Planning for Precision and Durability
Creating quality architectural signage means understanding the details and planning for the obstacles involved. The challenges are somewhat different depending on whether you are creating signage for indoor or outdoor use, for directional and wayfinding or for an institutional donor wall program.

Understanding How Lighting Impacts Display
Fade-resistant materials are important to protect both indoor and outdoor architectural signage from the sun's UV rays and to clearly identify the sign under man-made lighting conditions. With shiny surfaces you have to be concerned with reflections of the sunlight off the ground and the sky because they will affect how the sign looks as the season and weather changes.

Special Considerations in the Design Phase
The actual "look" of a sign is the focus of most of the customer's attention. The primary challenge in the design phase is to develop a creative execution that the customer wants and help them choose materials while staying within their budget. It is important to choose your materials in the design phase so that you can prepare for any special requirements such as lighting, mounting or curved walls.

Regulatory Requirements and the Customer
After the materials are chosen, the design is complete and the sign is ready to display, there are still two key obstacles for the architectural sign maker - Regulations and Installation. The challenge here is not so much meeting the specs, but convincing the customer why you have to.

Communicating
Weather, lighting, materials, design, and installation aside, the most common pitfall has nothing to do with creating architectural signage from the technical standpoint, and has everything to do with communicating effectively with the client. Other than design, most customers are primarily concerned with two things - Cost and Timing.

Meeting and Exceeding Your Needs
Communication goes beyond talking. In order to truly understand your needs, we take advantage of digital photography and mock-ups. This saves time and money in the end and helps ensure you are satisfied with the results before we start production. This means photographing the site and providing proof photos to help the customer envision what the finished product will look like. Illustrations are also a valuable tool. The most important thing is that we make sure to do our homework up front in terms of where the sign is going to go, what it is going to look like, and regulations. We try to remove any surprises for either ourselves or the customer.