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Last week, the launch of a new initiative called DISQ was announced by visual display companies Eurostand Display, Eve Products and Promotor Industries International. An acronym standing for display, innovation, service and quality, DISQ will be officially introduced at Sign and Digital UK, and what better place – or better time – to unite a sub-sector of the market than at a show where static and digital signage meets.

The last time I took a good look at modular signage – a type of sign product that describes a significant portion of each of the founder members' product offerings – was a few years back when the flexibility of digital signage was a relatively far-off threat. Modular signage was the go-to product for any company that needed a customisable system, able to offer value for money and weather resistance. Fortunately for companies not involved in the electronic arena, while digital signage technology is able to offer these features in many environments, modular signs are very much holding their own for wayfinding, directional, informational, branding and other popular applications.

Additionally, they provide benefits that digital can't, such as a lower price, a tangible quality allowing Braille and other effects, low maintenance, and can be left alone until they need to be updated, rather than a pressure to maintain a constant stream of new information. The word 'modular' is used to describe many products including digital signage hardware, though, so it's important to look at what modular signage is and why it's a vital weapon in a sign company's armoury.

Customisation is the key to modular signage – customisation by the end user, for instance in lobby directory signs, and customisation by the sign-maker, in terms of size, finish, lighting, colour, whether it is one- or double-sided, flat or a finger-post, where it can be installed, and the kind of materials used. Since the wide adoption of wide-format print, some forms of modular sign include a banner material for printing which is then attached to the rigid structure in different size and finish options. The aforementioned Eurostand Display and Eve Products both offer plenty of options here, with the latter's own Twist line providing, if required, a vast, flexible space for exhibition graphics between a sturdy framework. Eve also boasts the 'simple assembly' of the Twist, again a vital element in modular signage aimed at the layman in particular. Much like flat-packed furniture, if a trade show exhibitor can't get its display together and standing safely, it's worthless.

For modular exhibition graphics systems that have a certain lifespan, a degree of recyclability or waste management is also important. For outdoor signs, however, they have to be weather and vandalism resistant while, often, maintaining the ability to be altered after installation. Applelec's Totem frame range, for instance, features face panels that can be lifted out in order to change the graphics and also, importantly, to replace lighting components.

A choice of illumination is integral to outdoor signs, particularly as energy efficiency is growing in importance for sign buyers. The Totem is offered with Applelec's own LED Light Sheet product, fluorescent tubes or LED modules, while Universal Aluminium Systems's line-up includes a trough light system called Slimlight that features electronic ballasts to use 30 percent less electricity than conventional lighting. William Smith, meanwhile, also highlights the energy efficiency of its Luminedge units, and Vista System International has this month released a low-voltage LED illumination kit for its Vista Light range. For all these, simplicity to install is also emphasised. The fact that modular signage parts can be shipped more efficiently brings more eco-credentials and brings costs down – again, like flat-packed furniture.

The beauty of modular signage's flexibility means additional parts can be retrofitted to take advantage of advancements in the market without having to change the whole sign. For example, Signpost Solutions's Biker-Mate product, a polypropylene system made up of plastic 'pressload' modules to reduce initial kinetic energy when hit accidentally by a motorcyclist, is simple to fit to existing lampposts or signposts while increasing a victim's chances of survival significantly. Electronic signage can also be retrofitted, in some cases – Watchfire Signs's LED Price Watcher system can give petrol station operators the ability to change the prices of their fuel digitally. These examples also demonstrate the variety of modular signage: practical or informative, modern or traditional in appearance, for outdoor or indoor use, but always offering the greatest flexibility over other types of sign solution.