Welcome to the Sign Design Society
The Sign Design Society (SDS) is for anyone interested in information and graphic communication within buildings and public spaces, including:
- Wayfinding
- Interpretative graphics
- Brand and experiential/environmental graphics
- Statutory and health & safety signs
As well as raising the profile of our disciplines, we offer members a programme of events, resources and initiatives to help them:
- Keep up to date and improve their practice
- Find potential consultants, collaborators & employees
- Promote their work and capabilities
To join choose a membership plan that suits you and sign up!
Our events
Whether you like it or not, as a designer you’re in the business of influencing people’s behaviour. While there may be questionable aspects of this – in terms of driving people towards certain content online or certain products in store – there’s also a more benevolent and beneficial side. This can range from encouraging people to adopt healthier behaviours (such as walking) to stopping them harming themselves (such as by providing warnings to not go into areas that are unsafe). Rather than just saying ‘do this’ or ‘don’t walk here’, there are other ways of influencing people’s behaviour that may be more effective. As designers, we can help ourselves by understanding the science of behaviour change, so that we can be more effective in nudging people towards behaviours that are better, healthier, and more sustainable. It’s certainly worth having these ideas in your toolbox so that you can improve the likelihood that your designs are most effective at helping people to do the right thing. So, what are these ways of influencing people’s behaviour? In this talk Andrew Barker introduces three of the most widely used models of behaviour change, ones that have a rigorous body of evidence to support their effectiveness. And he suggests ways to integrate them into the sorts of projects typically worked on as part of placemaking and wayfinding design projects.
Interested in a membership?
News
2nd edition Sign design guide now available to buy!
The new edition of the guide continues to provide practical guidance to experts and non-specialists alike, based on both best practice in inclusive design and the latest research.
Third party events
Join us at our Postgraduate Open Evening for courses within our S School. Hosted in our Lethaby Gallery, you will have the opportunity to: Speak with course teams and current students; experience our student-led exhibition, A Common Thread; tour our King’s Cross campus and facilities; ask questions at our Application Advice Hub; and discover how postgraduate study at CSM can support your creative practice.
Cognitive scientist Héctor Mangas will discuss a lab-based experiment developed to empirically improve and test the distance-reading legibility of new typefaces, tested on visually impaired readers, while type designer Peter Biľak will discuss the overall approach to designing fonts for inclusivity and accessibility. The resulting typeface was just published and Typotheque now works with marginalized linguistic communities and native designers to address their needs and support digitally disadvantaged languages of the world.
In March 2024, a collaborative team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and Birmingham City University launched an AHRC-funded project entitled ‘Small Performances; investigating the typographic punches of John Baskerville through heritage science and practice based research’. Two years later, the team is back in Birmingham, taking an interlude from their work to present their research and findings so far. They would love you to come and see, hear, experience and celebrate their research, and to join them for afternoon tea and cakes.
Blending academic insight with lived experience, A Place in the City captures the power of grassroots movements to imagine alternative urban futures. Through personal stories of struggle and resilience, the film invites audiences to reflect on how urban life can be collectively redefined from below, foregrounding the everyday acts of organising, designing, and care that sustain social transformation.
‘Give Way to Design’ is a documentary that traces the history of road signage in the United Kingdom, from Roman milestones to the present day. It explores how functional signs evolved into a defining element of the British visual landscape, becoming part of the nation’s cultural heritage. The film highlights the enduring legacy of designers Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, whose work reshaped modern signage.