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A few weeks ago, Preston’s Tram Bridge in Avenham Park reopened after being shut for 7 years. This had been a hotly anticipated event, drawing strong local interest.
This sort of project requires lots of people working together and clear goals and aims. Empine was proud to support the project by providing signage at every stage for Eric Wright Group, the appointed contractor for the bridge works.
A range of signage was used throughout, from PVC signs during the bridge lift to the brushed stainless-steel plaque, engraved with black infill, that now sits at the entrance.
It highlights how signage needs to work across different environments and stages, and what you should consider when planning your own, whether for internal walls, offices, windows or large-scale projects.
Top 5 Signage Tips
1. Consider how and where the sign will be seen
Visibility is more than just placement. You need to think about how people will encounter the sign. Are they walking past, driving past, or standing still?
The environment matters just as much. External signage needs to account for weather exposure, while internal signage needs to work within lighting conditions and surrounding finishes.
Getting this right early influences everything from size and positioning to materials and fixings.
2. Matching materials to lifespan and budget
Not all signage is designed to last forever and it shouldn’t be. Temporary site signage and long-term architectural signage require very different approaches.
Choosing the right material and finish from the start avoids unnecessary replacement costs and ensures the sign still looks right over time.
A short-term solution used in the wrong setting can quickly become a false economy.
3. Keep the message focused
Signage should communicate quickly. If someone has to stop to read it properly, it’s already doing too much.
Decide what the one key message is and prioritise that. Anything else is secondary.
4. Design for readability at a distance
Good typography is not just about style, it’s about function. The size, weight and spacing of your text should reflect how far away it will be viewed from.
What works on a screen or a brochure won’t always work on a sign. If it can’t be read at a glance, it won’t be read at all.
5. Use colour contrast for visibility
Contrast is what makes signage work in real conditions, not just on a design proof. Lighting, weather and surrounding colours all affect how visible a sign actually is.
Strong contrast ensures the message stands out consistently, whether it’s viewed in bright daylight or lower light conditions.
Bonus tip: Think about signage as part of a wider system
On larger projects especially, signage rarely exists in isolation. It needs to work consistently across different stages, locations and formats.
Planning it as a joined-up system from the outset saves time, avoids inconsistencies and creates a more professional end result.
Want to evaluate your signage?
Good signage should last, perform and represent your business properly. If you are investing in new signage, we can help you make sure it works as hard as it should.
Book a call with the team to get started.
