Contrary to popular belief, your school signage design does not start and end on the school gates.
From small internal displays designed to guide pupils and staff around your school site, to full wall graphics and murals, school signage needs to tick the boxes of functionality, branding, and inspiration.
In this article, we uncover some of the best examples and ideas for impactful school signage – considering what your signage needs to communicate and how best to capture your school’s ethos and mission in every display.
Why is school signage so important?
With digital becoming such a focus for schools & multi-academy trusts across the country, it can be easy to put physical signage on the back burner – however, it is still this signage which creates that first impression for visitors and your school community. It also ensures you are presenting the experience that all of your digital marketing and outreach promises.
School signage design is, in short, the way that you communicate with and bring your whole school community together. It includes navigational signage, important information, striking welcoming signs, and those exterior banners which allow the local community to keep in touch with what’s going on at the school. Crucially, it delivers all of that under the same tone of voice, ensuring branding consistency across every platform for communication. But it’s not all about instructions and directions. Now, more than ever before, school signage is growing to encompass engaging and inspiring content as well.
The signage you should be focusing on in 2022
This year, school signage should be focused on creating a collaborative and inspiring space that brings people together. With previous messaging focusing on the Covid-19 outbreak and distancing regulations, the return to some semblance of normality puts schools back in touch with their community aspect – using displays to celebrate diversity and inspire the wider school community.
With the recently published whitepaper, Multi-Academy Trusts are to take over the running of all schools in England by 2030. To learn more about what this means for your school branding and signage; click here.
Some great examples of school signage projects we have been involved in recently include school value discs for the corridors at the Harris Academy Clapham, inspirational 3D mottos at The Abbey School, and a spotlight of pupil quotes and stories at the John Wallis Church of England Academy.
All of these examples showcase how impactful school signage design can be when it is used to communicate the wider school vision and its achievements. In essence, school signage doesn’t have to be reserved for “keep left” signs and instructions – it can, and should, also be used to engage and captivate.
How to ensure your school signage design has a positive impact
When you work with a company like Cleverbox, school signage doesn’t just become about functional solutions – it also allows your school to create consistency across every platform (both online and offline). As part of our school signage services, we not only work with you to design the perfect signage for every corner of your school site – we also project manage the build and installation, leaving you free to focus on running the school itself.
To close, here are a few tips for ensuring that your school signage is both informative and inspiring for your school community.
- Use your school branding and identity to frame the design and messaging
- Use signage to inspire your school community as well as inform them. Wall displays and school celebrations all fall under the signage category and can create a community feel
- Think big, to turn bland walls into engaging displays
- Combine information with graphics and imagery to help it stand out
- Think outside the box, embracing innovative new signage solutions
- Lacking ideas? Speak to us for inspiration as to how we can transform your space
For more information on our school signage design service and to learn how we can support with the design, build and installation of signage around your school site, contact the Cleverbox team.