Theater Signage collage

The­atre Sig­nage: Bud­get. Brand. Beauty.

Erin Carey, Nebraska and Western Iowa Sign Expert | December 17, 2019

Every the­atre is unique in terms of archi­tec­tur­al design, mate­ri­als, goals for the project, and cus­tomer type. Here are three com­mon themes that all cin­e­ma sig­nage projects have in com­mon. Bud­get, brand, and beau­ty are to be con­sid­ered in all the­atre sig­nage. Learn more here.

Movie Popcorn

When most peo­ple think about the­atres, it’s big screens, but­tery calo­rie-laden pop­corn and dimmed lights that come to mind. But for sig­nage experts, the­atres mean huge mar­quee signs designed to grab the­atre-goer atten­tion with an eye on the budget.

Our sig­nage team includ­ing sales rep­re­sen­ta­tives, installers, design­ers, and engi­neers, have worked on mul­ti­ple sig­nage projects for the­atres. Each was dif­fer­ent in terms of archi­tec­tur­al design, mate­ri­als, goals for the project, and cus­tomer type, but three com­mon themes run through all cin­e­ma signage.

Bud­get, brand, and beau­ty are the key ele­ments to cre­at­ing effec­tive sig­nage that deliv­er to both the aes­thet­ics of the envi­ron­ment and the client’s budget.

Keep­ing Sig­nage On A Budget

A top pri­or­i­ty for most the­atre sig­nage clients, or any clients for that mat­ter, is bud­get. In some instances, clients may be con­strained to funds raised to sup­port the project. Oth­er times, a person’s job could be on the line if the amount spent isn’t kept in check. 

This Hub­Spot arti­cle points to four main rea­sons projects go off-budget: 

  1. The deci­sion-mak­er is not involved in the project.
  2. Require­ments for the project are not clear­ly defined.
  3. Ini­tial mile­stones have been missed.
  4. Roles and respon­si­bil­i­ties are unclear. 

Our expe­ri­ence shows that when we meet with deci­sion-mak­ers ear­ly on to see where the signs will be locat­ed and review all the pos­si­ble sce­nar­ios before quot­ing a sig­nage project, we’re able to deliv­er, on-time, on-bud­get and meet sig­nage project expectations.. 

On a recent the­atre sign project, the Red Oak Grand The­atre, we encoun­tered a sit­u­a­tion where the orig­i­nal plan and quote was based on just replac­ing the signs, but then dis­cov­ered the canopy over the front doors need­ed addi­tion­al engi­neer­ing to sup­port the sign. This result­ed in a revised calculation. 

Thank­ful­ly, sit­u­a­tions like this can be sal­vaged if caught ear­ly and/​or we can find ways to save the client mon­ey in oth­er areas, such as reduc­ing the scope or swap­ping out mate­ri­als for some­thing com­pa­ra­ble but more cost-effec­tive. A val­ued sig­nage part­ner will know how to make these adjust­ments with­out sac­ri­fic­ing quality.

It’s also impor­tant to have con­ver­sa­tions upfront about the capa­bil­i­ties of the sig­nage com­pa­ny you work with — Will they be able to com­plete all the work from plan­ning and design to instal­la­tion? If not, what will it cost to bring some­one else on the project?

And don’t for­get to leave a lit­tle wig­gle room. Unex­pect­ed sit­u­a­tions will arise — prepar­ing ahead of time gives every­one peace of mind that expec­ta­tions will still be met. 

Theater Signage Collage1

Brand­ed Signage

Your brand and mes­sage are impor­tant; brand­ed sig­nage should reflect your the­atre clear­ly and pro­vide an attrac­tive design that is durable and promi­nent. When we begin work, part of the process is ana­lyz­ing the the­atre owner’s goals, visions, and pur­pose to deter­mine how best to rep­re­sent that in the signage. 

You want to consider: 

  • Who the signs are targeting
  • Whether they will be a clas­sic mar­quee style or dig­i­tal sig­nage application
  • What role each sign plays in the over­all iden­ti­ty of the theatre
  • The func­tion of each of the dif­fer­ent signs

A busi­ness can brand them­selves in many ways — through their busi­ness cards, mar­ket­ing col­lat­er­al, or web­site. But for a brick and mor­tar pres­ence like a the­atre, exte­ri­or sig­nage is an essen­tial com­po­nent of attract­ing customers.

Your visu­al brand is the first touch­point with cus­tomers and clients, and it is the first piece of infor­ma­tion peo­ple are processing. 

A brand sends an implic­it mes­sage about the busi­ness to the cus­tomers and poten­tial cus­tomers so a sign design mis­matched with the brand is more detri­men­tal than you might imagine.

You may nev­er have thought about it before, but signs have the abil­i­ty to gen­er­ate good­will and loy­al­ty as well as build an emo­tion­al con­nec­tion with patrons. That was cer­tain­ly the case in pre­vi­ous projects we’ve been a part of – from build­ing out a Donor Wall for Film­Scene to the his­tor­i­cal mar­quee sign at the Red Oak Grand The­atre.

Brand­ing is about stim­u­lat­ing feel-good emo­tions and pro­vid­ing a mem­o­rable cus­tomer expe­ri­ence, which we strive for in every sign design. 

Beau­ti­ful The­atre Sig­nage Trans­ports Customers

Dundee Full Front Signs

Beau­ty as an ele­ment of sig­nage design demands a bal­ance of light­ing and prod­uct appli­ca­tion to deliv­er eye-catch­ing dis­plays and to make your the­atre a vis­i­ble land­mark with­in the com­mu­ni­ty. This is def­i­nite­ly the case for the Dundee The­atre in Omaha. 👉🏻

Imag­ine the­atre-goers being trans­port­ed to anoth­er time and place sim­ply through design ele­ments of sig­nage. The cre­ative ele­ments you incor­po­rate into the sig­nage, will add to the aes­thet­ic appeal and help a busi­ness stand out. This is para­mount in today’s com­pet­i­tive environment. 

From mate­ri­als, light­ing, graph­ics, and images, both exte­ri­or sig­nage and inte­ri­or sig­nage should apply the same brand guide­lines you would use to cre­ate cohe­sive­ness in all your mar­ket­ing efforts. 

Beau­ty in sig­nage is real­ly mar­ry­ing the brand with the mate­ri­als and oth­er design ele­ments, such as size, font, and col­ors. We expe­ri­enced this in design­ing sig­nage for The Chauncey in Iowa City in Iowa City. When the light­ed signs were turned on at the grand open­ing, the audi­ble awe among the crowd was the reac­tion to the pow­er of beau­ti­ful signage.👇🏼

Suc­cess in The­atre Sig­nage Projects

With the­atre projects, as with most sig­nage projects, there are a lot of mov­ing parts. For it to be a suc­cess, lots of things need to come togeth­er just right. If you choose a great sig­nage part­ner and keep these three pil­lars of spot-on the­atre sig­nage in mind, you’ll be way ahead of the curve in deliv­er­ing solu­tions that turn your clients into repeat customers.

Need some guid­ance to cre­ate some ​“awe” for your sig­nage project?

Find Your Sig­nage Expert Here

Check out the Red Oak Grand The­atre Case Study Here

BONUS:
🎬 100 of the Best Movies of All Time
🎄Here’s Over 55 of the Best Christ­mas Movies of All Time!

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