To produce an attractive and effective signage, sign companies need to: have open and honest communication with the client, be aware of site surroundings that could impact the project, know limitations (ie: ordinances and budget) and help clients understand that signage is different than printed marketing materials or web design. A thorough conversation with the client is the best place to start to come to an understanding regarding the project. The designer needs to know the client’s unique situation, what they hope to accomplish through the project and the organization’s overall goals.

Next, a site visit should be scheduled in order to visually understand the challenges the project may face. This would include surveying the surrounding area of where the project will be. The client should be asked if they have considered the visual competition their project will face. Surrounding businesses, traffic flow, distances and speed of their audience, even the landscape with hills and trees, pose challenges. The visual competition for a project on The Strip in Las Vegas is different than Main Street in Tiny Town USA, just as there are differences between a location off a highway and one in a shopping center. One size does not fit all. As sign industry professionals, we help clients understand their unique situation and how our custom designs will help achieve their goals through effective signage.

A sign designer’s job is to collect all the information that we can – what are the practical limitations placed on the project by local ordinances, development/permit requirements or the client’s marketing strategy and budget? Designers utilize their experience to help clients understand restrictions placed on the project; sign companies deal with these issues all the time, but clients do not. Sign companies need to be well versed in local guidelines and can work within them for the project, specifically when it pertains to overall size and location. Additionally, sign companies need to be able to challenge local authorities when appropriate.

Inevitably, we must talk money. While imaginations may be without limits, budgets are not. Companies want clients to get the most bang for their buck. The sign industry is a unique business, and many of our clients have never invested in a custom sign before and have no idea of the cost. An honest conversation about the budget of the project can save time in the long run by reducing the number of revisions needed in the design.

Finally, designers need to know how this sign will work with, and hopefully augment, the client’s existing marketing strategy. How can the designer highlight the elements from their branding (logos, fonts, colors) into the design of their sign? Designers need to help clients understand the differences in design in terms of a sign project. Print and web marketing campaigns don’t need to worry about the viewing distance and speed of travel of their audience, while the design of your sign takes those considerations very seriously. The time people have to absorb your information determines the amount of information you can effectively share. Designers need to take all of this information and make sure clients get the maximum ROI from their sign.




Key Takeaways:
- Honest and open communication
- Be aware of the surroundings
- Know your limitations: ordinances and budget
- Signage is different than printed marketing materials or web design

Low-quality LED digital display signs (like messaging centers) have flooded the market in the technology’s wave of popularity. Today, someone interested in a digital display can actually order, sight unseen, from overseas. Why should you be concerned about buying a low-cost display? LED signs are all the same, right?

Before buying a digital display, find out how different LED signs can be from one another. Go beyond price to consider reliability, lifetime and image quality.

Product testing
Today, let’s take a look at a display’s most important property—its image quality. Does the product you’re looking at undergo testing to make sure it looks great from fire up to end of life? These tests should include luminance, maximum viewing angles, color range, uniformity (no quilting effects) and ambient contrast ratio.

The product design needs to stand up to challenges such as:
• Ambient light - Glare from the sun or overhead lighting can reflect from the display.
• Different vantage point - Different spots viewers occupy in relation to the display.
• Display uniformity - Inconsistencies in the display that distract from content.

Ambient contrast ratio
Those in the industry consider the ambient contrast ratio the most important aspect of a display’s performance. This ratio will be the most noticeable difference between two displays. With this in mind, some companies have engineered the louvers to eliminate sun glare, while maintaining maximum viewing angles. Greater contrast ratios are proven to attract the eye and increase viewer comprehension rates.

These two specific examples of testing also impact image quality: Electrostatic discharge tests to see if products operate without discolorations, blank areas, color patterns or flickering when exposed to static occurring during manufacturing, shipping and usage. Another test for sunlight and weathering checks the plastic, paint and LED degradation of each module in the display’s face.

Lower the LED cost, greater the failure rate
Providers within the sign industry have conducted a vast amount of testing on LED brands and components. One common test is reliability testing. This done with LEDs that are subjected to a temperature cycle test designed to speed up degradation. Testing over repeated simulated cycles replicate the real display lifetimes in various climates in North America. Some low end modules show deterioration after only 200 cycles (simulated days) because of partial, or complete, pixel failure.

The number of failures per module inversely correlates to the cost of the LEDs. In other words, the lower the LED cost, the greater the failure rate. Tests like this help manufactures decide which components to place in their signs. You tend to get what you pay for!

Federal Communications Commission
We’ve seen an increase in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) presence in our industry. It is vital for buyers of LED displays to understand this and do their research. All electronic devices used in the U.S.A. must be tested to comply with FCC guidelines. Noncompliant products can emit excessive amounts of electromagnetic interference which can disrupt communications, including cell phones. If a digital display is found to be noncompliant then it is normal for the FCC to require that it be taken out of use – permanently. That means that the whole sign has to be scrapped, plus any additional fines that are owed!

Look out for equipment imported to the U.S. from other countries. There is equipment sold here that hasn’t been properly tested and doesn’t meet guidelines.
FCC’s aggressiveness in enforcing their requirements is growing. Only a certified laboratory can validate that a display complies with the FCC guidelines. It’s so important to buy from reputable people who make sure their products meet the FCC standards and that they stay compliant. (See more FCC information.)

We hope this information will help you find a rugged LED display with outstanding image quality and reliability. With a purchase of this significance, take time to educate yourself and be cautious when you evaluate overseas equipment.