COVID Workplace Safety Signs Don’t Have to Suck
Just a little attention to detail can not only help maintain a safe workplace during the pandemic but can also support your brand.
By now, many of us have become familiar with this picture: a few hastily-placed stretches of tape on the floor forming an arrow to indicate which direction we’re supposed to travel through a supermarket aisle. Like the dozens of other similar arrows throughout a local Target store, this one was being ignored by a shopper.
Now, I’m not suggesting that this shopper ignored the directional signage because it was poorly executed. Behavior that flies in the face of pretty clear direction would appear to be largely self-directed.
I am however suggesting that it could be much more professionally applied and a whole lot more on brand, particularly for a design-conscious retailer like Target. And yes, maybe the results could be a bit more effective at getting the necessary level of attention and guiding visitors safely through the store.
Workplace COVID Signage at OX
We try to refrain from tooting our own horn on Better By. We view it as a platform to highlight experiences made better by the design of others which we as practitioners can learn from and apply in our own client work.
In this case, we’re not only very proud of the work our team has done in designing our COVID workplace safety signs, but we’re also hopeful that others might find it useful in their own workplace.
So we’ve decided to open-source our creative files—which can be downloaded at the end of this article—and let anyone use them as is or modify them to suit their own brand.
Note that at the time of this writing, our whole team is on a voluntary work from home basis. We re-opened the office to provide an alternative workplace for those of us who really need it. We initially divided the office into two teams with only one team allowed in the office at a time during alternating two-week shifts. We have since merged the teams and removed time restrictions as usage remains very light and our teams are proving quite effective at working remotely.
Here’s a look at our COVID workplace signage system:
A few things to call out:
- The color system coordinates with the rest of our brand identity and environmental graphics.
- We matched the style of the illustrations in our Better By articles to create a sense of continuity between our internal and external brand voice.
- The directional arrows on the floor pick up design cues from the mural we created in concert with the Design Museum of Chicago (more on that in a future post).
- Finally, our conference room and common area signs use a flexible system of messages that can be modified to suit the specific needs of each room.
Download the System**
Click here to download the creative files (~131MB .Zip file). Everything is set in Adobe InDesign so modifying colors and fonts are a snap. We’ve removed our logo. Drop yours in place or let them roll as is!
** OX’s signs are not intended or guaranteed to comply with all or any federal, state, or local rules regarding COVID safety measures. You are solely responsible for compliance with such rules and should seek the advice of a qualified attorney regarding your compliance. All works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Where to Print
The floor stickers range in size depending on the type with the larger ones topping out at 44". The wall signs and freestanding signs are all 11" X 17"—some mounted on foam board for application directly to walls or glass, others inserted into stands. There are also designs for table tents for use in kitchens and breakrooms.
We sourced everything from C2 Imaging, who did a fantastic job and provided turnkey service. If you’re in the Chicago area, they’ll also install it for you at a reasonable cost.
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Here’s to staying on-brand while staying safe.
