Twitter Rebrand Stalled Due To Permit Violations.
In June, ‘X Corp.’ (Twitter’s new brand name), got itself into hot water with local authorities in the city of San Francisco due to a rebrand of their head office.
Police arrived to stop sign engineers during the removal of the old Twitter signs, which was taking place overnight. The reasons for this:- that the correct permits for removal and road closures had not applied for, and the building’s owner had not been notified of the removal.
This led to the signs only having been half removed by morning, which not only looked an eyesore, but also made international news, which was not good for the brand.
Just a week after this, the City of San Francisco Building Inspector was back to reprimand the company on installation of an illuminated, flashing sign, which again had been installed without a permit. The sign had to be removed due to concerns of structural safety and illumination, at further cost to X Corp. Such removal would normally also require a permit, but it was carried out immediately due to safety concerns.
All of this was bad press for the company, and should serve as a cautionary tale to any other companies looking to rebrand their signs.
Getting Signage Rebrand Permissions Right, From The Start.
So, what do you need to know about rebranding signs with correct permissions and permits?
Firstly, you do not need to go for planning for temporary signs, or non-illuminated signs under 300mm squared.
Other than that, any changes to the colour, logo, shape, size or illumination will need planning permission. Planning will ask for elevation drawings of the new signs to scale, with sizes and heights marked and scale and north point clearly shown. Sign construction and fixing methods will need to be shown. A planning application and fee will need to be sent to the local authority, with plenty of time to allow for approval before signs are fitted.
Building owners and landlords should also be notified, they may also have their own approval process for the new signs.
Finally, there will be additional permits and fees if a sign installation is being fitted on a busy pavement, requires a road closure, or is taking place within a train station or on a tram route.
Here at Geetee Signs, we have all the expertise to make sure your sign rebrand rollout goes as quickly and smoothly as possible. If you are a high street brand planning a rebrand, please get in touch.