Projection Signs
A fascia sign is only visible to people already looking at your building. Projecting signs stick out at right angles to the wall, so they are readable from the far end of the street — which is exactly where BD Signs wants your brand to catch someone deciding where to eat.
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Projection Signs, made properly
BD Signs makes them round, square, shaped and bracket-hung, in acrylic light boxes or traditional painted panels. Both faces are branded, so the sign works walking in either direction. Where a listed building or conservation area is involved we will make something sympathetic in timber or metal.
- Double-sided — seen from both directions
- Illuminated light box or traditional painted panel
- Round, square or fully shaped to your logo
- Sympathetic options for listed buildings
What should you know before ordering projection signs?
How high does a projecting sign have to hang over the pavement?
High enough for people to walk under, and far enough back from the kerb to stay clear of traffic — the council sets the exact limits. Those rules apply whether the sign is lit or not. BD Signs designs to them from the first drawing, so the size and bracket length suit the street before anything is made.
Will my wall hold a projecting sign?
That depends on the masonry. A projecting sign acts as a lever on the wall, so the bracket, the fixings and the brick or render behind have to carry its weight plus the wind on both faces. Old brick and soft render need fixings chosen for them, which is why BD Signs treats it as a survey question, not a catalogue one.
Should a projecting sign be an illuminated box or a painted panel?
Choose a light box if the business trades after dark, and a painted panel if the street is historic. An acrylic light box carries your brand at night. A painted timber or metal panel on a decorative bracket suits a period frontage and is often what a conservation officer will accept. Whichever BD Signs builds, both faces carry the brand.
How does BD Signs make projection signs?
Designed in-house, manufactured in our own factory, fitted by our own teams. 30 years in the industry.
- Step 1
Wall and street survey
BD Signs checks the masonry where the bracket will go, measures the height above the footway and the distance to the kerb, and looks at which directions people approach from on foot.
- Step 2
Design and drawings
You approve both faces, the shape and the bracket on a visual of your building. When consent is needed, the drawings for the application are prepared from that same approved design.
- Step 3
Making the sign
The light box or painted panel is made in our own factory together with its bracket — round, square or cut to your logo — and lit with LEDs if it is illuminated.
- Step 4
Fixing it to the building
Our own teams fix the bracket with anchors suited to your brick or render, hang the sign at the height shown on the drawing and connect the lighting if there is any.
Projecting light box or painted hanging sign?
Both are double-sided and both catch people walking along the street. The choice usually comes down to when you trade and what the building around the sign looks like.
| Compare | Projecting light box | Painted hanging sign |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | Acrylic faces on an LED-lit box | Timber or metal panel on a decorative bracket |
| After dark | Lit — reads at night | Relies on street lighting |
| Setting | High streets and late-trading frontages | Period streets, conservation areas and listed buildings |
| Power | Needs a supply to the sign | None |
| Rebranding later | New faces can go on a sound box | The panel can be repainted |
| Consent | Most often needs advertisement consent | May still need consent — it projects over the footway |
What permissions does a sign over the pavement need?
There can be two separate approvals. Advertisement consent is granted by the local planning authority under the 2007 Control of Advertisements Regulations for England, and projecting and illuminated signs are the ones that most often need it. Conservation areas and listed buildings bring tighter control.
Because the sign hangs over a public footway, the council as highway authority may also want its own consent or licence under the Highways Act 1980, and sets a minimum height above the pavement and a distance back from the kerb. The rules differ between councils, so check with yours.
The bracket and fixings hold the sign over people's heads, so they need to suit the wall and be looked at from time to time. BD Signs designs to the council's clearances from the first drawing and prepares the drawings for the consent application.
Projection Signs we've made
Four projecting signs from BD Signs: a circular acrylic light box for The Hoxton Kitchen, a circular sign carrying a mermaid, a projecting shopfront sign for Red Panda and a circular illuminated sign made for a fish and chip shop. Round faces dominate here because they read cleanly from both directions along a street.
From bare shopfront to finished fit-out
A few of our shop refurbs, start to finish.
What do people ask about projection signs?
Do projecting signs need consent?
Usually. Projecting and illuminated signs are the ones that most often need advertisement consent, and the council may also have a view on anything hanging over the footway. BD Signs prepares the application drawings and works to the council's clearance limits, so those limits are part of the design from the start.
What shape can a projecting sign be?
Round, square or cut to the outline of your logo. Round is the most common on food fronts, because it reads well from both directions and suits most marks. BD Signs can also make a fully shaped sign when the logo itself is distinctive enough to be recognised from down the street.
Can you just replace the faces on an old projecting sign?
Often, yes. If the box and bracket are sound, new faces are an inexpensive way to rebrand. If the bracket is rusting or the fixings look tired, BD Signs will say so — it hangs over people's heads, and a new face on a failing bracket is money spent in the wrong place.
Other types of sign we make
“Excellent service as normal — have used BD Signs for the last 20 years and they have always been very helpful and delivered on time and on price!”
“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.”
Need projection signs?
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.