Pavement signs

Pavement signs and A-boards for outside your premises

An A-board is the least expensive piece of advertising a shop or hospitality business can use, and at the same time the most underrated. It stands exactly where a passer-by decides whether to step inside: at eye level, a few metres away, at the moment itself.

We supply pavement signs and A-boards to shops, hospitality businesses, pharmacies, garages, local authorities and event organisers, from a single board to a series for every branch of a chain.

The versions

Classic A-board

Two panels in a hinged frame, readable on both sides. Put out in the morning and taken in at night. Available in wood, aluminium or plastic.

Snap-frame board

An A-board with hinged snap frames into which you slide a print or poster. The message changes in twenty seconds, without tools. This is the version we recommend as soon as you change something more than once a month.

Chalkboard

A black or slate-like surface written on with a chalk pen. Popular in hospitality because it looks handwritten and personal. Watch the legibility in rain and the wiping down after a wet day.

Water-base board

A board with a fillable base weighted with water or sand. The choice for windy locations and at the coast.

Weighted or spring board

A board on a spring that flexes in the wind and returns upright instead of falling over. Strong alongside busy streets.

Why pavement signs blow over, and what to do about it

The most common complaint is not the print or the appearance, but that the board keeps falling over. That is almost always down to a base that is too light combined with a large panel surface: in wind, an A-board behaves like a sail.

What helps: a fillable base, a lower and wider format in windy locations, a spring construction, or placing the board side-on to the prevailing wind. That is why, when we advise, we always ask about the layout of the street and not just the size you want.

What the rules allow

Most municipalities permit advertising boards on the pavement, but with conditions: a minimum clear width for pedestrians, wheelchairs and prams, a maximum number of boards per business, and sometimes a permit or an annual charge. A few municipalities ban them entirely in certain streets.

Check this with your municipality before you order. We know how it works in most municipalities in our region and are happy to help, but the authority lies with the local council.

Design: one message

A pavement sign is read in two seconds, in passing. That means one message, in large lettering, with strong contrast. A list of eight products, your opening hours and three logos will not be read by anyone.

What does work: a specific offer, a dish of the day, an announcement that applies today, or a single line that makes people curious. Change it regularly, because a board that says the same thing for three months stops being seen by people who walk past every day.

What determines the price?

Pavement signs have no fixed unit price. The cost follows from the version, whether that is a classic A-board, snap frame, chalkboard, water base or spring board, from the material and the format, from the printing method and whether the panels are interchangeable, from the number of units, because the cost per piece drops noticeably across a series, and from whether we produce the design or you supply it.

Let us know the version you want, the format and the number of branches, and you will receive a quotation per version.

Requesting a proposal

Send us your logo and your message, and tell us whether the street is windy. We will propose a version that stays upright and a design that is legible from a distance.