Lobby and office signs are indispensable in creating a positive first impression of your business. Reception welcome signs also help guide visitors and clients to ensure a smooth experience. Whether you operate a small business, a healthcare clinic, or a corporate office, high-quality office signs help reinforce your brand identity and create a professional atmosphere. If you’re looking to elevate your lobby or office space, keep reading to learn the options for great reception signage and why it matters.
Why are Lobby and Office Signs Important?
The reception area or lobby is usually the first point of in-person contact that a visitor has with your business. Having clearly visible, attractive welcome signage sets the tone for the rest of the visit. Here are a few reasons you should put effort into designing and installing great signs for reception areas.
Lobby and Office Signs Improve Navigation and Efficiency
When you visit an office space for the first time, few things are more frustrating than not knowing exactly where to go – especially when you’re in a rush! Clear signage helps direct people to where they need to go. This is especially true when the reception desk is unmanned because a staff member has stepped away for a break.
You probably don’t want visitors milling about looking around corners and popping their heads into offices to find what they are looking for. That would be distracting for staff and potentially frustrating for your visitors. Having an obvious welcome desk sign that indicates where visitors should ask for assistance will improve your ability to efficiently serve your clients.
Lobby and Office Signs Boost Your Professional Credibility
As the first physical point of contact for existing and potential clients, a reception desk with a well-designed sign sets the tone for the visitor experience. Attractive signs enhance the decor and improve functionality, which in turn builds confidence and trust in your professionalism as a business.
Lobby and Office Signs Reinforce Your Brand Identity
In this digital age, your clients or customers have likely done an internet search to learn more about your business before they visit in person. Whether they learned about you through Google, advertisement, or word-of-mouth, they have probably looked you up and seen your brand identity before visiting. Creating lobby and office signs that include your logo and company colours helps create a cohesive visual identity that promotes brand recognition and consistency.
What to Include in Signs for Reception
Now that we’ve covered why office lobby signs are important, here are a few things to consider when designing yours.
Company Name and Logo
This one is obvious for brand recognition, particularly when your office or other place of business is in a shared commercial building composed of many offices. Your signage should include your logo and company name and incorporate the same brand colours and font used in your promotional materials.
Mission Statement and Values
Depending on the type of business, it may be important to showcase your purpose, tagline, and core values prominently. It’s a way to connect with your ideal customer and build brand loyalty by making it clear why you do what you do.
Office Directories
Many lobby or reception areas can benefit from a directory that helps visitors easily navigate your space. This is particularly important for larger businesses or offices that have multiple levels and many different office areas.
Welcome Message
For some businesses, it can be helpful to display a prominent welcome message in the lobby or reception area that will help visitors understand what to expect during their visit. A medical clinic, for example, may want to outline the steps that visitors need to follow upon check-in for an appointment, such as taking a number, filling out a form, and having the appropriate type of ID or paperwork ready. This can improve efficiency and functionality by keeping visitor traffic moving smoothly.
Choosing the Right Material for Your Office Signs
When it comes to designing attractive three-dimensional office lobby signs, there are many materials to choose from, each with its pros and cons. Ultimately, the materials you opt for depend on your preferences, brand aesthetic, and budget.
Metal Reception Signs
Metal signage offers a modern and timeless look that fits in most spaces. You can choose from brushed, polished, matte, or even painted finishes. Metal is easy to clean and can be cut into custom shapes or engraved with logos and text. Metal letters can be cut from aluminum, stainless steel, or brass with the desired thickness.
Metal office signs have the advantage of durability, being resistant to fading and lasting longer before the need for replacement. However, they can also be costly depending on the size and finish chosen, especially when they are heavy enough to require professional installation.
Wood Reception Signs
Incorporating wood into an office sign creates a warm, premium aesthetic that fits well with creative, eco-friendly, and luxury boutique brands. Research has shown that natural design elements such as wood, water features, plants, and stone help create a relaxing atmosphere. Wood is a versatile material that can be engraved, carved, and stained to achieve the desired effect.
Potential disadvantages of wood office signs include susceptibility to warping or fading over time, especially in humid climates. Wood signs should be sealed to prevent them from absorbing moisture and may require periodic maintenance.
Acrylic Reception Signs
Acrylic is a great material for achieving a sleek, modern look in an office environment. It offers a cost-effective way to mimic the high-end look of glass and is available in a range of colours, finishes, and thicknesses. Acrylic has the advantage of being lightweight, which means less reinforcement is needed for installation. The downside of acrylic is that it is more susceptible to scratches compared with glass and may show some discolouration over time.
Illuminated Reception Signs
Incorporating light creates a high-end feel and enhances the visibility of any lobby sign. Front-lit signs are illuminated from the front, typically made with acrylic surfaces that allow an even distribution of light. Lighting can also be incorporated at the edges of a glass or acrylic sign to illuminate graphics. Backlit signs have a light placed behind the letters to create a soft glow known as a halo effect, which lends an elegant feel to the space.
Customization Tips for Front Office Signs
Regardless of the material(s) you choose, here are a few important considerations to help you design an effective sign for your lobby or reception desk.
Readability
To ensure someone can instantly identify where they are and where they are supposed to go, your signs should have clear, professional fonts. Cursive and comic sans, for example, are not easy to read at first glance and do not project a professional image. Ideally, the typography will be consistent with your branding. Choose an appropriate contrast between the text and the background of the sign to maximize readability.
Visibility
There’s no point in having a sign that is hard to see! The size, placement, and colour of your office signs all affect its visibility. You should consider the size and height of placement within your lobby or reception area. Check whether the font is large enough to see from the entrance and if it is visible from different angles.
Consider whether your sign would be better at eye height, slightly above, or below. Depending on the layout of your reception area, it may make sense for you to have a free-standing sign rather than a wall-mounted sign.
Branding and Aesthetics
Great signage complements your overall office decor to create a cohesive professional ambiance. Be sure to review your company brand guidelines, if you have them, before choosing the colours and typography for your office signage. Consistency between your website, advertising, and office space projects a trustworthy and recognizable image that visitors will associate with your company.
Are you ready to upgrade or design your office signs from scratch? At Can-Design we have helped countless clients create beautiful and professional reception and lobby signs. We work with you to understand your vision and recommend the signage options that will help you achieve that goal. Whether that’s working with an existing lightbox, or designing a metal, wood, or acrylic sign from scratch, we create customized solutions for your budget. Contact us today to get started.