Meanwhile, most signmakers and product manufacturers think reaching out to an audience of architects and interior designers is not worth their time, money or effort. The more designers understand the potential use of their products, however, the more frequently these products will be specified.
With digital signage proliferating in restaurants, stores, museums, hospitals, transportation facilities and just about everywhere else, many of these installations are increasing in size. Some signs are the size of the buildings—and could even be considered buildings unto themselves, albeit generating more revenue through advertising than through renting spaces.
As buildings’ façades and interior walls are turned into gigantic screens with the installation of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or other components, it becomes all the more important to nurture and maximize communication between manufacturers, researchers and designers, to see how they might work together to shape public spaces.
One step in this direction might be to stop referring to the entire breadth of new technologies and materials as ‘digital signage.’ Instead, the term ‘digital media’ sets the stage for the innovative creation, implementation and ongoing use of this technology to transform architecture and interior design.
Another path to improved communication between manufacturers, designers and architects is to better acknowledge each other’s roles. When a finished project is showcased, for example, everyone involved should be identified, such as consultants, fabricators and design firms.
Finally, rather than see the relationship as one of the manufacturer selling a product to the designer, collaboration should be fostered, so it becomes a process of working together to solve problems and generate new opportunities for the future.
Leslie Gallery-Dilworth is an architect and was CEO of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) for 12 years. She helps manufacturers and fabricators market to architects and designers. For more information, contact her via e-mail at lesliegd@me.com.
