2014 National Signage Research & Education Conference
(NSREC) Presentation Details
Topic: “New Tools for Looking at the Importance of Signage”
Introduced By: Wendy Moeller, SFI Board Member
Presenters: Christopher Auffrey & Hank Hildebrandt, University
of Cincinnati
Christopher Auffrey is Associate Professor of Planning and Associate
School Director for the School of Planning in College of Design,
Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati
(UC). He holds a BA in Economics and Environmental Conservation
from the University of Colorado, an MA in Development Economics
from San Diego State University, and a PhD in Urban, Technological
and Environmental Planning from the University of Michigan. His research interests include understanding
the role of signage in urban communities and how this role might be optimized through public policy. He was
a co-author of the Economic Value of On-Premise Signs study completed in 2012.
In addition, over the past three years, he has been actively involved with teaching and research concerned
with urban development in China, and is part of the interdisciplinary Smart Cities initiative at the University of
Cincinnati.
Auffrey has professional experience with urban revitalization projects in Los Angeles and an urban
infrastructure consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay.
He has co-authored three books and authored or co-authored numerous journal articles and technical
reports.
Henry Hildebrandt is a registered architect with a Bachelor of Architecture (Design Option) from the
University of Nebraska and a Master of Architecture in Urban Studies from Kent State University. He studied
graphic design under Armin Hoffmann and Wolfgang Weingard in the Post Graduate Program for Graphic
Design at the School of Design, Basel, Switzerland, engaged in the program from 1978 - 1983. Hildebrandt
coordinated the foundation architecture program at Mississippi State University for 11 years and coordinated
the Program of Interior Design for 13 years in the School of Architecture and Interior Design at the University
of Cincinnati and was the Associate Director of Under Graduate Programs from 2000 – 2004 in the School of
Architecture and Interior Design in the same school.
Hildebrandt was the Hyde Chair, Visiting Professor, University of Nebraska, for the Program of Interior
Design in 2000 and has received several teaching and design honors, including the Faculty Achievement
Award, being featured as one of five best interior-design faculty in Perspective IIDA magazine, the IIDA
Michael Tatum Excellence in Education Award, AIA-IDSA Competition, and recipient of several grants.
Hildebrandt has been on the AIA Interior Architecture Knowledge Community, and he co-authored
“Significant Interiors.” He served as the president of the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), is a
member of the Board of Directors, and was a site visitor and team chair for the Council for Interior Design
Accreditation, CIDA. He is currently engaged with Auffrey on environmental-signage studies that analyze
signage in relationship to contextual factors.
Abstract:
This presentation summarizes the results of a Spring 2014 graduate seminar in UC’s DAAP. Graduate
students utilized 3M Corporation’s Visual Attention Service (VAS) visual computational modeling software to
analyze on-premise signage within urban-street and suburban-road contexts. Based on the work presented
by Richard Moore at the 2011 NSREC conference, “Improving Sign Effectiveness with Visual Attention
Modeling Software,” graduate students, under the direction of Auffrey and Hildebrandt, used VAS to analyze
digital images from a range of signage-rich environments. This effort compared the results from VAS with
traditional qualitative assessment of signage design, and gauged VAS’s effectiveness as a tool for
enhancing the conspicuity of specific on-premise signs.
This research builds on the preliminary work by Professors Auffrey and Hildebrandt of the on-premise
signage along historic highway routes US 50 and US 61. Teams of graduate students were assigned to
identify, photograph and analyze on-premise signage in typical urban and suburban business-district
contexts, from traditional pole and wall signs with standard neon or back-lit image graphics, to contemporary
electric message centers and advanced uses of Quick Response (QR) code APPs. These analyses
approached on-premise signage as elements of communication systems focused on wayfinding and
marketing, which had traditionally utilized on-premise signage, and is expanding to smart phones and
onboard car screens linked to smart phones and other personal communication devises.
A systematic methodology was developed for the evaluation of selected on-premise signage contexts,
whereby students were instructed to select and photograph, from multiple perspectives, examples of onpremise signage in various built and natural-environment contexts. Students were told to assess each
image using their qualitative graphic and design skills. Students were explicitly told to consider the
complexities of the environmental contexts, including the size, color and design of the signage and
building(s), and the building milieu, such as land use, architectural style, building heights, conditions and
setbacks, as well as franchise branding typologies. Subsequently, students were told to analyze the same
images using 3M’s Visual Attention Service (VAS) software, and to compare the results. Finally, students
were told to use Adobe Photoshop software to explore how the images could be altered to make the signage
more effective while maintaining or enhancing overall graphic quality.
The presentation will provide the results of this work and the insights it has provided into the use of
advanced analytical methods for assessing performance (conspicuity) of on-premise signs in different
environment contexts. In addition, it will comment on the appropriate use of visual analysis tools, such as
VAS, compared with standard qualitative assessment. It also will seek to expand the discussion of the role
of emerging technologies in environmental-signage communication.