From the point of view of local government, the regulation of signs is motivated by the need to ensure public safety and minimize the negative visual impacts of signs in a community. The means by which these goals have traditionally been accomplished have been to limit the size of signs, control their type, placement, and appearance, and, generally, to impose measures to reduce "visual clutter."

It is usually not the impact of any one business sign that motivates municipalities to adopt sign regulations, but the long-term, cumulative impact of many private signage decisions. Often the motivating force behind sign regulation is the need to guard against the occasional irresponsible sign application — to create regulations designed for the lowest common denominator or worst-case applicant.

The sign industry is motivated by the need to help businesses and organizations inform the public about their location and to take advantage of a relative low cost form of business advertising. And, of course, the need to sell signs is an additional motivating factor for the industry.

For planners and building officials, signs are but one component of the complex built environment. And planning for and regulating signs is just one aspect of a city or community design program. Central to more recent community design programs and aesthetic regulations is the concept of contextualism, which means that new structures and elements of the built landscape (including signs) should complement the existing built and natural environments. This is generally accomplished through guidelines or requirements pertaining to height and bulk, scale, siting, landscaping, architecture, construction materials, texture, and color.

One reason that communication has suffered between the sign industry and planners is that, historically, the responsibility for regulating signs has resided with the zoning or code enforcement officer, who may have little connection to the professional planning staff who influence and guide the overall community design program or policies. This arrangement has created few opportunities for planners and the sign industry to engage in any discussion beyond the issue of "does it or does it not conform to the sign code." These circumstances have also created a regulatory environment that sometimes ignores the benefits of signs, including economic development through increased commercial activity and vibrant, colorful streetscapes.

In the last several decades, the sign industry and many of its designers found new ways to refine the art of visual communication, introducing new products in the urban landscape that many ordinances do not accommodate. Transportation researchers have conducted significant studies of sign legibility and visibility, both for traffic and highway signs and for on-premises signs to attempt to answer the question, Do signs cause traffic accidents? (Sorry, there still is no definitive answer other than to say that traffic safety is viewed by the courts as a legitimate purpose for sign regulations.)

Context-Sensitive Signage Design

Table of Contents, Acknowledgments, Author Biographies (pdf)

Chapter 1. Planning for Signs (pdf)

Planners and Signs
Sign Manufacturers and Planning
An Overview of the Sign Industry
Sign Technology
Art and Graphic Design

Chapter 2. On-Premise Signs and Traffic Safety (pdf)

Research Relating On-Premise Signs and Traffic Safety
A Theory of Driver Behavior
General Principles of Highway Signing
Toward an Effective and Safe Sign System
Cooperative Triangulation

Chapter 3. Aesthetic Context: Designing for Place (pdf)

Policies
Programs
Projects
Engaging the Public in Urban Design
Establishing a Foundation for Sign Regulation
Understanding the Components of Context
Evaluating the Place - A Typology
Characteristics of Places
Implications

Chapter 4. The Economic Context of Signs (pdf)

Signs as Identification, Advertising, and Wayfinding Devices
The Complex Relationship Between Economics and Aesthetics
The Economic Context of Signs
Research on the Economic Value of Signage
The Signage Needs of Retail and Service Businesses
Signage Needs of National Chains Versus Small Independent Businesses
Conclusions

Chapter 5. Design Review, Permitting, and Recordkeeping (pdf)

The Sign Permitting Process
Administering Design Review for Signs
The Ordinance

Chapter 6. Legal Issues in the Regulation of On-Premise Signs (pdf)

Sign Regulation and Police Power
Sign Regulation and the First Amendment
Recurring Problems in Local Government Regulation of Signs
The Takings Issue: Requiring Removal or Amoritization of On-Premise Commercial Signs
Provisions for Enforcement
Provisions for Flexibility
Commercial On-Premise Signs and the First Amendment
Time, Place, or Manner Regulation of On-Premise Commercial Signs
When Is a Sign Content-Based?
Recommendations and Guidelines

Chapter 7. Reaching Consensus on Sign Regulation (pdf)

Forming a Sign Ordinance Committee
Case Studies
Conclusion

Appendix (pdf)