Design quality and amenity for advertising and signage

Advertising and signage form an integral part of the built environment as a means by which businesses draw attention to their goods and services. Care needs to be taken with regards to their design, siting, size and method of illumination and the council will encourage interesting or innovatively designed signage. Well designed, safe and sensitively sited advertisements and signs, where thought has been given to their size, colours, siting and levels of illumination, can contribute positively to the visual qualities of an area. However, advertisements and signs can be added to a building or placed in a location as an afterthought. As a result, a good building, neighbourhood or sensitive location can be easily spoiled by poorly designed advertising and signage, which appears overly dominant, unduly prominent or simply out of place. This is particularly relevant to historic areas of the city, including listed buildings and their settings, where overly contemporary/modern styles of design may be considered unsympathetic to surrounding context.