Every institution and organisation needs high quality signage, and schools are certainly no exception.
Many people think of retail outlets and offices when the subject of signage comes up, but they aren’t the only entities that benefit from high-quality signs. Great signage is also vitally important for public organisations and institutions such as hospitals, parks, government buildings – and schools.
Whether the establishment is a primary school, a sixth-form college or a university, the need for good signage in schools is largely consistent across the whole gamut of educational institutions.
Today, we’re going to look at some of the reasons why any school should make sure it has fantastic signage on display – and what makes a good school sign in the first place.
Why do schools need signage?
Often when we think of signage we primarily imagine the lettering over the front door of the establishment, but there are so many more types and uses of signage than that: classrooms, directional signage, school branding, the list is almost endless.
For example, in a school environment full of hundreds of children, safety must be absolutely paramount – and signage is very good at promoting it.
Clear and frequently-placed signage can communicate and reiterate to students what they should do in the event of a fire evacuation, where to find extinguishers and first aid kits and how to contact the school nurse. Signs can also be placed in bathrooms reminding pupils to wash their hands before they interact with other students, or in corridors to reiterate a recommendation not to run in the hallways.
But the usefulness of signage isn’t limited to safety information, and it can be deployed to also share messaging for other issues – perhaps encouraging students to observe the institute’s dress code or to inform them of the school’s social messaging channels.
Signage for pupils and the public
School signage isn’t only concerned with displaying messages to pupils – it can also be used externally to communicate with the general public and internally in the back of house areas for staff and teachers.
For any educational establishment, trust and reputation are extremely valuable attributes. Signage can be used to promote the institute’s ethos and values – not to mention results.
Signs are a great way to share the school’s achievements, such as great inspection scores, high student pass rates, or even famous alumni. This can help parents and students alike feel as though they are in safe, capable and well-trusted hands.
Signage can also be used to share information about the institute’s heritage or pedigree – perhaps displaying a date when the school was founded, when a particular building was built, or drawing attention to any other point of historical interest.
Building trust and reputation with signage
There’s more to building trust than just choosing the right words to put on your signage in schools. In addition to what you say on the sign, it’s also equally important to think about how you say it.
In terms of visual signage design, the typography, colours and layout choices can all contribute to the perceived reputation of the institution.
For example, certain typefaces tend to be associated with certain values. Serif fonts (such as Times New Roman, Georgia, and Baskerville) are often used to evoke tradition, heritage and old-school trustworthiness, and are thus very well suited to any school with a long history.
On the other hand, sans-serif fonts (such as Arial, Verdana, and Century Gothic – which our logo is written in!) can be used to suggest modernity and progressiveness. This can make them ideal for technology colleges and schools that prioritise STEM subjects.
As for colours, marketing professionals have long known the power of emotional colour associations for branding (Cadbury’s purple, for example, tends to make us think of luxuriousness, and that’s exactly why they use it).
For schools, we might want to use colours that invoke values such as reliability, quality, sophistication and competence. These are often best embodied by darker and more muted colours such as blacks, blues, browns and greys (for more information on colour psychology for sign branding, please see our blog post on the subject).
Signage in schools help to inspire students
Throughout their formative years, children and young adults spend a significant amount of time in school environments – and signage can play a notable role in whether that environment is a help or a hindrance to their education.
Messaging on a sign can be used to share words of study information, motivation, or inspiration, and imagery can also play a significant role in influencing the quality of study. For example, research shows that imagery of nature can help to reduce stress – something that is likely to be a very real concern for university students fretting about their dissertation deadlines.
Signage doesn’t have to just be a board over the front door, and it can come in many forms. Interior walls can be decorated with wide-format printed signs to lend unique character to study spaces, and doors to classrooms and other areas need to be labeled to aid in wayfinding and letting people know who has access to the space, and who doesn’t. But it’s not just inside that benefits from signage: sports areas and playgrounds can be cheered up and made into fun (and safe!) places to be with some carefully designed signs.
Study stress isn’t the only worry that pupils have – for many younger students, the first day at school can be a scary prospect. Even finding your way around a seemingly labyrinthine network of school corridors can be a challenge when you are very small!
Wayfinding signage is an invaluable asset for many different types of institutions. When we visit a supermarket or an airport, we commonly rely on directional and informational signs to help us find the correct aisle, check-in desk or departure gate.
Pupils in schools and universities often have much the same need. After all, many schools have a sprawling and potentially confusing layout for new students – and universities are often a large and diverse collection of different colleges and campus areas. Therefore, wayfinding signage is a very good idea to help students, staff, and visitors alike get to where they’re going – helping them to get to their classes on time, reducing congestion in busy areas, and other optimisations. This is especially important on larger campuses, such as universities, where multiple buildings with vast corridors and endless rooms means you can easily become lost. Plentiful wayfinding signage is crucial here, but the signage will also serve as an opportunity to display professional, cohesive branding in various locations. Seen here are just a few of the signage for schools we created for the University of Kent:
All things considered, signage is a very important investment for any school, university or other educational institution. It can be an aid to student safety, influence the perceived reputation of the school in the public eye, and even help and inspire pupils to do their best work.
Looking for some high quality, bespoke designed signage for schools, college, universities or nursery?
Please don’t hesitate to contact us today to find out how we can help with your school signage project.