What does your signage say about your brand? Is your signage outdated and in need of a makeover? You may be sending out the wrong message to your tenants and their customers, one that says your brand, your business is outdated, tired and irrelevant. Don’t let your signage send out a message that you’re not proud of. 

In today’s competitive retail environment, the strength and relevance of your brand image is more important than ever. Signage and “Streetscape” plays a major role in your business, and an untapped opportunity to take advantage of the power of visual communications.

How can retailers best provide a worthwhile experience for the consumer to come out rather than shop online? Creating a vibrant, fresh, bright, and eye catching environment will attract new business and provide potential and existing customers with confidence in your brand.

Creating an effective visual solution may be the first step in an overall business strategy that conveys a clear message of what your customers will experience interacting with you. Strong visual branding is the most cost effective way to increase your recognition with shoppers. 

When considering different visual design options, keep these tips in mind: 

• Keep it consistent, visible and legible – Your “streetscape” is your “first impression,” and it must project the positive image you want the public to have of your center.

• Tell your own unique story – Consider what it is that your tenants, visitors, and customers value about your location, tenant mix, unique property features and what it is that they will like about the products and services that you offer them and leverage those characteristics in the new design. This is how to keep your brand alive and flourishing.

• Design – One of the most important factors in updating your brand is the design development. Your design must make a powerful statement. A design that can be read and understood with just a quick glance will create the most effective sign. Keep it simple.

Your updated “streetscape” will make thousands of impressions every day creating top of the mind awareness. A well-researched and well-engineered branding program will promote a better visitor experience, improve traffic patterns to your location, and reflect your overall brand image.

Eliot Tatelman, John Hanley and the team at Jordan’s Furniture approached Poyant in 2014. The Jordan’s team had developed a landmark design to dramatically leverage the high visibly and traffic exposure for their first Connecticut store in New Haven. The design was inspired by Eliot, who envisioned an architectural gateway that engages the imagination of hundreds of thousands of people driving by every month. The new site is located in the former New Haven Register building, a landmark at the junction of I-95 and I-91. 

The New Haven store features 150,000 s/f of showroom space with more than 125 room scenes filled with living, dining and bedroom furnishings, and a Jordan’s Sleep Lab. But that’s not all. This Jordan’s location is home to the largest indoor ropes course in the world! The 20,000 s/f adventure area features IT Adventure Ropes Course, a computerized light and water display, sound system, Blaze Pizza restaurant, and Scoops It ice cream shop.

The signage had to be as electrifying as the excitement inside the building. The Poyant project team worked with the Jordan’s project team to create a sign package like no other. 

The goals for the project included:

1. Create a new look that conveys an exciting shopping experience 

2. Create a memorable and unique gateway to the store and landmark for the community

3. Maximize the visibility and traffic exposure for the new store

With these goals in mind, the Jordan’s project team worked with architectural firm, BL Companies, Inc., to build a remarkable gateway structure that is 64’ tall by 89’ wide. The structure is unique, not only in size, but also in design. The middle of the structure is filled with chairs that create a very interesting backdrop.

The chair elements are made of aluminum and custom fabricated by a local company in Connecticut, and installed as part of the structure. The chair elements are enhanced with LED lighting recessed into the vertical I-Beams giving it a really dynamic look both day and night.

Poyant focused on the engineering, materials and methods, to fabricating and installing the branding elements.  

The package included the fabrication and installation of two sets of 20’ tall Jordan’s illuminated letters, custom tenant sign cabinets, and a 12’ H x 20’ W Digital Message Center as part of the gateway structure. In addition, a set of 25’ tall Jordan’s illuminated letters on the south building elevation and a set of 37’ tall “IT” logo illuminated letters on the east building elevation. 

The 37’ tall channel letters for the IT Adventure Ropes Course are the largest channel letters ever built by Poyant. As a result of the size, handling the letters in our shop was challenging and impacted every department within our company from design, estimating, fabrication, and installation. It was a huge collaborative effort across the board to successfully deliver a project of this size.

The channel letters also hold 30% more LEDs than typical, and is illuminated with a GE Power Max LED system which offers the brightest, most energy efficient illumination available today.

The project was completed in December of 2015, on-time and on-budget, and is considered a huge success by all involved.

Richard Poyant is the president of Poyant Signs, New Bedford, Mass.