Internal Signage
The sign outside gets people through the door. Everything after that is internal signage — the menu they read while queuing, the wall that makes the room photograph well, the wayfinding signage that stops them asking where the toilets are.
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Internal Signage, made properly
BD Signs treats the inside as one job rather than a pile of separate orders: wall graphics, illuminated panels, wayfinding and door signs, menu boards and dimensional lettering, all specified together so the finishes actually match. Much of it goes in overnight so you do not lose a trading day.
- Specified as one scheme, so finishes match
- Wayfinding, wall graphics and illuminated panels
- Printed or digital menu boards
- Out-of-hours installation available
What should you know before ordering internal signage?
Where should signs go inside a shop or restaurant?
Wherever the customer has a question. Inside, signage follows the route: queue, choose, pay, sit, find the toilets, leave. BD Signs walks that route at survey and puts each sign at the point where the question gets asked, rather than filling walls for the sake of it.
How do you make wayfinding signage easy to follow?
Make it readable from where people actually stand, and keep it in the same style every time. Safety and fire exit signs follow their own standard and should never be restyled to match a brand, so BD Signs keeps them apart from the decorative scheme while the directional signs carry your colours.
Should interior signage be planned as one scheme?
Yes — it is the only way the colours match and the fixings do not fight each other. BD Signs draws wall graphics, menu boards, lettering and lighting together, then installs them together. Much of it goes in overnight, so the fit-out does not cost you a day's trade.
How does BD Signs make internal signage?
Designed in-house, manufactured in our own factory, fitted by our own teams. 30 years in the industry.
- Step 1
Walking the route
BD Signs walks the customer route through your premises, from the door to the counter, the seating and the toilets, noting where people hesitate, where they queue and which walls they face.
- Step 2
One scheme on paper
Wall graphics, menu boards, wayfinding and lit panels are drawn as a single scheme in your brand colours, so you see how each room will look before anything is made.
- Step 3
Manufacture
Printed graphics, illuminated panels, dimensional lettering and menu boards are all made in our own factory against the same colour references, so the finishes match where they meet on the wall.
- Step 4
Overnight installation
Our own teams install the scheme in one go, usually overnight or before opening. Digital menu screens can be set up on the BD Signs platform during the same installation.
Printed menu boards or digital screens?
Both have a place inside the same shop. The question is how often the content changes, and whether you would rather pay more up front or pay each time a price moves.
| Compare | Printed menu boards | Digital menu screens |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Lower | Higher |
| Changing a price | A new print | Free and instant |
| Reliability | Nothing to break | Screens and hardware to look after |
| Best for | Items and prices that rarely change | Prices, offers and items that change often |
| Software | None needed | Our own digital menu platform, written in-house and developed over 15 years |
What standards apply to wayfinding and safety signs indoors?
Safety signs are not part of the brand scheme. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 require employers to provide safety signs where a risk cannot be dealt with any other way, and fire exit and other safety signs use set pictograms, shapes and colours. They should stay in that standard form, whatever the rest of the interior looks like.
Wayfinding is also an access issue. Under the Equality Act 2010, businesses that serve the public have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and clear signage is part of that. BS 8300-2 is the main code of practice for accessible signs in buildings, covering visual contrast, letter size, mounting height and glare, and Approved Document M covers access to and use of buildings in England.
BD Signs keeps safety signage separate from the decorative work and sets directional signs to be read from where people stand. If your building has an access audit or a fire risk assessment, send it over with the plans.
Internal Signage we've made
Three BD Signs interiors: menu boards and a branded servery at Fishers, an illuminated sign beside a flower wall at Heavenly Desserts, and illuminated signage working alongside screens at Queen's. Together they show menu boards, lit signs and digital screens sharing one interior instead of competing for the same wall.
From bare shopfront to finished fit-out
A few of our shop refurbs, start to finish.
What do people ask about internal signage?
Should the inside match the sign outside?
The brand should carry through, but not at the same scale. Interior signs are read from much closer, so BD Signs changes type sizes, finishes and lighting for the room. A fascia letter blown up on the back wall rarely looks right; the same colours and mark, sized for someone standing at the counter, do.
Printed menu boards or digital screens?
Printed boards cost less up front and never break. Screens cost more, but every price change is free and instant. Many shops do both — screens for what changes, print for what does not. BD Signs runs its screens on our own digital menu platform, written in-house and developed over 15 years.
Can you fit internal signage without closing the shop?
Yes. Most interior work from BD Signs goes in overnight or before opening, so you keep trading. Because the scheme is planned as one job, it is usually one installation too, rather than a run of separate trades turning up on different days.
Do you make door signs?
Yes, as part of the wayfinding: toilet, staff-only, office and room signs made in the same colours, typeface and finish as the rest of the interior, so they look like one scheme rather than stock plates. Where a door sign has a safety job, such as a fire door sign, BD Signs uses the standard safety symbols set out in BS EN ISO 7010.
Other types of sign we make
“Used BD Signs Design and Print services to design a new logo for my company and to design and print some large labels to use on my jobs. Professional service from start to finish. Highly recommended.”
“Excellent service as always. Friendly staff. Highly recommend.”
Need internal signage?
Tell us about the site and what you want it to say. We will survey, design and quote the whole job as one price.
Or email info@bdsigns.co.uk — we answer everything the same working day.