5 Considerations For Exterior Sign Maintenance That Lasts For Years
The signage you choose for your business today can reflect how it looks tomorrow. The sign materials and design can help you maintain a polished, professional look. Choosing the right elements for installation and exterior sign maintenance can leave you with a powerful brand asset for years to come.
But if you choose the wrong elements, you could be left with a sign that doesn’t last. You may end up with a poorly-maintained sign that creates a bad first impression. Your customers don’t want to drive up to a building with broken lights and faded colors on the sign.
To make sure you get signage that lasts, start thinking about exterior sign maintenance from day one of your planning. Consider the five factors that will impact your sign’s ability to last for years to come.
1. Balance Form and Function
The key to installing signage that requires minimal maintenance but still looks good throughout the years is to work with a partner that can balance form and function – also known as durability and design.
You don’t want to fully focus on durability, because your design might not be as eye-catching as you think. However, if you focus solely on design, then your exterior signage will look dirty and dated within a few years.
At Creative Sign Designs, we take a variety of design and fabrication principles into consideration along with our client’s needs. A few of these are:
- Types of lighting needed
- Texture goals
- Location of the signage (environmental, the distance from the road, other signs nearby)
- Message length
- Visibility needs (whether or not a sign needs to be seen at night)
All of these elements (and many more) help us understand the durability challenges of our clients. For example, signage within a shopping center for daytime shoppers requires less maintenance than LED-lit signage that customers need to be able to read at night on the highway.
Related: Commercial Exterior Audit: What Do Customers Think Before They Enter?
2. Plan for Wear and Tear
In order to understand the importance of quality exterior signage, it helps to know what can affect your sign over time. You have likely seen several exterior signs that looked worse for wear as you drive down the road. These are signs that have faded colors or lights that have gone out.
While you may not notice small changes, your brand can start to look worn and dated from the elements without proper exterior sign maintenance. A few threats to your signage include:
- The Sun: Your rich colors can start to look faded or get bleached away.
- Dirt and Animal Impacts: Grime can grow over your signage, while bugs live in the lights and birds build nests in the letting.
- Damage: Hail and other debris can cause dents in your signage.
- Lighting: Lights can burn out, making your sign look poorly maintained and unprofessional.
By choosing durable, reliable design elements, you can limit the effects of nature and time.
3. Choose Sustainable Materials
Along with creating a creative and engaging design, your signage also needs to be made of both sustainable and durable materials. Fortunately, many of these materials can also benefit your brand and require minimal exterior sign maintenance.
For example, LED bulbs are considered environmentally friendly. The energy-efficient exterior lights use 75% less energy than incandescent lighting, reducing your brand’s carbon footprint. Plus, this drop in energy use also lowers your energy bills.
Furthermore, LED bulbs last longer than other bulb options, which decreases the chances that your signage will go out and make your brand look unprofessional.
The use of LED bulbs is just one way to make your exterior signage more sustainable and durable. Additionally, we recommend energy-efficient flatbed printing which uses fewer waste cartridges and creates less indoor air pollution. This method of digital printing is also of higher quality, benefiting our customers as well as our employees. We also look for ways to use reclaimed signage materials, preventing the buildup of signage in landfills.
The materials you choose can be a point of pride for your business and proof of your commitment to protecting the environment.
4. Consider Compliance
There is one more thing that stands in the way of your ideal design and its execution: compliance.
As a business owner, you have to follow the rules of your community. In order to avoid fines and stay in operation, your exterior signage likely needs to meet certain size guidelines and expectations. These are issues that range from sizing to protecting children from adult brands.
At Creative Sign Designs, we have worked with dozens of communities to understand their permitting and variances. We are very experienced and can provide client representation before government agencies to get signage approval. We understand the legal framework around city and county codes, which is why we can analyze what you can and cannot do.
Before we sign off on any designs for production, we make sure that their development is completely approved by all required parties.
5. Install Properly and Safely
Even the best signs can break or fall down if they aren’t installed correctly, which is why you should work with a partner who set up your signage in a way that protects your workers and your customers.
At Creative Sign Designs, we follow all OSHA guidelines to protect our workers. We have a first-aid certified team and take time to make sure signs are installed correctly and safely. This allows you to maintain your branding without risking your health or the safety of your employees.
We also use multiple bucket trucks, forklifts, cranes, and other installation equipment with certified drivers. You can feel confident that your investment will be protected and installed to last, reducing your exterior sign maintenance needs.
Related: Project Management for Exterior Signage Design: How to Bring Your Sign to Life
Plan for Exterior Sign Maintenance From the Start
Your signage is the first impression that customers have of your brand. Don’t show them something faded, broken, or knocked over. Choosing the right materials and design company allows you to create something you are proud of, while limiting how much exterior sign maintenance you need to perform.
Work with a partner who you can trust. Call Creative Sign Designs today. We are here to listen to your needs and offer a consultation for the materials and timeframe needed to get your commercial signage installed for years to come.
