We are pleased to announce our membership of the UK sign makers trade body, the British Sign and Graphics Association. If you are looking to purchase signs for your company then take a look at their sign buyer’s guide for useful information and insight into sign types, what you should know and how to get the best from your sign supplier!

Good signs and wayfinding guidance are an essential part of any successful access strategy. We believe that clarity and simplicity in our signage makes our buildings more user friendly for everyone, not just those with visual or physical impairments. The most most successful sign systems are those which are clear and simple and use common, consistent language and symbols. Here is our list of 10 top tips for successful access for all signage:

1. Ensure there is a good contrast between text and sign background and if possible between the sign and the surface on which it is located
2. Position signage consistently so people know where to find relevant information
3. Signs should be fixed at eye level, where possible – between 1.4m and 1.6m above floor level
4. Choose fonts with a clear, unembellished (sans-serif) typeface and use sentence case with no underlined text (headings could be a larger size and bolder)
5. Make sure letter heights are large enough to be clear from a distance and use left aligned text
6. Pay particular attention to space – between letters, words, lines and around the sign itself. To improve legibility, it may be necessary to increase spacing by up to 30%
7. Tactile signs should have raised/embossed text and be positioned between 1.4m and 1.7m above floor level and at a distance of approximately 0.5m. The minimum character height should be 15 mm.
8. Always use tactile signs on toilet and bathroom doors, near lift call buttons, at the top and bottom of flights of stairs and wherever it is necessary to show the function of a room
9. Simple pictorial devices and symbols can be more successful in aiding recognition and overcoming language barriers. Internationally recognized symbols should be used if appropriate
10. When Braille is used on signage, it should be located directly below the text and ranged left. A recessed or raised Braille Locator mark indicates to the reader the exact location of the Braille on the sign

A good guide to inclusive signage is published by the JMU and Sign Design Society and is available from the RNIB.

At last it’s here! M Shed, the revamped Industrial Museum on Bristol’s harbourside, has opened following nearly 5 years of renovation.

Create Signs were delighted to have been asked to produce and install the external signage and internal wayfinding signs for this historic project. The signage, designed by culture and heritage specialists, SteersMcGillanEves, compliments the fantastic new internal spaces and will dazzle visitors to Bristol’s harbourside and revitalized Museum.

Great to hear that Rio Architects and BDP won awards for the Wales region at this year’s RIBA Awards. We were pleased to work on the signage for two of the winning buildings – the University of Glamorgan Students’ Union (Rio Architects and Vinci Construction) and the University of Wales, Newport (BDP and Willmott Dixon Construction).

It was good to have the director of the BSGA call in to see us recently. Following discussions at the 2011 Sign & Digital UK Show we needed to know if signing up with the UK’s principal trade organisation for the sign industry really can reap benefits for members. We were impressed with ideas for taking the BSGA forward and believe that membership is definitely a 2 way street. We hope that with accreditation Create will benefit from the Association’s experience and support and that we can contribute to making the BSGA a strong and vital industry body.

In a time long before digital printing and software based sign design, commercial signs were hand painted. But not to be attached to a wall or post – advertising was painted directly onto the walls of thriving industrial cities around the world.
We featured one of these painted signs back in our first Inspiring Sign Photography post and felt it was appropriate that these fading advertisements, once hand painted onto brick walls, were given a post of their own.

It was in the early 20th century that this type of sign was created by businesses wishing to publicise their products and services. Commercial signs have come a long way since this period, but many of the hand painted signs live on and can be seen all over the UK, France and the United States. The signs are now known as Ghost Signs due to their weathered and faded appearance, in addition to the fact that many have outlived the brands which they set out to publicise.

The Ghostsigns Archive has documented over 700 examples which can be viewed at the History of Advertising Trust. In addition, Flickr has a Ghost Signs group with over 14,000 photos in its pool.

If you want to see more incredible photos of signage from the past, read our post on Inspiring Sign Photography.

It was a hard day’s night for our install team at The Galleries Shopping Centre at Broadmead, Bristol last week as we rushed to rebrand the centre back to its original name. The rebranding of The Galleries (formerly The Mall) took just one week from site visit to completion and installation of all the new internal and external signs including 8m high external aluminium fins, entrance signs, store directories, door branding and car parking signage. Signs were installed overnight while the shopping centre was closed to customers. Aspect Partnership who were in charge of the rebrand were ‘delighted’ with the results.

Really enjoyed Wayne Hemingway at Yell’s Clicking with Customers event last week. Listening to him talking about hard graft, making your own luck, keeping to your principles and rolling around naked in loads of cash was a tad more interesting than looking at this screen! LOVED the look of his Vintage Festival at Goodwood last year, at London’s Southbank this. A hint that it may possibly come to Bristol in the future? Hope so. Check out the lovely graphics.

Student Housing provider Unite are expanding their property portfolio across the UK and while work continues to complete the new building in Manchester by September, Create installed a 40 metre hoarding around the site. The hoarding was completed in just 4 days from being given the go ahead by the client and the result is a great showcase for the development, showing images of the interiors of the accommodation together with Unite branding.

Nice to see some great pictures of our signs on the website of one of Britain’s leading architects. AWW have some lovely pics of our educational signage at Melksham Oak School, Bristol Skills Academy and Merchant’s Academy.