ImageFirst News

2023

What is the difference between architectural and commercial exterior signage?

Do we truly understand the difference between Architectural and Commercial signage? The old adage of “form usually follows function” has never been clearer when defining the need and function that a sign will provide.

There are 4 com­mon fea­tures that will help deter­mine the difference:

  • Func­tion
  • Brand Iden­ti­ty
  • Mate­ri­als & construction
  • Facil­i­ty integration

Sim­ply put, if you need 500+ brand­ed signs that all look the same, are cheap, and will fit into each loca­tion the same way, then you need a com­mer­cial sign application.

Con­verse­ly, if the sign is to com­ple­ment the land­scape and archi­tec­tur­al design of the facil­i­ty while incor­po­rat­ing the client’s brand iden­ti­ty in a less dom­i­nat­ing man­ner, then an archi­tec­tur­al exte­ri­or sign is needed.

Decide what type of sign is best for your project:


Com­mer­cial exte­ri­or sign features:

  • Mass-pro­duced for brief life cycles
  • Designed to be viewed from a distance
  • Exposed seams & fas­ten­ers acceptable
  • Usage of less expen­sive, thin­ner, light-weight materials
  • Dom­i­nat­ed by brand iden­ti­ty – typ­i­cal­ly bright & loud” col­or, con­trast, and materials

Archi­tec­tur­al exte­ri­or signs features:

  • High atten­tion to detail with heav­ier gauge, high­er qual­i­ty materials
  • Cus­tom sizes, shapes, & mount­ing solutions
  • Built for a long life cycle
  • Designed to be viewed at clos­er perspective
  • Lim­it­ed exposed fas­ten­ers & seams
  • Inte­grates brand iden­ti­ty while com­pli­ment­ing the archi­tec­tur­al envi­ron­men­tal design and build­ing materials
  • Match the archi­tec­tur­al environment/​design of the facility
  • Accu­rate­ly imple­ment a Wayfind­ing study and messaging

Have ques­tions? Want to learn more or see up close how we man­u­fac­ture archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage? Con­tact Us!