Two-sided footpath signs, also called sandwich boards, in the sizes most frames take. We print the panels in Ravenhall, supply a frame to suit, and say which type stays upright outside.
An A-frame is two faces hinged at the top so the sign stands on its own without being fixed to anything. That portability is the whole point. It goes out when you open, comes in when you close, and moves to wherever the foot traffic actually is that day. Both faces print, so the sign works for people walking in either direction.
Made by Melbourne Trade Signs, a large-format print and signage company on Unit 6/43 Orbis Drive, Ravenhall VIC 3023, in Melbourne’s west. Printed in-house and installed Australia-wide. Phone 0415 743 691.
The honest weakness is wind. A sign is a sail, and a light frame on an exposed corner ends up on its side or in the traffic lane. Frames with a fillable base solve most of it, since water or sand sits low where the weight does most good. Metal frames start heavier but still want ballast on a bad day.
Footpath trading is regulated by local councils, and rules on placement, permits, size and how much clear path you must leave differ between municipalities. Check with your own council before settling on a size. We print panels and supply frames from Ravenhall with no minimum order, so a single cafe board and a set for twenty sites are both normal jobs.
The frame decides how the sign behaves outdoors and how fast you can change what it says. These are the types we deal with, and where each belongs.
| Frame | Weighting | Panel held by | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic, water base | Water or sand in the base | Snap-shut lens over a printed sheet | Footpath trading, markets, retail |
| Aluminium snap frame | Own weight, sandbags outdoors | Hinged edges, poster behind a lens | Foyers, sheltered entries, indoors |
| Powder-coated steel | Heavy enough in light wind | Slide-in channel or bolted panel | Car parks and sites |
| Timber or chalkboard | Own weight, usually plenty | Fixed face, written in chalk pen | Venues changing the message daily |
| Panel only | Not applicable | Your existing frame or channel | Replacing a faded insert |
Measure the visible opening of your frame, not the outside, because the lens usually covers 10 to 15 mm all round. A photo with a tape measure across it is enough.
How often the message changes should drive what you buy. A board saying one thing all year wants a different build to one changing with the lunch special.
Spring-loaded edges flip open so a printed sheet drops in behind a clear lens in about ten seconds with no tools. Ideal where the message changes weekly, and the lens keeps rain and scuffing off the print.
A rigid printed panel slides into a channel or bolts to the frame. Fewer parts to break, no lens to yellow, and it reads more cleanly from a distance. Best where the message stays put for months.
A moulded frame with a hollow base filled on site. Water is easiest, sand holds better and will not leak or evaporate. We suggest it for most footpath work: the weight sits low and the frame is cheap.
Metal starts heavier, takes a knock without cracking, and lasts far longer outdoors. The trade-off is that it is harder for one staff member to carry out each morning, and it still tips in a gust.
A matt black face written on with liquid chalk pens, often with your logo printed permanently across the top. Venues favour it because the daily special costs nothing to change. Rain washes the writing off, so keep it under cover.
Corflute at 5 mm is the cheap, light option for panels that change often or take a beating. Aluminium composite costs more but stays flat, fades slower and handles full sun, which suits a board living outdoors.
The classic use. Coffee prices, the breakfast menu, an arrow pointing down a laneway. These boards get carried out at six in the morning and knocked about all day, so we push people towards a cheap replaceable insert in a properly ballasted frame rather than something precious that will be scratched inside a month and resented ever after.
Shops in strip retail use A-frames to pull people off the main path, especially where the shopfront sits back from the footpath or the signage above the awning is easy to miss at walking pace. Centre management usually has its own placement rules sitting on top of council requirements, so check both before committing to a size.
Builders, mechanics and equipment hire yards use heavy steel frames with bolted panels for entry directions, delivery instructions and site notices. They stay out in all weather, get shifted with a forklift rather than carried by hand, and need a panel that will not crack when it is inevitably dropped face down on the concrete.
Stallholders and short-run traders need something that folds flat into a car boot and still stands up in a paddock. A2 plastic frames with sand in the base do that job well enough. A couple of spare printed inserts let the same frame work at three different events over a season without paying for a reprint.
Panels get read at walking pace from a few metres away, usually at an angle. That should shape the design more than anything. Fewer words, bigger type, strong contrast.
Having no artwork yet is not a problem. Send your logo and the words you want, and we will lay both faces out and proof them back.
Panels are printed and cut here, so we are not waiting on a third party to fit your job into their week. Frames come from stock where we hold the size. Tell us the day the board has to be on the footpath and we will answer straight. Collect from Ravenhall, delivery Victoria-wide, freight interstate.
Very likely, and it is worth checking first. Footpath trading sits with local government, and each council sets its own rules on permits, placement and the clear path that must remain.
Rules differ between neighbouring municipalities, so what a mate does two suburbs over is no guide. Check your council footpath trading policy before ordering, because a permit condition may dictate the size.
Get the weight low. A frame with a fillable base holds sand or water at ground level, which does more good than the same mass sitting higher in a metal frame.
Sand beats water because it will not leak, slosh or evaporate. Angle the board so the faces are not square-on to the prevailing wind, and bring it in when the forecast is bad.
Snap frames win when the message changes often. Flip the four edges, drop in a new sheet, close it, and no tools are needed.
Fixed panels win on durability and looks. No lens to scratch or fog and no springs to fail. If your board says the same thing for six months, spend the money on the panel rather than the mechanism.
Yes, and it is one of the more common jobs we run. Measure the visible opening rather than the frame itself, or send a photo with a tape measure across it, and we work out the size.
If the original insert is still around, better again, since we can measure it directly. Keeping a decent frame and reprinting the panel is nearly always cheaper.
A1 for a footpath, A2 for a doorway or a tight path. Bigger reads from further away but catches more wind and eats more of the pedestrian route, which is what council rules control.
Check any maximum your council applies, then take the largest size that fits. Think about who carries it out, since an A0 steel frame with a full base is a two-person lift.
Some fading is inevitable on anything spending its days in Australian sun. How fast depends on hours of direct light and whether the print is protected.
A laminate slows it, and a snap frame lens does a similar job. Reds and strong blues shift first, so flag a brand colour that matters before we print. Most boards get reprinted well before that.
Still deciding? See our sign and banner sizes guide.
Fluted polypropylene sheet, the standard insert panel for footpath frames. Light, cheap enough to replace often, and printed both sides here in Ravenhall.
See the detail →Paper and synthetic posters for snap frames, light boxes and window displays, in the A-sizes and any custom format your frames happen to take.
See the detail →The indoor alternative when you want height rather than footpath presence. Sets up in under a minute and packs back into its own case.
See the detail →Browse the full list on our A–Z of everything we print, or see how this fits into signage in Melbourne.
Tell us the frame size, or send a photo of what you already own. Quote back within two business hours on weekdays.