taller letters than a door sign read at arm's length. Position means putting the sign where eyes already go, at the point of decision rather than just after it.

Lighting matters for anything read after dark. A lit fascia or window keeps working when the street is dark, which in winter is a large part of the trading day. Keep the wording short. If a sign needs a paragraph, it probably needs to be two signs, or a leaflet.

How does a business choose the right signage?

Start with the customer, not a product list. Walk the route a customer takes — the approach, the door, the counter, the seating, the way out — and note every point where they hesitate or would have to ask. That is where a sign belongs.

Then sort the list into three piles: what the law or your risk assessments require, what helps people find their way, and what builds the brand and sells. Deal with the first pile first. Use one colour scheme and one typeface across the rest so it reads as one business rather than a collection of purchases.

BD Signs designs signage of every type, manufactures it in its own factory in Nottingham and fits it UK-wide. If you are not sure where to start, come and see the showroom, where signs are on the wall and lit so you can compare them side by side.