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Designing Signage for Educational Institutions_ Tips and Tricks Featured Image

Designing Signage for Educational Institutions: Tips and Tricks

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Educational institutions are places of order, learning and organization. They rely on a well thought out structure to function, and a part of that structure involves signage. In fact, educational institutions rely on signage more than many other organizations because it shows students where to proceed to the next class, cafeteria lunch hours, who teaches in what classroom and so on.

When it comes to school signage, the design and imagery must be straightforward for students, faculty, and visitors to decipher. Depending on the age of the students, the signs may need to convey meaning without using written words.

In this article, we will take a deep dive into educational signage, explore the use of popular signage types, and offer valuable insights on how to effectively integrate your institution’s branding in your signage design.

Factors to Consider When Designing Signage

Signage must work for the people who rely on it every day. In order for an educational institution to create truly effective signage, the following must be taken into consideration:

  • Target Audience. Educational institutions may have many audiences including small children, teenagers, their parents and other visitors. Each audience may have different requirements of their signage. For example, small children who barely know how to read or don’t know how to read at all may rely on graphics more than written signs in order to get around.
  • Branding and Messaging. Every educational institution has its own branding and every sign has its own messaging. Consider using your brand colors, logos or your mascot to add an original element that showcases your brand. The messaging should be simple and brief so it can be read and understood at a glance.
  • Location and Visibility. When considering the placement of your sign, there are several variables to keep in mind, including the purpose of the signage, the intended audience, and foot traffic. Here are a few key areas that should be considered: Near or above a building entrance, on a busy sidewalk, on the side of a building, in an auditorium, or on a vehicle. These options offer the potential for maximum visibility for your message to be read.
  • Materials and Durability. Some signs – particularly outdoor signs – are subjected to rain, snow and other harsh environments. These signs must be made from durable materials that will not deteriorate when exposed to UV rays, extreme temperatures and precipitation.

Tips for Effective Signage Design

Educational institutions can use the following best practices to create effective signage.

  • Keep it simple and legible. Use as few words as possible and use an easy to read font for your signs.
  • Use contrasting colors. Contrasting colors make signs easy to read because the contrast ensures that the words or pictures stands out well from the background.
  • Incorporate imagery and graphics. Imagery and graphics when combined with words ensure that your signs will reach a wide audience age range.
  • Use directional signs. Schools can be big places. Using directional signs helps students navigate schools to get where they’re going.

Tricks to Make Your Signage Stand Out

It’s important to make your signage stand out and attract attention. The more attention your signage gets, the more effective it will be.

  • Use interactive technology. Interactive digital signage personalizes the experience for the user. Users can use interactive digital signage to get directions to a classroom, find an academic building, or navigate their way off campus.
  • Utilize the latest design trends. Use design trends such as popular fonts to make your signage more attractive to the current population.
  • Implement wayfinding systems. Wayfinding systems help users find the location they need to reach. Some examples of wayfinding include: classroom numbers, floor maps and directories, directional arrows and footprints, braille signage, and stairs/elevator signage.
  • Use landmarks to create memorable locations. Creating memorable and easily identifiable locations will help students and visitors navigate with ease.
  • Utilize sight lines. Placing signage within sight lines will allow visitors and students to easily locate key buildings, facilities, and areas, improving their overall experience.

Use Bishop Image Group to Create Educational Signage

If you’re looking to create high-quality educational signage that effectively communicates your institution’s message and enhances your overall brand, consider working with Bishop Image Group. With their expertise in design and production, as well as their commitment to personalized customer service, they can help you achieve your signage goals with ease.

As a certified Chicago Public School vendor, Bishop Image Group is experienced and ready to tackle any job. Contact Bishop Image Group today to get started.

Creating a Cohesive Signage Strategy for Multi-Location Businesses

Creating a Cohesive Signage Strategy for Multi-Location Businesses

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Good signage means good communication, and good communication is great for business. Business signage is most effective when it’s cohesive, well-branded and professionally made. However, maintaining a cohesive signage strategy for a multi-location business can present several challenges, including the cost of maintenance, a lack of branding strategy, uncertainty about signage needs, compliance with local regulations, communication difficulties, and other potential factors.

Let’s start by breaking down how to determine brand identity ahead of making business signs, how to identify signage needs and implementation and maintenance of the signage itself.

Understanding Your Brand Identity

A clear brand identity is an important part of creating cohesive signage, especially when there are multiple locations for the business. You want your branding to be eye-catching and easily recognizable by your customers. If your business doesn’t yet have a plan for cohesive branding, this is something you should plan to discuss with your signage company.

Brand identity is determined by knowing your company’s goals, identifying your customers and creating a personality for your company. Once your company knows its brand identity, the colors and symbols on your business signage will fall into place. Some tips for creating a strong brand identity:

  • Perform market research to more thoroughly understand your company and its role for your customers.
  • Align your business with a marketing company that can help you perform this research.
  • Develop a story that supports your brand.
  • Create a brand promise, then ensure that your company makes good on that promise to your customers.

Identifying Your Signage Needs

When identifying your signage needs, keep in mind that some branches of your business may have needs now that other branches won’t have for a while. Assume that each location will eventually need each type of signage and plan for your signage to remain consistent across each location.

