Signage Design, Renders & Planning | Manchester & UK

Good signage design does two jobs. It makes your brand look right, and it works in the real world: readable from the right distance, fitted to the building and approved by everyone who needs to approve it. Our design team handles both, from first concept to the drawings our workshop builds from.

We design signage in Bolton, Greater Manchester, for clients across Manchester and the rest of the UK, working from your brand guidelines, from an architect’s or designer’s concept, or from a blank page.

What our design service covers

Concept design and brand application across a full signage scheme
Full 3D renders and photo mock ups showing the finished signs in place
Detailed technical and manufacturing drawings
Site surveys, including measured surveys
Planning, advertisement consent, listed building and conservation area applications
Working alongside architects, interior designers and wayfinding consultants

Designer preparing signage drawings in the SPI office

Brushed metal letters with a gold leaf N applied to a textured restaurant wall

Dimensional lettering on a slatted timber feature wall

SPI design team working on signage drawings

Bespoke dimensional lettering mounted on a living moss feature wall

Gold stud numerals on a stairwell feature wall

Large script lettering feature wall in a retail space

Illustrated values feature wall in a school

SPI design and project team in the Bolton office

Decorative laser cut screen graphic in a workplace cafe

Large format wall graphic at a football venue

The software we use

Our designers work in Adobe Illustrator for artwork and brand application, CAD for technical and manufacturing drawings, Photoshop for photo mock ups and Cinema 4D for 3D visuals and full renders. Drawings go straight from our design team to our workshop, so what you approve is what gets built.

Surveys first

Before a design is finalised we survey the site: measurements, fixing surfaces, access, power and sight lines. It means the sign fits first time, and problems are solved on paper rather than discovered on installation day.

See it before it’s made

We produce full renders and photo mock ups of your signage on your actual building or interior, so clients, landlords, planners and funders can sign off with confidence.

Planning and consents

Many external signs need advertisement consent, and listed buildings or sites in a conservation area need further approvals. We prepare the drawings, OS location plans and technical data and complete the applications for you. Where a structure needs it, our designs are backed by structural calculations.

Designed to be built

Because we manufacture and install as well, our designs account for materials, fixings, illumination and future maintenance from the start. It closes the gap that often opens between a concept and something that can actually be made and fitted.

One company, start to finish

Design is one part of a single service. We also handle manufacture, installation and maintenance, so there is one point of contact and one company responsible from the first survey to the finished sign and beyond.

Based in Manchester, working across the UK

We are based in Bolton and design and install signage across Manchester, Greater Manchester and the North West every week. We also work nationwide, from single sites to multi site rollouts and public sector frameworks, so wherever your project is in the UK, one team looks after it.

Why clients choose SPI

ISO 9001 quality, ISO 14001 environmental and ISO 45001 health and safety certified
Principal Contractor accreditation with SafeContractor
Over 250 years of combined experience across our team
Survey, design, manufacture and installation handled by one company

“The SPI team understood our aspirations and helped us to create the right ambience for our special restaurant, while ticking all the practical boxes in terms of navigating this vast space. We’re already working with them on the next phase of works.”

Jason West, Director, WDC Creative

Questions we’re often asked

Can you work with our brand guidelines or an architect’s design?

Yes. We can develop a scheme from your brand guidelines, work up a concept supplied by your architect or designer into manufacturing drawings, or design from scratch.

Will I see what the signs look like before they are made?

Yes. We produce full 3D renders and photo mock ups of the signs on your building or interior before anything goes into production.

Do you handle planning and advertisement consent?

Yes. We prepare the drawings, OS location plans and technical data and complete advertisement consent, listed building and conservation area applications.