Signage can be a problem for many architects. With a wide array of signs, coding and decoding, scheduling, and design conflicts, the challenges and uncertainties rise. Having a subject matter expert on your side to control this helps before it’s too late and the budget is blown. You’re in luck with Oakhurst Signs and our sign catalogs, sign systems, and sign programs.
So what is difference between a sign catalog, a sign system, and a sign program?
In the broadest sense, a sign catalog is a catalog that has all the elements you may need and everything else you may not. Imagine the catalog from retailers in times past. There was an option or two of every item from A to Z. A system is a little different as the catalog is used to inform a system and make it your own to a degree. On the other end of the range of design, there is a custom sign program. The range of the signs are a reflection of the need for individuality or to define, once and for all, the true nature of the brand in signage form.
Sign catalogs are a collection of sign offerings that can be easily adapted for your project. Depending on the scope and the complexity of your project, an existing system can be modified to address your budgetary needs, the branding requirement you may have, and the range of signage you may need. When Architects have a sign catalog to refer to while scheduling signage, there are several advantages that are realized.
Having a sign catalog helps you budget your project.
When you start with a comprehensive system, there is a notion of fixed costs for standard sign types that you find in an interior space. A sign catalog with built-in flexibility creates branding opportunities. Having a starting point for a sign appearance and a cost can propel you further into an understanding of a budget and design elements to investigate further. If signage is a field that is outside of your strengths, catalogs really help you inform decisions. In addition, there could be a range of signs that you’ve never considered that should match the rest of the signs in a system. It’s helpful to have a boiler plate system to start from that allows for customization, while the product has already been optimized for production.
Having a sign catalog helps you save time.
If your project needs a sign catalog to start from or if a fully custom design is required, an apt company will work with you to create one. Starting from this point saves you time because there is a full range of signage to begin with, a notion of cost, and manage things appropriately and actively rather than simply responding to it.
What else can a sign catalog, sign system or sign program do for you?
When thinking about creating a sign system or a sign program for your project, there are several things to consider as you develop. To be as dynamic and flexible to address needs, we must be cognizant of the ways our business can grow and change, what our audience might need, and what can naturally affect the interpretation of information through signage.
Keep an eye out for the next blog in our series on sign catalogs, detailing the parameters and capabilities of sign systems when actively being used. If you are interested in expanding the family of signage at your business, reach out to our expert team and we will guide you through a consultation of what your company needs to evolve its signage.