Signage Foundation Marks Five Year Collaboration with the University of Cincinnati
The Signage Foundation Inc. (SFI) recently completed its five-year conference partnership with the University of Cincinnati (UC), when it held the 2014 National Signage Research & Education Conference (NSREC), October 8-9, at the Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center on the UC campus. Following its inaugural 2010 NSREC event, SFI and UC presented four annual October conferences that followed the S.T.A.R. initiative, i.e., signage as Science, Technology, Advertising/Art and Research.
Highlights of this year’s conference included:
- A sneak preview of the soon-to-be-published Community Guide to Regulating Temporary Signs, as presented by former American Planning Assn. (ASA) Ohio president and veteran planner Wendy Moeller (Compass Point Planning).
- An economic comparison of illuminated versus non-illuminated signage, based on a survey of end users, as presented by marketing professor Charles R. Taylor (Villanova University).
- An overview of nearly 20 years of research by Penn State University’s transportation department, which has resulted in a dozen studies related to sign visibility and effectiveness, as presented by Penn State researcher Philip Garvey and sign code expert Rick Crawford.
- The appointment of Professor Vikas Mehta as the first Fruth Gemini Chairman of Signage in the College of Design, Architecture & Planning (DAAP). Professor Craig Vogel, DAAP’s Associate Dean, had served as the acting chair.
- The formation of the Academic Advisory Council for Signage Research & Education (AACSRE), an advisory board of numerous universities that will suggest future research projects, with Dr. Dawn Jourdan (University of Oklahoma) as the chairperson, and Dr. Gene Hawkins (Texas A&M) as vice chair.
- A study of consumer reactions to numerous types of electronic and landmark signs in three cities, as presented by Craig Berger, from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City
- A fourth annual presentation of the results of The American Grocery Shopper Study™, in which Better Homes and Gardens readers respond to questions about signage’s legibility, etc., as presented by Dr. James Kellaris, the James S. Womack/Gemini Chair of Signage and Visual Marketing in UC’s Lindner College of Business.
- Luncheon keynote presentation on Building the Experience: Respecting Constraints While Pushing Variables by UC Professor Craig Vogel and Kelly Kolar and Mary Dietrich of Kolar Design.
- Overview of New Instructional Tools for Looking at the Importance of Signage presented by Professor Chris Auffrey (UC School of Planning).
- Overview of New Instructional Tools for Looking at the Importance of Signage.
- Research on Evaluating Stakeholder Perceptions of Form Based and On-Premise Sign Codes in Streetscapes presented by Dr. Pat Crawford, Dr. Eunsil Lee and Maleah Beatty (Michigan State University).
- A topical overview on Basic Sign Law for Planning Students presented by Dr. Eric Strauss (Michigan State University).
Over the past five years, 79 UC professors, researchers and students have contributed to and participated in the NSREC conferences. UC grad students have served internships at sign companies. UC professors/researchers have conducted/presented eight studies pertaining to the function, legibility and effectiveness of signage. UC will continue to participate with NSREC as it broadens its reach with a new venue in 2015.
The next NSREC will be hosted by the University of Oklahoma in October 2015. To keep tabs on NSREC and SFI, go to www.thesignagefoundation.org
2015 NSREC to be hosted by the University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is proud to host the next NSREC Conference in 2015. Dr. Dawn Jourdan, Director of the Division of Regional and City Planning at the University of Oklahoma, also serves as Chair of the Academic Advisory Council for Sign Education and Research (AACSRE). In this capacity, she and Dr. Charles Graham, Dean of OU’s College of Architecture, welcomed the request by the Signage Foundation to host this event during their August 2014 visit to Norman, Oklahoma. OU’s College of Architecture is particularly excited to host the next NSREC conference given the collaborative nature of the professions this conference has historically drawn.
In preparation for hosting the conference, the Signage Foundation invited an interdisciplinary team of researchers from OU to attend the 2015 conference in Cincinnati. These participants included: Dr. Dawn Jourdan, associate professor of Regional and City Planning, Dr. Bryce Lowery, assistant professor of Regional and City Planning, Mary Price, assistant professor of Interior Design, Dr. Stephanie Pilat, assistant professor of Architecture, and Scott Williams, assistant professor of Landscape Architecture. This team will work with Dean Graham and the SFI Board to plan for the conference.
The planning phase is well underway. The conference will be held at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Architecture in early October of 2015. The theme of the conference will be: “Past Meets Present: Preserving and Integrating Historic Signs Using New Technologies.” This topic is particularly appropriate to the region given the impact of historic Route 66 on the Oklahoma landscape.
Patty Herbin
The Signage Foundation, Inc.
