Providing brand guidance for independent businesses: A supplement to District Signage Standards
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Published:
Jan 1, 2018
Keywords:
brand design standards businesses regulations community
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Abstract
If downtown retail districts are to compete with franchise-heavy commercial districts and malls, their small independent businesses must communicate a vibrant, alternative message through graphic identities. The identity that represents each business is the most important aspect of this message, and it needs to be planned and implemented with great care. Based upon our research we propose ways to assist business owners and communities with graphic messaging and its application to signage by providing the communication guidance that is missing in design standards and sign regulations. Through an understanding of communication theory and examining both positive and negative examples of business signs and community design standards, we demonstrate how communities and regulations can be improved to better serve of the unique communication needs and goals of small, independent businesses and the community.
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References
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Arendt, R. (1994). Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association.
Auffrey, C. & Hildebrandt, H. (2017). Do Motorists See Business Signs? Maybe. Maybe Not. A Study of the Probability that Motorists View On-Premise Signs. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 1(2), 100-113. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2017.v1.i2.a8 https://doi.org/10.15763/ijsw.v1i2.8
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Bertucci, A. & Crawford, R. (2016). Model Code for the Regulation of On-Premise Signs. Bristol, PA: United States Sign Council.
Birch, D. (1987). Job Creation in America: How our Smallest Companies Put the Most People to Work. New York, NY: Free Press.
Burayidi, M. (2001). Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities. New York, NY: Routledge.
Calori, C. (2007). Signage and Wayfinding Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
City of Palm Springs (2005). Interim Downtown Urban Design Plan. http://www.palmspringsca.gov/home/showdocument?id=23
Conroy, D. (2004). What's Your Signage? Albany, NY: New York State Small Business Development Center.
Davis, M. (2012). Graphic Design Theory. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson.
Davidson, M. & Dolnick, F. (2004). A Planner's Dictionary. Chicago, IL: Planning Advisory Report Number 521/522.
Duerksen, C.J. & Goebel, R.M. (1999). Aesthetics, Community Character, and the Law. Chicago, IL: Planning Advisory Report Number 489/490.
Flemming, R.L. (2002). Saving Face: How Corporate Franchise Design Can Respect Community Identity. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service Report Number 503/504.
Flora, C.B., Flora, J.L., & Gasteyer, S.P. (2016). Rural Communities: Legacy and Change. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Halebsky, S. (2009). Small Towns and Big Business. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hawkins, H.G. (2011). Sign Legibility Considerations for On-Premise Signs Technical Report. International Sign Association.
Hinshaw, M.L. (1995). Design Review. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Report Number 454.
Hinshaw, M.L. (2001). Aesthetic Context: Designing for Place. In M. Morris, M.L. Hinshaw, D. Mace & A. Weinstein (Eds.), Context-Sensitive Signage Design (37-74). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service.
Jakle, J.A. & Sculle, K.A. (2004). Signs in America's Auto Age: Signatures of Landscape and Place. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.
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Kellaris, J.J. & Machleit, K.A. (2016). Signage as Marketing Communication: A Conceptual Model and Research Propositions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2016.v1.i1.a4
Kelly, E.D. (2010). Community Planning: An Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
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Morgan, J. & Welton, P. (1986). See What I Mean: An Introduction to Visual Communication. London, England: Edward Arnold.
Morris, M. (2001). The Economic Context of Signs. In M. Morris, M.L. Hinshaw, D. Mace & A. Weinstein (Eds.), Context-Sensitive Signage Design (75-98). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service.
Orvell, M. (2012). The Death and Life of Main Street: Small Towns in American Memory, Space and Community. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press.
Rexhausen, J., Hildebrandt, H. & Auffrey, C. (2012). The Economic Value of On-Premise Signage. Signage Foundation.
Robertson, K.A. (2001). Downtown Development Principles for Small Cities. In M.A. Burayidi (Ed.), Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities (9-22). New York, NY: Routledge.
