New Delhi, the capital city of India, is dressing up for the much talked-about Commonwealth Games in 2010. The infrastructure is undergoing tremendous transformation and plans are made to make it look like a world-class city. Other metros are also equally gearing up to welcome some of the overseas guests. But what about the signages which are considered lifelines for outlook of any city? Whereas the reality today is that in some places, signs are cluttered, some are badly installed, while a few look shabby. There have been no regulations for this field, which can bring in some discipline so as to match the initiatives being made otherwise.

Let us first see how installation plays a major part in the overall look of the sign. At some point of time, all of us would have encountered atleast one sign which is beautifully designed and printed, but not installed properly. Often end-users have to compromise on the substandard installation of their signs due to some or the other reason.

Substandard installation refers to improper alignment of the sign, showing up of steel structure, poor visibility, etc. Sometimes, the dimensions of the sign are not proportionate to the dimensions of the building, giving it a visually disproportionate look. Somewhere, a sign gets lost with surrounding signs, which is a total loss of advertising budget for an end-user.

So, what are the important points to be kept in mind while installing a particular sign? In our opinion, sign installation is an art with a pinch of scientific knowledge and hence should be handled only by experienced installers, under the able guidance of sign engineers. It is the responsibility of sign engineers to decide the dimensions of the sign in sync with the building proportions and surrounding signs. Accordingly, the structure should be designed for the frames which would support the sign efficiently. Keeping in mind the visibility of the sign from the ground level, the angle at which the sign has to be placed is equally important. To know more about what leading sign companies think about sign installations, we talked to a cross-section of such companies and the same has been compiled for our readers on page 16. Barring a few places, we have seen that there is no standardisation for signs for shop frontage, which gives a disorganised look. Here comes the role of the city planners, who should formulate standard sizes for shop frontages. This would bring out uniformity in the shop frontages. A similar initiative has already been taken for outdoor hoardings in the form of unipoles, which has rendered the city a fresh smart look. Also, once the standards are formulated, sign manufacturers can use standardised installation fixtures, which would be economical for the end-users as well apart from smart and sturdier installed signs. And the result would be a better looking city for all of us to see and cherish.

– S K Khurana