Construction and energy costs are rising. Baby Boomers are sporting trifocals. Many Americans can’t read (or, more specifically, can’t read English). Building owners and developers are becoming increasingly aware that creating universally accessible, sustainable, and aesthetically pleasing spaces are basic requirements in today’s competitive marketplace. Buildings that engender an immediate comfort level are clearly the most desirable.

Wayfinding encompasses all of the ways in which people orient themselves in unfamiliar surroundings and find their way from place to place. We’ve all experienced examples of successful wayfinding in spaces that make us feel comfortable and confident from the moment we arrive. Conversely, we’ve all become totally disoriented in dimly lit parking structures, or confused by mazelike corridors.

With new technology and human behavioral studies, wayfinding has evolved significantly, and will continue to do so. In the past, and even today, standard wayfinding programs consisted of signs or plaques, usually in English, mounted to walls or hanging from ceilings. Occasionally, facilities have additional systems in place, like an attended information desk or concierge, which offers the human touch to a possibly daunting experience.

The best wayfinding programs provide a combination of manufactured and human elements to create a guided experience for visitors. Highway or interstate signage, directional signs, and a site monument or building-identification sign can seamlessly guide the new visitor to their destination long before he or she enters the building. Successful interior wayfinding systems integrate architects, interior designers, graphic designers, and wayfinding specialists from the onset to address a project’s total environmental communication. Building owners and facility managers need to specify understandable signage systems that, with appropriate placement, identify, direct, and inform the broadest group of visitors. In some projects, an intentional blurring of those disciplines has helped create an even more integrated environment where, instead of the traditional sign on a wall, the wall is a sign.

Many times, the first impression of a place is not the best experience. One example: A recent renovation project where the initial experience began in a multi-level, underground parking area. The design firm proposed utilizing the architect’s 3-D model of the buildings above grade (see the image on this page). The bird’s-eye-view rendering, combined with a compass-rose graphic, was embedded in the floor in front of the elevator, providing a preview of the buildings above, as well as directional orientation.

People tend to look down first, then up. A combination of information effectively presented on the floor and perpendicularly, and ceiling-mounted signage, capitalizes on natural human tendencies. Up-and-coming lighting technology for signage, such as LEDs, offers significant savings in energy, longer product life, and lower maintenance costs. Universal symbols are also evolving and expanding to provide more inclusive communication for non-English speakers and nonreaders.

Facility managers should stay on top of trends to make sure their signage is up to date, and they should imagine themselves as new visitors to see if their wayfinding program is easily accessible. Remembering who the signage should benefit ensures that tenants and visitors share a positive experience when they visit the facility for the first time.

Kelan Smith is an environmental graphic designer at Design Workshop, a firm that practices landscape architecture, land planning, urban design, and strategic services in Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and North Carolina.

Signs: The Bottom Line Courtesy of The International Sign Association
Signs as Advertising

A few years ago, a sign manufacturer performed a study of its clients to find out whether their signs were bringing in customers. The businesses surveyed were a year or less old and the surveys were conducted within 30 to 45 days after the installation of a new sign. Thousands of shoppers were asked, “How did you learn about us?”

The results, shown in Table 1, clearly demonstrate that the signs attracted half of the start-up businesses’ new customers – more than any other form of advertising the businesses used and even more than their word-of-mouth referrals.

Table 1: How did you learn about us?
Number of Customer Responses:
On-Premise Sign 1,234……….50%
Word of Mouth 820………..33%
Newspaper 212………9%
Yellow Pages 139………6%
TV 32……..1%
Radio 38……..1%

Naturally, as a business becomes more established, more of sales will come from repeat customers and fewer will be directly due to the sign. But that does not mean the sign becomes unimportant. On the contrary, a business owner must constantly remind their regular customers that he is there. Even more importantly, studies show that on any given day, as many as 35% of the people passing a business have never seen it before and could become first-time customers because of the on premise sign.

Signs Increase Profits for Your Business

Let’s assume you own a typical family clothing store and add a new, better-designed sign to the business. Here’s how it could impact your bottom line:

Your annual sales $1,757,486.00
Cost of goods sold 61.8%
Gross Profit Margin 38.2%
Operating expenses (includes other expenses of 1.5%) 36.0%
Income taxes (estimated at 35%) 0.8%
Income after taxes 1.4%
After tax profit ($1,757,486.00 x 1.4% or) $24,604.00

A 7% increase in sales created by the addition of a needed sign, without increasing operating expenses, would cause the following change in profit:

New sales at 7% ($1,757,486.00 x .07) $123,024.00
Gross Profit from new sales ($123,024.00 x 38.2% Margin Contribution) $46,995.00
Net Profit (Assumes 35% taxes) $30,547.00
Total Profit (Original Profit $24,604.00 plus New Profit $30,547.00) $55,151.00

With a small, 7% bump in sales your profit could jump from $24,604 to $55,151. That’s an increase of over 124%!

Increasing profits is one way that signs improve your bottom line. Another way is by decreasing expenses.

[1] Figures from The Economic Value of On-Premise Signage, a study conducted by the University of San Diego School of Business Administration.

Cutting Costs

A number of surveys have been conducted before and after installing signage to determine effectiveness. One of these, from late 1996, involved a Los Angeles auto dealership. Three previous auto dealers had failed at the location. The new owner, Aztec Motors, spent much time, energy and money improving the building and lot.

Once renovations were complete, the new owner invested $7,400 in replacement signage that entailed one wall and one double-faced pole sign.

A survey found the new signage, not the renovations or other advertising, was responsible for a minimum of ten new walk-in customers per week, resulting in at least six additional sales per week. I t took less than a month for the new signs to pay for themselves, and the owner was able to reduce his advertising budget from $16,000 to $4,000 per month an annual savings of $144,000.

As part of your advertising you’re probably considering one or more of the following: TV, radio, newspapers, Internet, direct mail, etc. The most basic way to evaluate the cost effectiveness of these or any marketing method is the cost per 1,000 exposures. Here’s how business signs measure up to other media.

The price and life expectancy of signage varies widely depending upon the type, but let’s assume you invested in signage costing $16,500 that should last seven years. If your business is located on a street with 60,000 people passing each day, the cost per 1,000 exposures would be only 11 cents.

The same $16,500 spent on outdoor advertising (i.e.,any sign that is not appurtenant to the use of the property, a product sold, or the sale or lease of the property on which it is displayed) for 1,000 exposures would cost $0.83. A similar expenditure in newspaper advertising would cost you $1.57, while television advertising for 1,000 exposures would cost $6.60.

If you’ll remember from Table 1, only 1% of first-time customers come in because of your television ad. But 50% come in because of your sign. If you’re spending only 11 cents per 1,000 exposures to get that 50%, that’s a good use of your money.