When dealing with contractors and other Rutgers’ construction partners, Michael Randall, a Sr. Project Coordinator in IP&O’s Planning, Development, and Design (PD+D) group, noticed that Rutgers University’s Sign Standards Manual was not quite user friendly. The manual provides general guidelines and specific requirements for standardizing university signage. It is used by architectural and engineering consultants, contractors, and university staff involved in construction projects.

In 2019, Randall began trying to make incremental changes to the manual to improve it, but the manual contained about 1,000 pages, and this approach proved cumbersome. By 2024, the door opened to revise the manual in tandem with the update to the official Rutgers brand.

A consultant was engaged and conducted several interviews to determine how the manual was used. PD+D’s David Schulz, Vice President/University Architect; Laura Berman, Assistant Vice President; and Deborah Rubinsky, Architectural Support Coordinator, served on the project’s steering committee.

The result is a new sign standards manual with far fewer pages—approximately 250—and it contains the new Rutgers design standards, and standardization of print and construction surface Pantone colors.

“Pantone 186, the standard Rutgers red, does not look the same on different construction surfaces like wood, metal, or laminate,” explained Randall. “We worked with University Communications and Marketing (UCM) and tested similar red colors on different surfaces.” Randall and the team at UCM developed the official signage brand Pantone, 1805C.

In addition to aligning the Pantone colors, the new manual is easier to use, features better graphical placement, is more navigable, and each page links to the appendix for convenience.

“The terms we use have been simplified. The people who work with us to make our signs don’t need long explanations or an overly detailed manual,” Randall explained.

The new manual will receive periodic updates to ensure its continued functionality and relevance to the university’s needs.

The new manual is posted on the IP&O website. Anyone in the university community in need of signage and has identified a funding source may contact PD+D by completing a Project Request Form.

See the signage examples from the Signage & Wayfinding Quick Guide below:

Exterior Signage

Interior Signage

Featured in the IP&O Newsletter, October 2025.