At Ortwein Sign, we design, fabricate, and install signs for all variety of businesses and places of community. We build signs for everything from churches to public parks, medical offices to medical campuses, and all manner of places in between. We know that not all places are of equal size and though that can be an issue when crafting creative branding and interior signage it’s not nessecarily an impediment. We wanted to discuss in today’s blog how even with limited space you can still use what you have to integrate your branding to present a sense of place, familiarity, and more with the limited space you might have.
1. Statement Pieces for Front Offices
Quite often when we design and fabricate signage for offices, be it a corporate office or a a small medical practice, dental office, veterinarian center, etc., there’ll be a small foyer in the front where visitors or patients wait. Especially in smaller offices and practices these might be rather intimate rooms that do not allow for a lot of wall real estate, especially with regards to where the medical staff might be sitting behind a desk. In these instances, we often recommend a statement piece that can sit behind the medical staff that serves as a welcome to visitors and patients alike. By seeing these right as you come in you’re not only assured you’re in the right place, but you’re also provided a sense of place. These signs can be made in a variety of ways including with LEDs, vinyl, channel letters, or even neon.
2. Digital Screens and Kiosks for Cafes, Bakeries, Restaurants, or Fast-Food Restaurants
Whether you’re a smaller business in a commercial property development, or you’re a larger business that’s devoted most of your space to seating, you may not have a substantial amount of room for lines either to order or to be greeted by your hosts. Now with the increasing prevalence of kiosks in shops, you can more easily manage your lines by allowing for either a hybrid self-order/order at the counter option, or you can go entirely self-order with multiple kiosks. During the pandemic this became a prime way for employees and restaurant workers to keep a safe distance; however, many businesses realized that this was an efficient way for customers to order as well, while allowing for increased customization. Largely this has been welcomed by diners as well, though many perhaps prefer a hybrid option.
If you run a bakery for instance or a boba shop and you’re considering freeing up some space by eliminating or decreasing your counter space, digital kiosks are one possible solution. You may also pair a kiosk with TV screens in addition to, or instead of menus, as they can more easily be added to walls that were perhaps previously blocked by expanded counter space. Since kiosks will also have the entire menu often already incorporated, these digital screens or TV monitors can feature sale items or specials or other promotions of note.
3. Signage and Decor in Cafes/Restaurants for Instagram/TikTok
Increasingly restaurants and cafes not only keep in mind what the in-person experience is like for customers but they also take into account what the experience looks like on Instagram/TikTok. Afterall the way many businesses find an audience now is through social media. This has led to changes in interior lighting and its also encouraged a trend of using signage and decor to create spaces for patrons to take photos and videos, often through creative or beautiful backdrops. Even if your business is thin and narrow, as many cafes in particular tend to be, these backdrops can be incorporated by adorning an existing wall with art, neon signage, foliage or faux-ivy, or perhaps a clever backdrop like a cloud with LED lighting.
4. Interior Neon Signage
We’ve already touched on how neon signage can be used as a statement piece, emphasizing the company’s brand, but the versatility of neon signage is such we felt it deserved its own place on this list. Afterall neon signs look good in offices, restaurants, bars, TV sets, and even churches. The trick is to ensure the neon signage is incorporated into your branding, otherwise it might simply stand out. (This isn’t even always a bad thing; however, it’s often preferable for it to all be entertwined with your brand.)
Here are some examples of Interior Neon signs in small spaces to show examples of what you can do with your interior spaces.
Neon Sign in Milk & Honey in Chattanooga, TN (Fabricated by Ortwein Sign)
Neon Sign in Vintage Corvettes and Museum (Fabricated by Ortwein Sign)
