Supplier specifications
What an event signage brief should say
Delegates should find the right room without asking, and the signage supplier needs a list, not a general idea.
Opens WhatsApp with a draft you can edit before sending. Nothing is sent automatically.
The short answer
A signage brief is a schedule of signs: for each one, where it goes, what it says, its size and material, who approves the text, when it is installed and when it is removed.
Venue rules on fixing, fire exits and walkways, and any requirements for official or regulatory signs, are for the venue and the relevant authority to confirm. The brief asks the questions and records the answers.
What the brief has to settle
| Item | What to write | Acceptance test |
|---|---|---|
| Sign schedule | Each sign: type (directional, room, registration, session, sponsor, exhibition), location, quantity. | Schedule matches the venue plan, with no sign unplaced. |
| Content and languages | Text, logo and language for each sign, and who approves. | Approved text sheet before artwork starts. |
| Size and material | Freestanding, banner, wall-mounted, floor graphic or digital screen, with sizes confirmed by the venue. | Specification sheet signed by the supplier. |
| Fixing and venue rules | What may be fixed to walls, floors or ceilings, and what the venue requires for position and removal. | Venue confirms in writing; supplier acknowledges. |
| Install and removal | Access times, who installs, who removes, what happens to signs after the event. | Schedule agreed with the venue and cross-checked with stage and exhibition builds. |
| Changes on the day | Who can change a sign's text, how fast reprints can be made, and where spares are held. | Named contact and a reprint time stated by the supplier. |
| Walk-through | Who checks every sign against the schedule before doors open. | Checklist signed by named people. |
Venue rules and official signs
The venue knows which routes must stay clear and how signs may be placed near exits and walkways. Do not place signs where they could block access. Any safety or regulatory signage is supplied or confirmed by the venue and the competent party, not designed from this brief.
- Ask the venue for its signage and fixing rules in writing.
- Ask which signs the venue already provides and what is charged.
- Ask whether any signs need approval from building management.
Questions to ask the signage supplier
- Which materials do you propose for indoor use and how are they fixed and removed?
- What are your lead times for proofs, production and reprints?
- Who installs and removes, and what crew will be on site at opening?
- What is included: design, proofs, delivery, install, removal and storage?
- How do you hold spares for last-minute changes?
Common gaps
- Sign text is approved in different versions by different people.
- Directional signs are listed but not placed on the venue plan.
- The exhibition build blocks a sign position.
- Nobody removes signs and the venue sends a charge.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional two-room seminar
Fictional organisation and figures, used only to show the level of detail.
A fictional pharmacists' society holds a seminar with registration, two session rooms, a catering area and a small exhibition. The secretariat lists 18 signs in the schedule with locations marked on the venue plan.
The supplier's first quote omits removal. The secretariat adds removal and storage as rows, then both suppliers requote on the same list.
Use this yourself
Signage brief template
Copy into a spreadsheet or document with the venue plan attached. Mark unknowns Not decided with owner and date.
- Event, dates, venue and plan attached:
- Sign schedule: type, location, quantity, size, material:
- Text, language and logo per sign, approver:
- Venue rules received (fixing, routes, exits), date and source:
- Signs provided by the venue, and charges:
- Artwork specifications from the designer, proof dates:
- Production, delivery, install and removal times:
- Responsible person for changes on the day, reprint time, spares:
- Walk-through: who, when, checklist:
- Price basis: design, production, install, removal, storage, reprints:
- Change terms to be stated by the supplier:
- Acceptance: every sign checked against schedule, sign-off by:
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- A small event with a few room signs printed locally.
- The venue supplies most signage.
- One person can hold the schedule and walk the venue.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Several rooms, exhibition, sponsors and languages produce a long sign schedule.
- Signs depend on decisions still being made, such as final room allocation.
- Several suppliers build or install in the same areas at overlapping times.
Want the signage schedule tied to the venue plan and suppliers?
An Event Blueprint can set the sign schedule beside the venue, exhibition and design briefs, with install times in one shared schedule. A project lead can then collect the venue's written rules and chase text approvals.
Questions organisers ask
Who decides where signs can be placed?
The venue. Ask for its rules in writing and mark approved positions on the venue plan.
Should the signage supplier also do the design?
Either works if the brief says so. If a designer is separate, give both the same sign schedule and sizes.
Do we need safety signs in the brief?
Safety and regulatory signs are for the venue and the competent party to supply or confirm. Ask who is responsible for them.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.