2016 SFI Research Request for Proposals now Open
The Signage Foundation will issue grants of up to $50,000 to conduct research on illuminated signage, energy efficiency, sign codes, and the economic value of signs. Researchers must signify their intent to respond to the individual RFPs via email to [email protected]. The proposals are due on March 31, 2016 and the contracts will be awarded by the SFI Research Committee in May 2016. The Signage Foundation is also open to receiving original proposals for research in many subject areas, including, but not limited to: Wayfinding, Branded Environments, City Identity, Conspicuity, Economic Value of Signage, Quantified Impact of Signage, Code Impacts, Evidence Based Design, Digital Signage & the ADA, Signage & Advertising as City Revenue, Traffic and Pedestrian Safety, Future Technologies/Disruptive Technologies, Placemaking, Best Practices, and Case Studies.
Download our 2016 RFPs:
Energy Usage and Energy Efficiency of Model Illuminated Signs
Illuminated Sign Conspicuity
SFI Model Sign Code
Sign Code Development Processes and Practices
Original Proposal for SFI Funded Research
The Signage Foundation Adds Two to Board of Trustees
Washington, DC, February 8, 2016 The Signage Foundation, the research arm of the sign and graphics industry, has added two experienced sign professionals to its Board of Trustees. Ted Kiper, founding principal with Cardosi Kiper Design Group, and Judy Walton, senior tenant sign manager with Simon Property Group’s Premium Outlet portfolio, began their two-year terms on Feb. 1.
Kiper’s firm develops and implements wayfinding signage, exhibit, donor recognition and marketing communication programs with a specialization in healthcare, education and transportation programs. Prior to founding Cardosi Kiper, Kiper was project manager and design director with Naughton + Associates, where he worked on the development of trailway wayfinding programs for non-profit associations and municipalities, in addition to large-scale wayfinding systems. He was project manager and lead designer for the 400-gate, 2 million square-foot Terminal D project at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
Walton is responsible for the creation and continued management of the tenant sign program for more than 75 Simon shopping centers. She collaborates with a diverse array of professionals from architects and engineers, to designers, to municipal officials. Her efforts have created optimal results for both tenants and landlord alike. In 2013, she implemented LED lighting specifications which resulted in significant cost savings. In 2015, she successfully managed the design and installation of more than 750 illuminated signs, during the opening of the portfolio’s impressive six new development projects.
"We are thrilled to have Ted and Judy bring their expertise and unique insights to the Signage Foundation Inc.'s Board of Trustees," said Duane Laska, SFI Chairman. "Their diversity of experience will help the board ensure that we are developing signage programs and research initiatives that truly contribute to the public good."
About The Signage Foundation Inc.
The Signage Foundation (SFI), Inc. is a 501© (3), non-profit organization dedicated to fulfilling the educational, research, and philanthropic purposes of on-premise signage. Through research and education, SFI analyzes and communicates the societal benefits of such signage.
“Best Practices in the Regulation of Temporary Signs” Research Offers Valuable Insights
The Signage Foundation Inc. (SFI) has recently published the results of a novel study that examined one of the most perplexing aspects of any sign code: temporary signs. “Best Practices in the Regulation of Temporary Signs,” researched and written by SFI Board Member Wendy Moeller, AICP and owner of Compass Point Planning, capsules the experiences of numerous communities to provide some relief to the temporary sign dilemma. The research also extended beyond survey responses and documented various sign codes through interviews, her own experience and internet review of specific codes.
Moeller, who is also a past president of the Ohio chapter of the American Planning Assn. (APA), addresses some important topics, such as distinguishing temporary signs from temporary messages, and differentiating off- and on-premise temporary signs. Additionally, she emphasizes the need for temporary sign regulations to be integral to the overall sign code and not treated as a separate entity. Typically, regulation of temporary signs falters due to lack of enforcement, and Moeller addresses how modern technology can provide some solutions. Overall, her “best practices” include guidance on size, number, time limits, locational regulations, and how to classify “new” types of temporary signs that existing regulations haven’t considered, including the advent of live “people” signs.
The results of the study can be viewed on the SFI website at: http://tinyurl.com/q9mdm3f
The Challenge
On-premise signage is one of the backbones of commerce. Centuries before the advent of the printing press and today’s modern graphic and electronic communication media, signage played a significant role in advertising the availability of goods and services. And signage, in all its various forms, is no less important a communication medium now than it was then. Despite its many contributions to retail vibrancy in our economy, questions are continually being raised about the value of signage and its social and economic impact and value. Until recently, there has been no single organization on the national level devoted solely to the development of peer-reviewed research and education that addresses on-premise signage for all concerned constituencies. That is where The Signage Foundation Inc. comes in.
The Signage Foundation, Inc. (SFI) works to promote signage in the societal sense, educating the public about its social, economic and aesthetic value to the at-large society, emphasizing to users how to maximize their communication effectiveness. The Foundation focuses on bringing education to sign users and to those who interact with sign users, including advertising agencies, lenders, appraisers, attorneys, regulators, business form franchisers and small businesses.
SFI works to develop the most effective means possible to deliver information on the economic, social and communication value of on-premise signage to the end-using public and those who regulate it.
The Foundation builds relationships with academic and governmental organizations to develop and enunciate public policy for on-premise signs. The Foundation develops basic research on the social, economic and aesthetic benefits of on-premise signage. The resounding message throughout the work of the Signage Foundation, Inc. is the goal of establishing full and unconditional acceptance and endorsement of the time, place and manner focus as a commitment to storefront signage.