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Illu­mi­na­tion Design Solu­tions for Archi­tec­tur­al Signage

Kristin Adkins | March 16, 2016

When light­ing is added to sig­nage, it is usu­al­ly done for prac­ti­cal pur­pos­es – to ensure the sign’s mes­sage is vis­i­ble at all hours of the day. How­ev­er, with archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage and envi­ron­men­tal graph­ic design, illu­mi­na­tion takes on oth­er functions.

An Intro­duc­tion for Under­stand­ing How Illu­mi­na­tion is Used for Brand Iden­ti­ty and Design for Signage

When light­ing is added to sig­nage, it is usu­al­ly done for prac­ti­cal pur­pos­es – to ensure the sign’s mes­sage is vis­i­ble at all hours of the day. How­ev­er, with archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage and envi­ron­men­tal graph­ic design, illu­mi­na­tion takes on oth­er func­tions. Tra­di­tion­al­ly, incor­po­rat­ing light­ing into archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage for design aes­thet­ics is used for:

  • Brand Iden­ti­ty
  • Envi­ron­men­tal Design Accents
  • Wayfind­ing Assistance

Choos­ing the Right Light­ing Solu­tion for Illu­mi­nat­ed Archi­tec­tur­al Sig­nage is all About Func­tion and Need

Com­mon Lighting  Colors/​Kelvin Temp.  Typ­i­cal Uses  Avg. Lifes­pan
LED (strings, panels)  White, blue, yel­low, orange, red, green  Let­ters and Logos, Cut-let­ter Panels  10 – 15 years (50,000 hrs.) 
Flu­o­res­cent Tubes  2700 – 6300 Kelvin  Cab­i­net monuments  Up to 24,000 hrs. 
Mer­cury Vapor  3300 – 5900 Kelvin  Cab­i­net monuments  Up to 24,000 hrs. 
High-Pres­sure Sodium  2,000−2500 Kelvin Large cab­i­nets 10,000−24,000 hrs.
Neon Tubes Red (default) with 150 col­or options using argon, mer­cury and phos­phor gas  Chan­nel Let­ters, Halo-lit Logos  8 – 15 years (pow­er trans­former lasts 5 – 7 years) 
Kelvin is a unit of mea­sure­ment for tem­per­a­ture and it is used for light­ing. For ref­er­ence, 5,000 kelvin is con­sid­ered the col­or of ​“noon day sunlight”. 

Incor­po­rat­ing light­ing into archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage can be done to enhance the sig­nage design, pro­mote brand iden­ti­ty, and improve wayfind­ing infor­ma­tion. No mat­ter what the rea­son, choos­ing the right light­ing solu­tion is impor­tant to the long-term func­tion of the sig­nage solu­tion. The most com­mon­ly used light­ing solu­tions are LED strings and pan­els, flu­o­res­cent tubes, neon tubes, mer­cury vapor lamps, high inten­si­ty dis­charge lamps, and high-pres­sure sodi­um lamps. Deter­min­ing which light­ing solu­tion to use is actu­al­ly quite easy if you adhere to the ​“form fol­lows func­tion” archi­tec­tur­al prin­ci­ple. For exam­ple, it would be wrong to use strings of LED lights on a tall exte­ri­or mono­lith sign when a sin­gle mer­cury vapor lamp or a few ener­gy-eff­cient flu­o­res­cent tubes will illu­mi­nate the sign.

Illu­mi­nat­ing Brand Identity

Light­ing archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage for brand iden­ti­ty pur­pos­es is usu­al­ly about ensur­ing the organization’s col­or scheme is prop­er­ly pre­sent­ed or ensur­ing the logo can be seen at all hours of the day.

The light­ing solu­tion depends on the form and shape of the sig­nage solu­tion. Typ­i­cal­ly, LED strings are best for illu­mi­nat­ing dimen­sion­al let­ters and logo signs because they con­form to the shape and they can cre­ate a halo effect or light the face of the sign or a com­bi­na­tion of both. In addi­tion, LEDs are avail­able in white, blue, red, orange and green col­ors, which helps when col­or inte­gra­tion is important.

How­ev­er, when inter­nal illu­mi­na­tion of translu­cent pan­el faces on mon­u­ments and mono­lith signs is need­ed, flu­o­res­cent tubes are still a viable option. Recent inno­va­tions in high-inten­si­ty dis­charge lamps have allowed this solu­tion to also become an alter­na­tive to flu­o­res­cent tubes for light­ing large cab­i­net mon­u­ment and mono­lith signs.

When exter­nal spot illu­mi­na­tion is need­ed, there are a vari­ety of flood lamps and spot lights avail­able which can be mer­cury vapor lamps, mul­ti-LED embed­ded pan­els, and high-pres­sure sodi­um lamps

Kelvin Temperature Color Scale

Envi­ron­men­tal Design Accents

When light­ing is used as part of an envi­ron­men­tal graph­ic design solu­tion, the light­ing choice is typ­i­cal­ly dri­ven by the col­or tem­per­a­ture that the light pro­duces and how the solu­tion fits in the environment.

Com­mon Light­ing Choic­es for Envi­ron­men­tal Design

  • LED strings or pan­els with dif­fusers to spread light
  • Neon tubes shaped to con­form to the shape of the wall or a graph­ic design element
  • Flu­o­res­cent tubes behind col­or-tint­ed dif­fu­sion panels

Wayfind­ing Assistance

The most impor­tant fac­tor for effec­tive­ly com­mu­ni­cat­ing a wayfind­ing plan is an archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage solu­tion that can be eas­i­ly seen at all hours of the day, regard­less of light­ing and weath­er con­di­tions. Cre­at­ing a suf­fi­cient col­or con­trast through con­trast­ing paint col­ors is usu­al­ly the best way to ensure the wayfind­ing mes­sage can be seen. How­ev­er, when con­vey­ing direc­tion­al and iden­ti­ty infor­ma­tion is para­mount, then a light­ing solu­tion should be inte­grat­ed into the sign.

Using Light to Enhance Wayfind­ing Solutions

  • Exte­ri­or iden­ti­ty and direc­tion­al signs should use inter­nal light­ing to cre­ate a suf­fi­cient con­trast between the sign and the message
  • Inte­ri­or direc­to­ries and map signs in high-traf­fic envi­ron­ments ben­e­fit from inter­nal illumination
  • Using col­ored light as a dec­o­ra­tive accent on inte­ri­or sig­nage solu­tions is an ide­al method for help­ing ori­ent peo­ple with­in a mul­ti-sto­ry facility