Totems

What a totem does

A totem is a free-standing vertical column, visible from a distance and still legible close up. It does something façade signage cannot: it stands at the front of the site, square to the direction of travel, and tells the driver that this is the place, before they have already gone past.

The market also uses the words advertising column, pylon sign, information totem, monolith and pylon. A pylon usually refers to the largest and tallest version along an approach road.

Where totems are used

At the entrance to an industrial estate, on the car park of a shopping centre, at the approach to a hospital or a school, in the lobby of an office building. Anywhere someone arrives and has to know within a few seconds where to go.

On a site with several businesses or services the totem immediately becomes a wayfinding sign as well, with interchangeable name plates per tenant. The construction then matters more than the graphics: a plate has to come out without the rest being dismantled.

Illuminated or not

An illuminated totem works day and night and is the logical choice along roads where you want to be seen in the evening too. The lighting can come from within, through a translucent panel or a fabric, or from outside with spotlights.

Non-illuminated is plainer and cheaper in maintenance and consumption. In residential zones or protected surroundings it is sometimes the only form allowed.

Structure and foundation

A totem is a structure, not a sign. It needs a foundation underneath, usually concrete, with a base plate or a cast-in anchor. Height and wind load determine how heavy that foundation has to be. Illuminated versions also need power brought to the column, which means digging, or tapping into an existing cable.

Planning permission

A totem of any size generally requires planning permission, and municipalities apply their own regulations on height, surface area and lighting. Allow for lead time. This is the part that delays projects most often, not the production.

Why the price varies

Height, width and whether the column is illuminated set the baseline. After that comes the construction: single or double sided, fixed or interchangeable panels, and the material of the casing. Installation weighs heavily, with the foundation, the digging for power, crane access and the ground conditions on site.

With a totem the graphics are therefore rarely the largest item. The ground underneath it is.

What we do

We design, produce, found and install, and where needed we guide the permit file with the drawings required. Send us a photo of the location, the height you have in mind and whether it has to be illuminated, and a proposal comes out of it that takes account of what is allowed and feasible in that spot.