Neon Signs Guide
Custom Office Signs: The Ultimate Guide
No matter the workplace, custom office signs are far more than just a way to decorate the office or add a sense of style to a building. These signs play a major role in branding, communication, navigation, and efficiency, and their diverse uses can do wonders for how a business is perceived by the public. In this guide, we cover all the key points regarding custom office signs, such as the different types of signs you can get, the materials used, the range of benefits, and a few key design tips.
The Importance of Custom Office Signs
The uses and importance of custom office signs shouldn’t be understated. A few of its most critical advantages include:
Enhancing Brand Identity: Custom office signs can be used to bring logos, slogans, and graphics to life, allowing businesses to showcase colours, brand messaging and reinforce their identity. With a creative and direct custom office sign, businesses can leave a lasting impression on clients, potential clients, visitors, and even employees.
Improves Navigation and Wayfinding: In large office spaces, such as buildings with several floors and shared workspaces, custom office signs are a great way to guide visitors, employees, and clients to the right place. Custom office signs, therefore, help reduce any sense of confusion and save everyone time.
Increased Professionalism: A custom office sign can even be used as a way to enhance professionalism. A well-crafted, professional sign shows that a company values its presentation and ultimately boosts its perception in the public eye.
Improved Workplace Productivity: You may have never considered it, but custom office signs can even be used to define the mood and tone of a room, such as through the use of displaying company policy. For example, a lunch area might have a sign saying “Employee Break Room” while areas designated to working with no distractions might be labelled the “Quiet Room”.
Types of Custom Office Signs
You can get custom office signs in all sorts of forms. As such, you can make sure that your sign matches with your brand identity. We’ll cover a few of the most commonly used custom office sign types:
Lobby and Reception Signs
Often, custom office signs are the first thing visitors see when entering the office building. These signs will likely include the business name, the logo and a tagline. A custom office sign can be made from materials such as wood, glass, metal or acrylic.
Wayfinding and Navigational Signs
A wayfinding custom office sign is a simple and straightforward way to direct visitors, clients and employees to different areas within the office building, such as the meeting room, lunch room, bathrooms, and more. These signs often include arrows, room names, and floor directories, and are often mounted on walls, doors, or hanging from ceilings.
Office Door Signs
An office door sign usually indicates a job title, an employee name or department identification. Often, these signs are customised in a way where the name plates can be changed with ease, should there be an update.
Conference Room Signs
These custom office signs can be used to display meeting schedules or indicate room availability. They are often customisable with interchangeable nameplates to show whether a room is available or in use.
Safety and Compliance Signs
In every office and building, there should be safety and compliance signs. This includes fire exit signs, emergency evacuation plans, hazard warnings, and navigational signs. For best results, these signs are often made with reflective or glow-in-the-dark materials to guarantee visibility at all times.
Motivational and Inspirational Signs
Custom office signs can also be used to promote inspirational and motivational messages to employees. The aim is to boost employee morale, drive home company values, display the company mission statement, and reinforce the company culture as a whole.
Custom Wall Graphics and Murals
There is also a strong artistic element to well-designed custom office signs, and a creative sign can be used to add style and flair to office spaces. Adding large-scale visual elements, custom illustrations, innovative designs, or scenic landscapes can do wonders for an office space.
Choosing the Right Material for Office Signs
A custom office sign’s material impacts its durability, functionality, and overall aesthetic. You’ll need to choose materials that are both cost-effective and sustainable in the long term. A few of the options you have include:
Acrylic: For a sleek and modern design, acrylic is perfect. The material is available in various colours and is most well-suited for lobby and reception signs. They can be frosted, clear or backlit for added effect.
Metal (Aluminium, Stainless Steel, and Brass): A metal sign is durable and resistant to wear and tear while also offering a professional and high-end appearance to boost your brand image.
Halo Office Signs: A halo sign is an illuminated type of sign that creates a halo lighting effect around the edges of the letters or logo, often with the use of LEDs.
Wood: A wooden sign is a great option for eco-conscious businesses seeking a warm, rustic, and natural aesthetic for the office. The wooden sign can be painted or even laser etched to bring your vision to life.
Glass: A well-made glass sign can be elegant, stylish, and sophisticated. They are mainly used in high-end office interiors and are etched, sandblasted, or printed on for customisation relevant to the business.
Neon Office Signs: With neon office signs, you can bring designs to life in a vibrant and illuminating way. A traditional glass neon sign is made from hand-bent glass tubes filled with a safe inert gas like neon or argon.
Vinyl: Vinyl signs are affordable and diverse in their application. They are well-suited as temporary signs or wall decals and can be made in various colours and finishes to match your brand identity.
LED and Digital Displays: LED signs can be used to create replica neon signs, offering a dynamic and energy-efficient alternative for offices. Digital displays can be used to display various messages and schedules. These signs are great for conference rooms, directories and reception areas.
Design Tips for Custom Office Signs
Simple and Legible Writing: Your office signs should be clear to read, so it’s best to avoid clutter and use clear fonts with minimal text. High-contrast colour combinations can help improve readability.
Match Your Brand Colours and Fonts: Your sign should be an extension of your business and therefore maintain consistency with its style, tone and other branding elements.
Choose the Right Size and Placement: You always want your sign to be large enough to be seen from a distance without being too overwhelming. The sign should also sit at eye level and be placed in a highly visible area for optimal impact.
Consider Lighting Effects: You can use LED lights and backlit signs to improve visibility, especially at night, while creating a stylish, vibrant and sophisticated look.
Use Custom Graphics and Logos: A custom office sign should be customised to reinforce your brand identity with a personal touch. This can be done by displaying your logo or any other graphics associated with your business
How Much Do Office Signs Cost?
The price of an office sign depends on a number of factors, including the material, size and complexity of the design. In general, this is what you can expect regarding costs:
Basic Door Nameplates: £20-£100 per custom office sign.
Acrylic or Metal Office Signs: £100 – £1000 per custom office sign, depending on size and customisation.
Lobby and Reception Signs (Large and Backlit): £1,000 – £5,000+
Wall Murals and Graphics: £200 – £3,000, based on size and design complexity.
Custom Neon Branding Signs: £1,000 – £3,000, depending on design complexity and overall size.
In modern-day business, custom office signs play a major role in branding, messaging, navigation and day-to-day efficiency. With a well-crafted, well-designed custom office sign, you can improve the aesthetics of your office, enhance functionality, capture the attention of visitors, and increase employee morale.
It doesn’t matter if you’re redesigning, starting a new business or moving offices; investing in high-quality custom office signs made from durable and sustainable materials has plenty of long-term benefits for your business. To get a custom office sign made for your business, reach out to Carousel Lights today!