TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview…………………………….………………………………………………….2
Introduction………………………….…………………………………………………3
Current Signs and Monitors………….……………………………………………….4
Proposed Monitors for the WELL…………………………………………………….6
CSU Other Campus Signs and Management…………………………….………...8
Best Practices………………………………………………………………………....10
1
OVERVIEW
Sacramento State is a welcoming campus for students, faculty, staff and visitors. Each
year, more than 100,000 people visit Sacramento State’s campus. It is a learning, living
and working environment for 29,000 students and 4,000 faculty and staff. Our campus
is a source of regional pride, a place visited often and mentioned frequently and
positively by a significant portion of the region’s population.
Sacramento State is strongly committed to maintaining a safe campus environment.
Sacramento State’s Emergency Notification System automates delivery of urgent
announcements to faculty, students and staff. The system sends out text messages,
phone calls and e-mail in the event of a critical situation that may cause harm or
imminent danger.
In August 2008 Sacramento State Digital Sign went live and began broadcasting
messages from its location on the south end of campus. More than 2.2 million motorists
drive by and are able to view strategic campus messages.
It is important to utilize technology to continue to provide immediate and/or emergency
messages to our internal and external audiences. However, new communications
technology must be used responsibility and must be measured with careful
management to avoid electronic noise pollution.
The addition of campus digital signs will provide an important component to convey
emergency messages and other information of interest to the campus community.
Implemented and managed properly, the signs can provide a visually pleasing and
informative medium to the campus environment.
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Introduction: Digital Signs on the Sac State Campus
The ability to reach internal and external audiences changes dramatically each year. It is
increasingly difficult to communicate information to individuals as the technological options for
messaging change and grow. The utilization of just one communications platform is no longer
viable. It is important to note that digital signs cannot and should not be the sole, stand-alone
means of communications for strategic messages; yet it is an important mechanism, among
many, to convey messages.
Digital signs can be a valuable tool for instant emergency and safety messages, class
schedules and events. However, it is critical to avoid oversaturation and visual pollution.
Campus Emergency Benefits
Emergency Messaging – The need to provide emergency messaging in times of disaster and
tragedy is a top priority. Alerting the campus to safety conditions in real time is critical to disaster
response.
Public Safety - Law enforcement information, such as alert bulletins for theft, can also improve
public safety. The instant awareness is an indispensable law enforcement tool for reaching the
campus community.
University Benefits
The signs will tie in to the University brand. The Sacramento State name and logo will be
prominently displayed on the structures.
Brings notice to important University events and initiatives, e.g. college-based lectures,
performances, and Destination 2010.
Environmental Benefits
Energy Consumption - The new generation display will consume roughly half the power of
conventional LED displays. More efficient power control and state-of-the-art diodes use less
power. With these features, in addition to the singular purpose of producing static images rather
than those technologies that utilize video screens, power consumption falls dramatically.
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Current Signs and Monitors
Currently there are television monitors located in buildings throughout campus. In
addition there are a number of proposals to add more television monitors and electronic
or digital signs to interior campus buildings and exterior walkways. These indoor and
outdoor boards are a means of communicating important information.
Current Signs and Monitors on campus:
Building
Number of current signs
Plans to add more?
Mariposa
1
No
Mendocino
1
No
Shasta
1
Library
4 Televisions
River Front Center
5 Television
Union
See attached
4
No
University Union:
In regards to current digital signage in the University Union, we are using Four Winds
Interactive in several different ways throughout the building. Each are summarized:
1. Primarily we have 14 42" (LG Model: 42LG50) LCD Screens, mounted vertically,
throughout the Union. Content is divided on these screens into several major
sections: University Union/UNIQUE Programs advertising, Event Scheduling,
Time/Weather, and "other information" area. The University Union/UNIQUE
Programs area is filled with mostly Flash/After Effects/QuickTime animations—
that our Marketing/Design department puts together. The middle section displays
the current events taking place in the meeting rooms/ballroom in the building,
and these events our exported through EMS Enterprise in an XML format. We
utilize a Video Display Interface module to enable EMS Enterprise to export
events in XML. In the lower section of the screen we have an area that currently
displays Google Maps Traffic information for the Sacramento area which we put
together through the Google API. Eventually this lower area will be used for other
purposes; however we have received quite a bit of positive feedback with the
traffic information.
2. We have 4 25" Samsung LCD horizontal monitors located above each section of
our 3 section Ballroom, and our Auditorium. These signs display information for
the specific Ballroom and/or Auditorium section via an XML export from EMS
(Similar to what we are doing with our primary screens through the building, but
only providing information for one room). These signs will display the event time
and event name about 1 hour before the event, during the event, and about 15
minutes after the event end-time. This has helped us to remove our paper signs
in the Ballroom/Auditorium area. In the future we expect to have mini-LCD
screens next to each standard conference room.
3. We have a 42" and a 50" LCD horizontal screens (one behind our information
desk, and one located in our popular 2nd floor lounge area) that simply displays
University Union/UNIQUE advertisements for programs in animated Flash/After
Effects/QuickTime. Similar to what we are doing on the primary screens through
the building, but in a much larger viewing area/screen.
4. On the first floor we also have Student Organization Display, which is a 27"
vertically mounted screen that student organizations can submit events they are
hosting on-campus to the Student Activities Office and their media is displayed
for a specific period of time.
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The WELL:
Digital Signs for the WELL will be housed in the following sections of the building:
1) Exterior of the building - one electronic monument sign located across from
parking lot 12, next to the sidewall< directed toward the WELL. The electric sign
will service as directional information as well as information regarding programs
and services (hours of operation) and special events being offered in and
around the building. Assume the campus "look" will be required but plan the
electronic portion tied to the 4 winds software already owned.
2) Lobby of the WELL will have four TV monitors for directional (ADA Caption for
deaf) and information regarding programs in the building. One of the four is
dedicated for the Health Center, and one for the Café.
3) A TV monitor is located after the turnstiles in the hall, same purpose as the
lobby monitors.
4) Nine TV monitors will be located in the first floor cardio/fitness center utilized for
watching programs, news, entertainment and building information/program
advertising.
5) One TV monitor for Peak Adventures for programming information.
6) Two TV monitors in the hallway between the MAC court and basketball court.
These TV monitors will be utilized for advertising building programs and
information on current programs being offered in those two areas.
nd
7) Three TV monitors will be located on the 2 floor perfection hallway to indicate
meetings, conferences, and other information regarding the conference suite
area and WELL programs.
8) One TV monitor will be located in the fitness hallway on the second floor to
indicate direction and programming.
nd
9) Three TV monitors to be located outside the 2 floor fitness studios, one TV per
room, to indicated the rooms programming function as well as other WELL
programs.
nd
10) Eight TV monitors to be located in the 2 floor cardio room utilized for
entertainment, news, building information/program advertising.
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11) Three TV's in the coordinator between the running track and the MAC seating.
The TV monitors will indicate programming for the MAC arena as well as
information on programs for the WELL.