Russ, T.A. (2009). Site Planning and Design Handbook, Second Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Schneekloth, L.H. & Shibley, R.G. (1995). Placemaking: The Art and Practice of Building Communities. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Skaggs, S. (2017). Firesigns: a Semiotic Theory for Graphic Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stone, K.E. (1995). Competing with Retail Giants: How to Survive in the New Retail Landscape. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Taylor, C. (2005). How excessive restrictions on signage backfire. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 22(6), p. 304-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760510623885
Taylor, C., Claus, S. and Claus, T. (2005). On-Premise Signs as Storefront Marketing Devises and Systems. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Small Business Administration.
Taylor, C., Sarkees, M.E. & Bang, H-K. (2012). Understanding the Value of On-Premise Signs as Marketing Devices for Legal and Public Policy Purposes. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 31(2), p. 185-194. https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.10.054
U.S. Small Business Administration (2017). U.S. Small Business Profile, Office of Advocacy, January.
Walker, P.L. (2009). Downtown Planning for Smaller and Midsized Communities. Chicago. IL: APA Planners Press.
Walzer, N. & Kline, S. (2001). An Evaluation of Approaches to Downtown Economic Revitalization. In M.A. Burayidi (Ed.), Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities (249-274). New York, NY: Routledge.
Weinstein, A. (2001). Legal Issues in the Regulation of On-Premise Signs. In M. Morris, M.L. Hinshaw, D. Mace & A. Weinstein (Eds.), Context-Sensitive Signage Design (119-153). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service.
Wheeler, A. (2013). Designing Brand Identity. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Zelinka, A. & Harden, S.J. (2005). Placemaking on a Budget: Improving Small Towns, Neighborhoods, and Downtowns Without Spending a Lot of Money. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service Report Number 536.
Arendt, R. (1994). Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association.
Auffrey, C. & Hildebrandt, H. (2017). Do Motorists See Business Signs? Maybe. Maybe Not. A Study of the Probability that Motorists View On-Premise Signs. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 1(2), 100-113. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2017.v1.i2.a8 https://doi.org/10.15763/ijsw.v1i2.8
Berman, B. & Evans, J. (2007). Retail Management: A Strategic Approach, 10th Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2007.03.007
Bertucci, A. (2006). Sign Legibility Rules of Thumb. Bristol, PA: United States Sign Council.
Bertucci, A. & Crawford, R. (2016). Model Code for the Regulation of On-Premise Signs. Bristol, PA: United States Sign Council.
Birch, D. (1987). Job Creation in America: How our Smallest Companies Put the Most People to Work. New York, NY: Free Press.
Burayidi, M. (2001). Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities. New York, NY: Routledge.
Calori, C. (2007). Signage and Wayfinding Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
City of Palm Springs (2005). Interim Downtown Urban Design Plan. http://www.palmspringsca.gov/home/showdocument?id=23
Conroy, D. (2004). What's Your Signage? Albany, NY: New York State Small Business Development Center.
Davis, M. (2012). Graphic Design Theory. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson.
Davidson, M. & Dolnick, F. (2004). A Planner's Dictionary. Chicago, IL: Planning Advisory Report Number 521/522.
Duerksen, C.J. & Goebel, R.M. (1999). Aesthetics, Community Character, and the Law. Chicago, IL: Planning Advisory Report Number 489/490.
Flemming, R.L. (2002). Saving Face: How Corporate Franchise Design Can Respect Community Identity. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service Report Number 503/504.
Flora, C.B., Flora, J.L., & Gasteyer, S.P. (2016). Rural Communities: Legacy and Change. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Halebsky, S. (2009). Small Towns and Big Business. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hawkins, H.G. (2011). Sign Legibility Considerations for On-Premise Signs Technical Report. International Sign Association.
Hinshaw, M.L. (1995). Design Review. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Report Number 454.
Hinshaw, M.L. (2001). Aesthetic Context: Designing for Place. In M. Morris, M.L. Hinshaw, D. Mace & A. Weinstein (Eds.), Context-Sensitive Signage Design (37-74). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service.
