The following is excerpted from "Signs of the Times: Creative Ideas for Signage in the Hudson Valley", an information booklet published by Scenic Hudson in 1992. The booklet includes photos and drawings to help illustrate the concepts within.
Copies are available for $8.95. Please contact Scenic Hudson at 845-473-4440, ext. 215, or riverfront@scenichudson.org, to order.
The booklet includes sections on:
- Good Signs and Good Sign Ordinances
- Legal Issues in Sign Control
- Approaches to Local Sign Control
- Specific Sign Features
- Billboards
- Administration and Enforcement
- Applying Principles of Good Signage
- Design Guidance
- Voluntary Efforts
- Model Sign Ordinance
- Recommended Sign Specifications
- Recommended Readings
Introduction
There can be no denying how important, and indeed necessary, a role signs play in our everyday lives. Well-designed, properly located signs, with clear messages, guide us to places, products and services in our environment. Yet their impact goes well beyond this directional function. Signs have the power to enhance or detract from the character and visual quality of our communities.
Within the confines of our homes, we choose carefully the things around us. The furniture, rugs, curtains, paintings and other elements will carry complementary and common threads of style, color, texture, shapes and sizes. The eye responds more appreciatively to harmony than to staccato. Just as we recognize that these objects contribute to the quality of our interior environment, so too should we acknowledge that this concept applies equally to our exterior world. As much as the architecture and the natural landscape, signs are one of the significant components that impact the quality of our communities.
Unfortunately, visual clutter caused by the explosion of signs along our streets is a serious and growing problem in the Hudson Valley and elsewhere. Overall, there are too many signs that are too big, too tall, too bright and poorly designed. Not surprisingly, many of these signs are incompatible with their surroundings. They do not blend, they blare. The sign predicament in many localities has taken on exaggerated proportions. When shopkeepers wish to communicate their presence, they feel they must make themselves heard over a chaotic barrage of competing messages on the street. To break through this din of visual imagery, they put up signs that are bigger, brighter and more garish than their neighbors. The more intrusive the sign, the greater the likelihood of its attracting attention, or so it seems.
In truth, the clutter these signs create undermines the unique and attractive features of our communities, reduces the level of safety on our roads and attracts fewer shoppers and tourists to our businesses. When given a choice, people invariably prefer to spend their time and money in interesting and attractive surroundings. This competition of more, bigger and brighter signage has no winners. The entire community loses, residents as well as businesses. On the other hand, if signs compete on the basis of creativity, attractiveness and compatibility with their surroundings, everyone in the community wins.
This publication highlights predominant sign problems in the Hudson Valley and recommends effective solutions. Some of these solutions are just good common sense; others are innovative approaches to sign regulation. Many were found in the sign ordinances of various Hudson Valley communities, some come from other areas in New York State, and several are new ideas gleaned from experts in the field.
The report provides recommended specifications on sign size and placement, appropriate materials, colors, lettering, amount of copy, and illumination that will achieve good signage in a community. There is an extended discussion of how to deal with billboard removal as well as legal issues associated with sign control that communities need to be aware of to insure legally defensible sign ordinances.
Finally, attention is directed to the model ordinance in the appendices. It contains language that can be used in a municipality's sign ordinance and is based on the recommendations in the text. Information in parentheses [ ] following particular sections of text indicates where model language on that subject can be found in the ordinance.
Whether a locality decides to use just a few of the approaches contained in this publication or incorporates most of them in its sign ordinance, they will yield visible improvements in a community's appearance, benefiting residents and businesses alike. This publication focuses on commercial districts where the majority of signage in any community is found.
Good Signs and Good Sign Ordinances
Every sign should meet three important criteria: communicate its message clearly, be compatible with its surroundings, and enhance the visual image of the community. Proprietors who use signs and the communities in which they are displayed should insist upon them.
As reflected in the master plan of a locality, there is often a specified goal to protect, enhance or improve the character of various districts or areas in a community. Good signage is one of the most effective means for achieving this goal. Some communities have an historic character, others a rural setting and still others an urban, contemporary flavor. Each may want their signs to reinforce or enhance those qualities. In all cases, compatibility with the distinctive character of an area is an important component of a good sign. Even locales or streetscapes that exhibit little visual merit or distinctive qualities can be substantially improved with good signage. In fact poor signage is often a major contributor to an unattractive and indistinctive appearance.
A good sign ordinance is clear and unambiguous, easy to understand, and easy to administer and enforce.
Most sign administrators in localities are code enforcement officers or building inspectors. Their primary concern usually involves the enforcement of building codes. Enforcing sign regulations often takes a back seat to these responsibilities. Therefore, clear and straightforward regulations will leave less room for misunderstanding and require less time for enforcement. In addition, simple regulations, those that don't require complicated calculations or special expertise to interpret, also will ease the enforcement burden. The results will yield a more effective sign ordinance.
A good sign:
- Communicates its message clearly, quickly and easily
- Is compatible with its surroundings and the structure on which it is mounted
- Enhances the visual image of the community
A good sign ordinance is:
- Clear and unambiguous
- Easy to understand
- Easy to administer and enforce
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| The Culinary Institute of America displays an attractive sign maintaining the historical integrity of the region. |
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