To navigate around the BSGA Sign Buyers Guide please click one of the links below.

The BSGA Sign Buyers Guide     The Importance of good signage

Signage as Marketing                   The right sign for your business

Finding a signmaker                     Sign types and Materials

Wayfinding Signage                      Selection of materials

Standards                                          Lighting

Budgets                                             Planning Regulations

The aim in this section of the Guide is to give you a flavour of what’s available in today’s signage marketplace.

However, to help with the technical aspects we have made available two of the BSGA Technical Guidelines – A3: Glossary of Terms and C3: The Sign Function – Concepts and Types.

These guidelines will help you understand more about the basic sign types available and the terminology used within the industry.

Moving on to the signs themselves, the definition of what constitutes a sign has broadened considerably over the last decade or so.

Although retailers might spend a lot of time considering their main fascia signage, they often give much less thought to their interior signs, often regarding them as part of the shop-fitters’ remit.

But if it is to deliver maximum benefits,  a signage programme needs to be properly planned at the outset and consideration given to all of the various elements.

Since the advent of digital printing technology, many signmakers have also become print specialists too and can readily supply all of the internal and window graphics needed to promote products, flag up special offers and generally help create a pleasing ambience for the shopper.

The growing popularity of ‘soft’ signage – graphics printed on to textiles to give a more subtle and filmy effect – is also increasingly becoming part of the overall mix and many signmakers can also provide the fully integrated digital signage networks that enable retailers to deliver powerful selling messages, which can be effortlessly changed or updated. If you want to keep abreast of the latest developments in signmaking materials and technology, we recommend subscribing to Sign Directions magazine, which is the leading trade journal for the sign industry. The most recent issue can be downloaded at www.signdirestions.net where you will also find an extensive archive of news items and features.

A signage programme generally begins with the main external and it is here that planning issues come into play, particularly if the location is in a conservation area or if the sign is to grace a building of some architectural importance.

The final section of the Guide provides a brief summary of the Control of Advertisements Regulations, which apply to all forms of ‘outdoor advertising’, including signage in the UK.

The information provides intended as an elementary guide only and your BSGA signmaker will be able to provide advice on the requirements of the planning process for your specific location. They may even take care of the planning applications for you.