Jakle, J.A. & Sculle, K.A. (2004). Signs in America's Auto Age: Signatures of Landscape and Place. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.
Jourdan, D., Hawkins, H.G. Winson-Geideman, K. & Abrams, R. (2008). Model Sign Code. International Sign Association.
Jourdan, D., Hurd, K., Hawkins, H.G., Abrams, R. & Winson-Geideman, K. (2013). Evidence-Based Sign Regulation: Regulating on the Basis of Empirical Wisdom. The Urban Lawyer, 45(2), 327-348.
Kellaris, J.J. & Machleit, K.A. (2016). Signage as Marketing Communication: A Conceptual Model and Research Propositions. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2016.v1.i1.a4
Kelly, E.D. (2010). Community Planning: An Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Kuhn, B.T., Garvey, P.M. & Pietucha, M.T. (1997). Model Guidelines for Visibility of On-Premise Advertisement Signs. Transportation Research Record, 1605, Paper No. 970507, 80-87. https://doi.org/10.3141/1605-10
Leigh, N.G. & Blakely, E.J. (2013). Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Martin, G. & Patel, A. (2011). Going Local: Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Buying from Locally Owned Businesses in Portland, Maine. Maine Center for Economic Policy https://www.mecep.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/MECEP_Report_-_Buying_Local-12-5-2011.pdf
Morgan, J. & Welton, P. (1986). See What I Mean: An Introduction to Visual Communication. London, England: Edward Arnold.
Morris, M. (2001). The Economic Context of Signs. In M. Morris, M.L. Hinshaw, D. Mace & A. Weinstein (Eds.), Context-Sensitive Signage Design (75-98). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service.
Orvell, M. (2012). The Death and Life of Main Street: Small Towns in American Memory, Space and Community. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press.
Rexhausen, J., Hildebrandt, H. & Auffrey, C. (2012). The Economic Value of On-Premise Signage. Signage Foundation.
Robertson, K.A. (2001). Downtown Development Principles for Small Cities. In M.A. Burayidi (Ed.), Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities (9-22). New York, NY: Routledge.
Russ, T.A. (2009). Site Planning and Design Handbook, Second Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Schneekloth, L.H. & Shibley, R.G. (1995). Placemaking: The Art and Practice of Building Communities. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Skaggs, S. (2017). Firesigns: a Semiotic Theory for Graphic Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stone, K.E. (1995). Competing with Retail Giants: How to Survive in the New Retail Landscape. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Taylor, C. (2005). How excessive restrictions on signage backfire. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 22(6), p. 304-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760510623885
Taylor, C., Claus, S. and Claus, T. (2005). On-Premise Signs as Storefront Marketing Devises and Systems. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Small Business Administration.
Taylor, C., Sarkees, M.E. & Bang, H-K. (2012). Understanding the Value of On-Premise Signs as Marketing Devices for Legal and Public Policy Purposes. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 31(2), p. 185-194. https://doi.org/10.1509/jppm.10.054
U.S. Small Business Administration (2017). U.S. Small Business Profile, Office of Advocacy, January.
Walker, P.L. (2009). Downtown Planning for Smaller and Midsized Communities. Chicago. IL: APA Planners Press.
Walzer, N. & Kline, S. (2001). An Evaluation of Approaches to Downtown Economic Revitalization. In M.A. Burayidi (Ed.), Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities (249-274). New York, NY: Routledge.
Weinstein, A. (2001). Legal Issues in the Regulation of On-Premise Signs. In M. Morris, M.L. Hinshaw, D. Mace & A. Weinstein (Eds.), Context-Sensitive Signage Design (119-153). Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service.
Wheeler, A. (2013). Designing Brand Identity. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Zelinka, A. & Harden, S.J. (2005). Placemaking on a Budget: Improving Small Towns, Neighborhoods, and Downtowns Without Spending a Lot of Money. Chicago, IL: American Planning Association, Planning Advisory Service Report Number 536.