About
Our story
Melbourne Architectural Signage Studio (MASS) is the expert signage design business of Univers.
Univers, a graphic design studio founded in 2001, formed MASS to provide complete signage projects, utilising our formidable signage expertise and fabrication and installation networks. Meanwhile, the Univers part of our business has evolved to focus on digital products and brands.
Clients including universities, schools, and all kinds of businesses, choose MASS to design and provide finished, installed signs because of our exceptional understanding of brand and architectural issues, legible wayfinding, and practical durability.
MASS provides a complete range of sign design and sign making services.
Why MASS?
MASS is your best option if you’re looking to work with sign designers who:
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Are focussed on excellent signage design, not overly long design processes
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Have practical experience with all kinds of signs and buildings
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Understand how architectural design communicates to building users
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Will go to great lengths to meet your deadlines
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Appreciate and can work with existing brand concepts
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Provide clear, reasonable costing for every project stage
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Communicate with your architect, building surveyor, DDA consultants, and others.
Joe Bland
Creative Director
I’ve been involved in signage and architectural graphic design since I was graphic design lead at international architecture firm, Woods Bagot, in the late 1990s. Wayfinding, signs and architectural graphic elements are a great opportunity to take the design and delivery of built world projects to new levels. I love working with architects, interior designers, and other clients to deliver on that opportunity.
We’re different
We believe that signage should support architecture to lift people’s spatial experiences.
To make this possible we developed a different approach to signage projects.
MASS
Not
Conceptual design
Expert sign designers lead projects from conception to post-installation.
Underdone by sign makers, or initiated by a generalist graphic designer, who sees each sign as a chance to make their big statement.
Wayfinding
A simple process to help people understand spaces, which respects the role of architects and the intelligence of users.
A wayfinding consultant telling you the architecture is all wrong, and can only be fixed with a scientific review and a raft of new sign drawings.
Fabrication
Great relationships with an outstanding group of specialists, selected for their suitability to each project. On-going review of progress and produced items.
Limited by capacity, or lack of good management; keeping non-expert skills in-house; trying to appear that all work is in-house.
Tender
Complete signage project services including design, documentation, fabrication and installation – there is no need to tender design and production separately.
Adding a layer of cost and management by tendering design and production separately, for relatively small contract sums, in a field which you may lack knowledge of.
Value
Careful, enduring and suitable design, craftsmanship and attention at an appropriate price.
Low value outcomes due to selection based on the biggest design promise or lowest production price.
Scale
Ideal for one-off medium to large projects, and small-scale repeat works.
Trying to do everything for everyone.
Quality
We are responsible for the signage throughout the project.
The designer claims the fabricator was wrong, the fabricator says it was the sub-contractor, the sub-contractor says it was the installer, the installer says it was the designer.
What we do
Exterior signage
Sky signs, highway pylons, building entry signage, street numbers, awning signs, light boxes, interpretive signs, plaques
Interior signage
Building directories, level directories, tenancy boards, interchangeable signs, reception signage, office signage, artwork plates, dedication boards
Base building signage
Regulatory signs, fire signs, statutory signage, toilet signs, Braille and tactile signs, glass safety decals
Wayfinding
Wayfinding strategy, signage planning, directional signs, signage hierarchy
Large format graphics
Wallpapers, murals, builders hoarding graphics, banners and flags, digital signage, printed and plain glass privacy film
Project strategy
Use assessments, signage audits, bespoke sign system design, signage guidelines, sign system documentation
All our planning, design, and project management work is done in our Melbourne studio.
We have great, long term relationships with a range of sign printers, fabricators, installers and other trades, who we partner with to deliver finished signs of the highest standard.