Conduct a signage audit of each location to determine their signage requirements. Ask business managers to fill out a questionnaire, or visit each location individually. Factors to consider when trying to choose the right signage for each location includes:

  • Location of the sign within the branch
  • Size of the sign required
  • Information to be conveyed with the sign
  • Purpose of the sign

Signage Installation and Maintenance

Maintaining a cohesive signage strategy is important because it helps create a relationship between different branches of the business while also conveying important information to customers and vendors. Good signage keeps businesses functioning.

Once your signage strategy has been professionally developed through a trusted partner, each location will need to know:

  • Where the signage will be located
  • How to best leverage your signage to inform customers
  • When signage should be switched out or updated
  • How to keep your signage in presentable condition, if maintenance is required

Create a best practices document for your business signage to ensure that staff at each location knows where and when to use signage. To ensure that your signage strategy will work across all locations, create a comment period and allow each location to provide comments, feedback and concerns about signage before setting the requirements in stone.

Having a plan that works across multiple locations will help ensure consistency at each location, however, to ensure that your signage plan works at each location, you must be open to accepting feedback and maintaining flexibility.

Consult with Bishops Image Group for Your Signage Needs

To ensure that your signs are consistent across multiple locations, it’s important to identify brand identity and signage needs, then you must create a plan and implement it. Creation of an effective signage strategy for multi-location businesses also starts with a team of experts. Bishops Image Group helps businesses achieve their signage goals by collaborating with you from the design phase through installation. Contact us today to bring your signage to life!

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Commercial Signage Trends for 2023

Are you hoping to upgrade your business’s look in the new year? Whether you’re starting a new enterprise or reinvigorating your existing brand, adopting the newest trends in commercial signage will set you apart from the competition. By keeping up with the latest developments, you’ll entice new customers and demonstrate your dedication to innovation and progress.

From minimal designs to sustainable fabrication practices, here’s everything you need to usher in the new year with the latest commercial signage trends for 2023!

1. Personalization

The goal of a well-designed sign is to highlight your brand and communicate the unique benefits you have to offer. As printing technology has evolved and become more sophisticated, sign manufacturers have gained the ability to offer clients personalized options with greater flexibility in design and formatting. This allows businesses to emphasize their product by incorporating brand-oriented graphics and logos into their signs.

To keep up with the demand for personalization in 2023, companies are offering clients a wider variety of available services to meet individual customer needs. Competitive manufacturers are investing in their infrastructure to enable end-to-end collaboration. Instead of only offering printing capabilities, manufacturers are expanding their array of services to include design, print, and installation options, making the entire process more hands-on and personal.

According to Linchpin SEO, this practice “means that customer relationships are improved, which can drive long-term loyalty.” By embracing the trend towards personalization, companies prioritize customer satisfaction and offer a better overall buyer experience.

2. Digitization

The digitization trends for 2023 are all about streamlining the customer experience. In addition prioritizing personalization, digital innovations enable customers to upload their designs directly to the manufacturer and to communicate their printing preferences through an online platform.

By enabling clients to scan and upload their own documents and images, sign manufacturers ensure customers receive quality results that align with their vision. Digitization has simplified and streamlined the collaboration process between manufacturers and clients, facilitating smoother communication and greater satisfaction.

3. Minimalism and Maximalism

As we look forward to 2023, minimal designs have continued to increase in popularity, highlighting a brand’s message without overwhelming the viewer with chaotic color schemes and graphics. A minimalist sign often showcases a bold typeface on a monochromatic background, stripping the messaging of extraneous elements and zooming-in on the core tenets of the brand.

Minimal signs typically include:

  • Bold font that’s easy to read.
  • High-contrast between the text and the background.
  • Dual-chromatic color schemes.
  • Clean lines and limited graphics.

On the other end of the spectrum, maximalist designs are also becoming increasingly popular. Unlike the clean and simple minimalist signs, maximalist designs are all about embracing color, texture, and graphics to create a striking visual impact.

Maximal signs might include:

  • Colorful lettering.
  • Unique or unusual fonts.
  • Exuberant color schemes.
  • Large, bold graphics.

4. Sustainability

One of the biggest trends for 2023 is a focus on sustainability. With climate concerns the number-one priority for many consumers, sign manufacturers need to step-up their commitment to providing eco-friendly solutions.

Sustainability in commercial signage involves adopting new fabrication practices, and utilizing the latest technology to streamline the manufacturing process as much as possible. Many sign manufacturers have demonstrated their commitment to sustainable fabrication by using recycled materials, and offsetting their carbon footprint by investing in re-forestation programs.

Additionally, some manufacturers use plant-based inks and minimize toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process as another way to limit negative environmental impact and demonstrate commitment to a greener future.

Working with Bishop Image Group

Embrace an innovative future by partnering with the team at Bishop Image Group. With over 20 years of experience in the signage industry, Bishop Image Group provides custom-made signs to clients across the country.

At BIG, we are dedicated to providing our customers with a fantastic experience during every step of the process. From collaborative design services, to cutting-edge printing technology, to hassle-free installation services, we offer end-to-end support.

Need a sign on a tight deadline? BIG thrives under pressure. We never back away from a challenge, and pride ourselves on our ability to deliver high-quality results under the tightest time constraints. Contact us today to learn more about our process and why we are known as the printers of the impossible.