When you hear the words hanging sign, chances are you picture a projecting sign hanging from a bracket outside a shop, café or restaurant.
And for good reason. External hanging signs are a brilliant way to increase visibility, particularly on busy high streets where customers approaching from either direction may not immediately see your main fascia sign.
But hanging signage doesn’t have to stop at the front door.
Internal hanging signs are often overlooked, yet in the right environment they can improve navigation, reinforce your branding and make much better use of the space above your customers’ heads.
So, should you choose indoor or outdoor hanging signage? In many cases, the answer is both.
Outdoor Hanging Signs: Get Noticed From the Street
An external hanging shop sign or projecting sign gives your business another opportunity to be seen.
Traditional fascia signage faces forwards, which is ideal from across the road but isn’t always easy to spot when someone is walking along the same side of the street. A projecting hanging sign sits perpendicular to the building, making your branding much more visible to passing footfall.
They’re particularly effective for shops, cafĂ©s, bars, restaurants, salons and independent businesses competing for attention on a busy street.
The design can be tailored to your building and brand too. A traditional bracket and hanging panel can complement a character property, while clean lines, aluminium panels and contemporary brackets create a much more modern appearance.
Outdoor Signs Need to Be Built for the Environment
Looks aren’t the only consideration when you’re taking signage outdoors.
Your sign, bracket and fixings need to be appropriate for the location and capable of dealing with wind, rain and changing temperatures. Materials, mounting methods and the weight and size of the sign all need to be considered carefully.
Visibility matters too. Think about the height of the sign, surrounding buildings, other street signage and the direction people are most likely to approach from, even consider illumination.
A beautifully designed hanging sign isn’t doing its job if nobody can see it.
But What Happens Once Customers Step Inside?
This is where hanging signage gets much more interesting.
Businesses often spend considerable time thinking about their external signage and then rely almost entirely on wall-mounted signs once customers enter the building.
But look upwards.
In many commercial interiors, there’s a huge amount of unused space overhead. Internal hanging signage allows you to use that space without taking up walls, windows or valuable floor area.
For larger premises in particular, hanging signs can become an integral part of the customer journey.
Make Navigation Easier
One of the most practical uses for internal hanging signage is wayfinding.
In retail stores, hanging signs can identify departments, checkouts, changing rooms and collections. In offices and public buildings, they can direct visitors towards receptions, meeting rooms and facilities. In schools, universities, healthcare environments and leisure venues, overhead signs can make destinations easier to identify across large or busy spaces.
Because they’re positioned above furniture, displays and crowds, they can often be spotted from much further away than conventional wall-mounted directional signage.
The best wayfinding doesn’t make visitors stop and work out where they’re going. It simply helps them get there.
Use Hanging Signs to Reinforce Your Brand
Internal hanging signs don’t have to be purely directional.
They can carry logos, brand messages, department names, promotional campaigns or graphic elements, extending your visual identity throughout the building.
A branded hanging feature above a reception, for example, can draw visitors towards the right place while adding another dimension to the interior. In retail, suspended signage can help different departments feel distinct while remaining part of one consistent brand.
They can also be combined with wall graphics, window graphics, floor graphics, digital displays and freestanding signage to create a complete branded environment.
Don’t Forget Temporary Hanging Signage
Another advantage of internal hanging signs is flexibility.
Temporary hanging signage can be particularly effective for retail campaigns, exhibitions, events and seasonal promotions. Instead of taking up floor space with additional displays, promotional graphics can be suspended overhead where they’re visible across the space.
For retailers, this creates opportunities to regularly change campaigns, highlight new collections or direct customers towards promotions. At exhibitions, large hanging banners can act as landmarks, helping visitors spot your stand from across a busy hall.
Temporary doesn’t have to mean low impact. In fact, positioning graphics overhead can make them some of the most noticeable signage in the room.
Indoor vs Outdoor: Think About the Job the Sign Needs to Do
Rather than starting with “Do I need an indoor or outdoor hanging sign?”, start by considering what you want the signage to achieve.
Outside, the priority might be attracting attention and helping people locate your business. Inside, it could be improving navigation, identifying departments, promoting products or simply bringing more of your personality into the space.
One thing we’ve learnt is that some of the best signage opportunities are in spaces businesses haven’t considered using. Walls, windows and floors tend to get all the attention, but looking upwards can open up an entirely new area for branding and communication.
Look Beyond the Shop Front
External projecting signs will always have their place. They’re distinctive, practical and an effective way of making your business easier to find.
But don’t let your hanging signage strategy end at the entrance.
From internal wayfinding and department signs to suspended promotional graphics and exhibition banners, hanging signage can work just as hard inside your building as it does outside.
At PB Signs, we design and manufacture bespoke indoor and outdoor hanging signs for retail, workplaces, hospitality venues, exhibitions and commercial environments, helping businesses make the most of every available space.
