Why Signage Should Be Considered Earlier Than You Think
In our experience, signage can often be treated as a finishing layer. A minor necessity to address once architecture is finalized, interiors are documented, and budgets are already spoken for. By the time the signage programming enters the conversation, the project is usually deep into coordination and running out of flexibility.
This timing is rarely, if ever, intentional. It’s simply how many teams have learned to work on massive property developments with countless moving parts. But in design-forward hospitality and mixed-use projects, late-stage signage decisions tend to create more compromises than solutions.
When exterior programming is introduced earlier, the process changes in meaningful ways for brand designers, developers, and architects alike.
Late signage decisions limit design intent
As soon as construction documents are underway, many of the conditions signage depends on are already locked in place. Wall assemblies, power locations, finishes, lighting conditions, and clearances are often fixed long before signage is considered.
At that point, the question shifts from “What could this be?” to “What can we make fit and how much time / money do we have left?”
This is where strong brand moments get diluted. Typography is adjusted for constraints that could have been avoided. Materials are swapped to meet budgets that were set without signage in mind. Lighting decisions are made reactively instead of intentionally and without coordination with the signage team. None of these compromises happen in isolation, but together they can significantly change how a brand is experienced in the space.
Earlier coordination creates clarity instead of rework
When we’re brought into the conversation during schematic design or early design development, signage considerations become part of the spatial logic rather than a layer applied as an afterthought.
Brand designers gain a clearer, real-time understanding of how identity elements will live at scale. Architects can anticipate how signage interacts with form, circulation, and material transitions. Developers benefit from more accurate budgets and fewer surprises later in the process.
Early coordination does not slow projects down. In practice, it often reduces RFIs, redesign cycles, and last-minute value engineering. Decisions are made with context instead of urgency.
Signage touches more disciplines than most teams realize
Signage sits at the intersection of architecture, interiors, branding, electrical, lighting, and code compliance. Treating it as a standalone scope ignores how deeply it influences the overall guest experience of a building.
Wayfinding affects how guests move through a space. Branded feature signage shapes first impressions. Regulatory signage must meet code while still aligning with the broader design visual language. Each of these elements benefits from early planning, especially in hospitality environments where experience and clarity are inseparable.
When signage is considered early, these layers reinforce each other instead of competing for attention.
Designing earlier protects both vision and budget
One of the most common misconceptions is that early signage involvement increases cost. Hand-to-heart, when we sat down to draft this post, we couldn’t think of a single past job that benefited financially from waiting until construction began before engaging us… Actually, now that we think about it, all but one of those projects ended up going over budget due to costs of re-routing electrical, partially demo-ing a wall to access power, retrofitting a mounting system, or any one of the number of headaches we’ve run into when coming on a project too late.
Clear scope definition early in the process leads to more predictable (and accurate) pricing. Material strategies can be evaluated before finishes are finalized. Fabrication methods can be selected based on intent rather than availability. This also opens up the door to specialty fabrication methods, which may not be cost-prohibitive, but often come with longer-than-standard lead times. These decisions are far easier to navigate when there is still room to adjust.
For developers, this means fewer surprises. For designers, it means fewer compromises. For the project as a whole, it means a more cohesive outcome.
Signage works best when it is treated as part of the design process, not a reaction to it. Early engagement allows brand, architecture, and experience to evolve together rather than in sequence.
If you are in the early stages of a hospitality or mixed-use project and want to align signage with design intent from the outset, we would love to hear about it: Submit a project request.
