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Three Most Reported Signage Failures

The three most reported signage failures can reduce the effectiveness of your signage.  Avoiding these issues increases your marketing success.

What are your guesses? Hard to read? Too dim?
Actually, research on consumer perceptions identified the most reported reasons that signs fail to function properly.  Here are the top three – starting with number 3.

3. Not sufficiently lit at night (64%)

Insufficient lighting reduces visibility at night.  With the added challenges of night driving, dimly lit signs should not be an issue.  Unfortunately signs are sometimes not maintained.  Checking your signs regularly for any outages and properly repairing them can eliminate many issues.  Some cities believe minimally lit signs are more attractive.  Forcing minimal lighting for aesthetic concerns can easily cause safety issues, not to mention the damage to the business climate.

2. Poor sign placement (71%)

Trees grow and obscure signs.
Trees grow and can obscure signs.

The second most reported issue was poor placement.  Sign placement is best addressed when the sign is being installed, although the overgrowth of landscaping often leads to signs that have poor visibility.  Extreme setback requirements in city codes also contributes to poor placement.  Carefully consider placement and landscaping when positioning a sign.  Also consider obtaining a variance if you face a setback requirement that impacts the readability and safety of the site.

1. Letters that are too small (83%)

The number one reason reported for signage failure are letters that are too small.  This can be the result of a large number of underlying issues.  Trying to communicate too much and choosing a hard to read font both relate to the design of the sign.  Most cities have maximum sign size regulations.  These can force smaller letter sizes.  Understanding this early in the sign design process allows you to consider a different design or the time to obtain a variance.  Especially where traffic safety is compromised, a variance should be considered.

While other issues can arise, eliminating the three most commonly reported signage failure issues significantly improves your sign’s visibility.  Without proper lighting, visibility, and letter size your signs will fail to reach your audience.

This data and for more information see The Signage Foundation research by Kellaris, 2013.

 

 

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