Signs & Large Format Print
List of zones to sign
Before we start designing, we ask the organiser for a site plan – even a hand sketch on a satellite image. We mark the zones and the routes between them, and only then does the list of signs follow. A typical outdoor event has:
- Entrances and ticket points – event name, site map, terms and conditions, opening times, ticket prices.
- Parking – the entry direction from the road, car park sections, the pedestrian route to the event.
- Stage and main area – a banner above the stage, audience area markings, media zones.
- Food and drink – zone name, and stall numbers if there are many.
- Toilets and hand-washing – directional signs from several sides of the site.
- First aid and information point – visible from afar, ideally with a flag or tall marker.
- Children's area, VIP area, competitors' area – marked with who may enter.
- Start and finish at running events – an arch or backdrop, start pen markings.
- Bag drop, cloakroom, race HQ.
Emergency and fire safety signage is a separate matter – its type and placement follow from the event safety plan and local regulations, and the organiser agrees it with the emergency services. Information signs must not replace or obscure it.
What each element is made from and what it costs
| Item | Material / model | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|
| Directional sign 60 × 40 cm | 5 mm foam PVC, UV print (30 pcs = 7.2 m² × approx. €33) | approx. €8 each |
| Site map at the entrance | 200 × 100 cm dibond board on a galvanised frame | from approx. €165 |
| Feather flag Mini / Midi / Maxi | pole + flag, without base | from approx. €47 / €75 / €125 |
| Feather flag base | cross / ground spike / 12 kg plate | approx. €14 / €19 / €60 |
| Double-sided A1 A-board | snap frame + poster | approx. €90 |
| Barrier covers | 270 g mesh or 510 g banner | approx. €7–13/m² |
| 3 × 3 m printed gazebo | information point, first aid, race HQ | from approx. €750 |
| Inflatable start arch | 6 m span, printed | from approx. €1,490 |
With directional signs, the more pieces, the lower the rate per m². If the event is one day and the signs will not go back into storage, you can drop to cheaper 3 mm PVC (approx. €21–33 net/m²) or synthetic paper. For a recurring event dibond pays off – a dibond sign lasts more than 10 years outdoors.
Directional signs people will actually read
At an outdoor event people move in crowds, with children, with food in their hands. They will not stop to read. A few rules that come from practice:
- Pictogram + one word + arrow. 'Toilets →', 'Stage ↑'. Sentences and descriptions belong only on the map at the entrance.
- High up. A sign at 1 m will be hidden by the first row of people. It should hang approx. 2–2.5 m above the ground – on a post, a fence or a gazebo.
- One colour per zone. Food always orange, say, and the children's area green. It works better than words.
- From every side. Sign the toilets and first aid from several directions, not just from the main entrance.
- Large letters. On a sign read from 15–20 m, letters under approx. 8–10 cm high stop being legible.
- The way back counts too. After dark people look for the exit and the car park – sign the return route.
We prepare everything as one design in the event's colour scheme. Designing a simple element costs approx. €43 net, and adapting the template for each further sign approx. €13 net.
Wind, ground and fixing
Outdoors means wind. Every item standing on grass has to be planned together with how it is fixed.
- Feather flags – on grass a ground spike, on tarmac and paving a 12 kg plate base or a cross base with ballast. An unweighted cross base only works indoors.
- A-boards – outdoors choose a model with a water- or sand-filled base (Waterbase B1 A-board approx. €180 net). An ordinary A1 A-board blows over at the first gust unless it is weighted.
- Banners on fences and barriers – mesh where it is windy; eyelets every 25 cm in open ground.
- Gazebos – always weights or pegs on every leg.
More on flag types and their stability in our guide feather flags – types and prices, and on fixing banners to fences in banners for stands and pitch fencing.
- 24 hexpress printing (UV inks need no drying)
- approx. 3 daysstandard lead time
- up to 14 dayslarge and custom projects with installation
Plus courier delivery. Tell us your date — we plan production around it.
Recurring events – how to avoid paying for the same thing every year
Local councils, cultural centres and organisers of annual races and fairs often reorder the same directional signs every year with a new date. It is better to split the signage into two groups:
- Permanent, undated – toilets, parking, first aid, information, food, children's area, site map (if the site does not change). We make these from dibond or thicker PVC, and you store them between editions.
- Variable, with dates and sponsors – main banners, sponsor backdrop, posters. These are printed each year on cheaper materials.
Arches, gazebos and feather flags are reusable too – for the next edition only the cover or flag is replaced. A new flag for an existing pole costs considerably less than a complete set with pole.
The full range of what we do for organisers is on our event organisers and local authorities pages. On-site installation is done by our own crews, who travel across Poland and the EU, supported by partner installers.