In 2008, a satellite-navigation specialist, Colin Beatty, presented a 27-slide PowerPoint presentation to the Sign Design Society, England’s leading environmental graphic design association. He asked the rhetorical question in his title:. “Could personal navigation systems herald the demise of much fixed signage?” In a column published in The Slate, author Julia Turner explores this question […]
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FASI Executive Director Wade Swormstedt Named AACSRE “Friend”
FASI Executive Director Wade Swormstedt has been named a “Friend of AACSRE” (The Academic Advisory Council for Signage Research & Education). The AACSRE Board of Directors includes 13 representatives from its university members. In addition, AACSRE appoints “Friends” to serve in an advisory capacity. In a press release, AACSRE stated, “With the interdisciplinary nature of […]
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American Sign Museum Initiates Sign Restoration Compilation
The American Sign Museum (ASM) (www.americansignmuseum.org) has been compiling information about signage-restoration projects throughout North America. ASM Founder Tod Swormstedt touched on these initial efforts at the National Signage Research & Education Conference held at the University of Oklahoma on October 10-12, 2015. Future possibilities include a group and/or event devoted to sign restoration. Lisa Peterson, […]
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Where Can I Find a Model Sign Code?
Various model sign codes and related guidance documents have been published, and many can be viewed in their entirety including the following: From The Sign Research Foundation http://www.signresearch.org/research-sign-codes/ From the USSC Foundation https://usscfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/USSC-Model-On-Premise-Sign-Code-2018.pdf From the Sign Research Foundation https://www.signresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Framework-for-On-Premise-Sign-Regulation.pdf
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Magazine Surveys Shows Positive Growth for Sign Industry
The annual State of the Industry Report, with regard to internally illuminated signs (cabinet signs, channel letters, outline lighting, etc.), conducted by Signs of the Times magazine, showed positive results for 2014 and a prediction of continued growth for 2015. 80% of the respondents said their sales volume increased from 2013 to 2014. Less than 7% […]
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ISA Sign Expo Attendance is Second Highest Ever
The International Sign Association Sign Expo, held April 21-23, 2016 in Orlando, Florida, attracted more than 20,000 attendees, the association reports, which makes it the second-largest show in ISA history, and the largest ever held in Orlando. For nearly two decades, the Sign Expo has alternated between Orlando and Las Vegas, and the latter show […]
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FASI Board Member Prof. Alan Weinstein Addresses APA Conference about Reed v. Gilbert
Law professor Alan Weinstein, a board member of the newly formed Foundation for the Advancement of the Sign Industry, was one of three people associated with sign-industry groups who spoke at a session on sign regulation at the American Planning Association annual conference, April 4, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona. Speakers at the session, entitled “Regulating […]
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Duke University Economic Professor Applies “Game Theory” to Signage
David McAdams, an economics professor at Duke University, has authored a paper entitled “The Economics of On-Premise Signs” in conjunction with the United States Sign Council. In it, he contrasts the philosophies and ramifications of sign codes in Henrietta and Brighton, New York — two communities with similar demographics, both of which are near Rochester, […]
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How Big Do the Letters on Signs, Parallel to the Road, Need to Be?
As noted elsewhere on this website, “visual acuity” and “conspicuity” and “cone of vision” are very important for signs, because motorists must be able to detect signs, read them and then react to them in a few seconds. So how much does the visibility change when a sign directly faces the driver (perpendicular to the […]
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What Does “Conspicuity” Mean for Signage?
Conspicuity for signage is determined by the contrast between the sign and its background. A sign must be conspicuous first, because, without it, the sign’s legibility and readability are moot points. While the appropriate size for signs is addressed on this website under the heading “How big should a sign’s letters be?”, conspicuity includes factors […]
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