Whether you are running a conference, or a huge music festival signage is an essential part of running a successful event. The guest’s impressions of your event are formed visually. An event with two few signs runs the risk of seeming disorganised. Basic informational and wayfinding signs are needed to inform and assist guests to get to where they want to be.
Beyond the basics, events create opportunities for sponsors to promote their brand and align themselves with your audience. Branding creates touch points and touch points create customers.
Even further beyond sponsor’s signs, successful events create a bespoke look that enhances their guests’ experience. Visual aesthetics are paramount in reinforcing the event brand itself.
With this in mind, we take a look at the two cheapest signage options available: mesh banners and corflute.
How to plan your Event's Signage?
The key to a fantastically signed event is planning. From the minute a venue is selected, plans for signage need to be considered. The first thing to consider is letting your guests know the basics: toilets, exits, food and drink stations, event program, this way to xxxx, social distancing rules (in this age of Covid), menus, registration and sign-in details, and anything else that is fundamental to visitors being able to navigate the venue.
Consider where visitors will enter from, where they will congregate or passages moving them from one place to another. Take a virtual walk-through and consider all the places and situations that require signage. Next, consider the branding opportunities for your event. How can you make an impressive entrance? Can you use signs to funnel people toward somewhere you want them to go? Are event perimeter fences good opportunities for sponsors’ messages or event branding? Can you use the floor or the air for effective branding? Can you use branded furniture or props?
Where to Install Event Signage?
Next, think of where you will be able to hang signs. Will you be able to take advantage of natural or man-made structures? Will you need to provide the structure for the sign to sit in/on? How will that structure be affected by wind if outdoors? Could that structure be hazardous? Are there areas you need to hide with signs? There are different ways of installing small corflute signs including double-sided tape, glue, eyelets, velcro, hanging, or screwing them to whatever surface they need to be installed on.
There are also sign holders from A-frames to acrylic frames to keep your sign upright and visible. Keep in mind that event visitors are not gentle with your signage so the method you choose needs to last the course of the event. Signage is useless if it can’t be seen. The type of sign you need may be determined by what it will be attached to.
Different types of signages and banners for events
1. Wayfinding Signage for Events
Directional signs tend to be small and rigid. The best materials for event wayfinding signs are corflute or outdoor board (even if your event is indoors). Corflute is ideal for short-term signage, in fact, it should last a year so if your event is recurring then consider making timeless signs that can be stored until the next event. Corflute is not easy to recycle so consider using outdoor paper board if you are keen on reducing the environmental footprint of your event.
2. Events Sponsor Signs
Sponsors get involved with events for many reasons but all of them are beneficial for their brand. Sponsors want to be involved with events because they can align themselves with the event brand and the visitors it attracts. Community events tend to be sponsored by stakeholders in that community, and sporting events are sponsored by sporting brands or companies that are attracted to the exposure the sport brings them. Event sponsorship signage comes in many formats and the signage rights themselves are often sold as packages.
Banners for events are by far the cheapest and most popular way to advertise an upcoming event and brand the event itself. Banners are exceptional value for money and can be used for many types of applications. Banners are made from different materials each having its own purpose or benefit over the others.
The primary types of Event Banners are:
Banners made out of vinyl are opaque so they display messages in the best light. Vinyl is very durable so ideal for outdoor events but because the wind can’t pass through it, it is best used when there is a solid structure behind it. We use vinyl at festivals for stage skirts. Vinyl can be printed on both sides so it is ideal for hanging banners at tradeshows. If it can be attached to the structure it is also used for outdoor media walls.
Vinyl mesh is a popular choice for event signs. It is one of the cheapest print stocks available and performs very well in outdoor conditions. The perforations in the mesh allow the wind to pass through it. PVC mesh banners are very durable. Banner mesh is frequently found on perimeter fencing or around special areas within outdoor venues.
We like polyester for its ease of transport. It is lightweight and can be folded up to a fraction of the size of other banners. Polyester comes in different types but it is the best for road shows or recurring events. It is also recyclable. Polyester banners are used for crowd control barrier covers or speaker stack covers.
Where to use banners for an event?
Banners are often used in events as:
- Fence banners
- Street pole banners
- Hanging banners in shopping malls
- Billboards (which are made with PVC banners)
- Stage skirts and dressing banners
- Speaker tower banners
- Perimeter fences banners
- Temporary fence banners create a separation between spaces
- Hanging banners in exhibitions and trade shows
- Crowd control barrier banners
Cheap event signs use banners or corflute?
Cheap event signs can use banners or Corflute.
Event signage takes all types of forms but in terms of value for money, it is hard to go past banners or corrugated plastic signs.