All monitors will be consistent within the facility and tie to the University
Union program through Four Winds, and cable for entertainment as well
as information on the building and programming in the building.

All monitors need to interface or have over ride for utilization with the ENS
system

In addition we have dedicated several monitors through the building for
educational purposes, (Campus Cable).

Two monitors in the fitness workout center on the first floor and two
monitors in the fitness/cardio center on the second floor. In addition, we
will have a monitor in the Nutrition Center utilized for educational purposes
as well as information dissemination. Last we have campus cable in all of
our conference rooms.
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CSU Other Signs and Management
CSU Campus
Who Controls?
Fullerton
Signs are controlled by Strategic Communications
and Athletics Department, A.S. controls its own
digital Sign at an outer entrance to the student
union
San Jose
Stationary signs controlled by Student Union and
Theatre Department, mobile digital signs
controlled by police, all 3 put up Public Affairs info
Fresno
Athletics, Events Center
East Bay
University Advancement
Dominquez Hills
Instructional Media, but PA is responsible for
content
Long Beach
Events Office (which is part of Parking
Administration), Performing Arts Center
Northridge
Marketing and Communications
Sonoma
No digital signs
Cal Poly
No external audience signs, Union sign is run by
student government
Cal Poly Pomona
Public Affairs
Bakersfield
One sign, controlled by ASI
Channel Islands
No response
Chico
located in the Student Union, controlled by
Associated Students Inc.
Humboldt
No digital sign.
Los Angeles
3 signs- in the gym and one on the north and one
on the south side of campus, managed by Public
Affairs
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Monterey
No response
San Bernadino
Small television signs in the student union,
managed by Anna Mendoza from the graphics
department, Jack brown Hall has similar signs that
are managed by the college of Business and Public
Administration.
San Diego
Music Dance controls own sign, Cox Arena Sign
(6195940234) controlled by their own department,
Main Sign on the freeway is controlled by
Marketing and Communications
San Francisco
No digital signs
Stanislaus
No digital signs
San Marcus
No digital signs
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Best Practices
MAKE THE TEXT LARGE
Outdoor designs should be simple, clear and easy to read.
USE BOLD, NON-SERIF FONTS
Always use large, legible typefaces. Avoid decorative, italic, or serif fonts. As a general rule, upper and
lower case sans serif fonts provide the best readability. When designing for digital outdoor, we highly
recommend adding a thin dark stroke around the text to separate it from the background, therefore
making it much more readable.
STICK TO ONE MESSAGE OR IDEA
Simplify everything. Don’t present a complex message or numerous images. Have one thing that you
want your audience to do or to recognize. The best outdoor media reduces a complex message to its
essential elements.
BE SHORT AND SWEET
Use no more than ten words total on the entire billboard – and that includes the logo/product tagline.
We recommend seven words or less for the headline. Keep the words short for faster comprehension.
WHITE BACKGROUNDS DO NOT DIGITALLY TRANSLATE
White backgrounds should never be used, as they will not display correctly on digital boards. White and
lightly colored backgrounds will wash out copy.
USE BRIGHT, BOLD HUES
Stick with bold, primary colors like red, yellow and blue. Complimentary colors, such as red and green,
are not legible together because they have similar value. Contrasting color combinations work best for
viewing outdoor designs at far distances.
CREATE HIGH CONTRAST
Being subtle does not work in outdoor. Strong contrast in both hue and value are essential for creating
good digital out-of-home.
PICK YOUR IMAGE WISELY
Take a small object and make it large (like a watch) rather than making a large object small (like a
building). Avoid using landscapes or complex scenes. We recommend three visual elements or less,
total. For example: one image, one logo and one headline.
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KEEP BACKGROUNDS SIMPLE
Use a strong image off a solid color background, to create a high-impact visual. Remember you want
your image interpreted as quickly as possible. An elaborate background or gradient will only increase
the time needed to discern the image/message. Subtle differences in color gradients may not display
with your desired level of detail.
TEST YOUR IDEA
A billboard is not a print ad, the average viewing time is only about 5 seconds. A good test is to show
the design to someone from a distance for only 5 seconds and then ask them about it. Did they
understand it? Who was the advertiser? What do they think the advertiser wants them to do?
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