Most signs that get replaced early were not badly made. They were badly briefed — usually because nobody was asked how far away it would be read from.
1. The exact wording
Send the wording typed out, exactly as it should appear, including the ministry or council line, the institution's full name, and any motto or established date.
Type it rather than describing it. Names get spelled more than one way locally, and the sign is made from what is written on the order.
2. How far away it is read from
This is the single most important thing you can tell us, and the one most often left out.
- From a road, at speed — the name needs to be large and there can be very few words. Two or three lines at most.
- From across a yard — more detail is possible, and a directory of departments can work.
- From arm's length — a door or ward sign, where normal reading sizes are fine.
A useful test: stand where the reader will be, look back at where the sign will go, and tell us roughly how many paces that is. We will size the lettering from that rather than from how it looks on a screen.
3. Where it will stand
Tell us whether it is going into soil, onto a wall, or onto an existing frame or post. If it is going in the ground, tell us what the ground is like — some sites need a deeper hole and more concrete than others.
Also mention anything nearby that competes: an existing sign, a tree that will grow across it, a wall the same colour as the panel.
4. Your crest, at the best quality you have
Send the crest however you have it. A clean file is ideal; a photograph of an old sign or a letterhead is workable. If it is not sharp enough to print at sign size we will redraw it, tell you that we are doing so, and give you the redrawn version to keep.
What you get back
A written quotation with the specification named, then a proof showing the actual layout at the actual proportions. Read the proof carefully — particularly names, distances and arrow directions, which are the three things most often wrong at that stage and most expensive to fix afterwards.
If you are not sure what size the sign should be, send us a photograph taken from where people will read it. That tells us more than any measurement.
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