Main signage

The external signage at the front of NHS buildings is very important. It is the first thing that people see when arriving to access services and facilities. 

Front-of-house signage

Your main front-of-house signage must carry the NHS logo. The NHS logo, or your logotype, should be situated in the top right-hand corner of your signage panel. If necessary, you can leave off your organisation name, as shown here.

Using the national NHS logo or your local logotype

Wherever possible, you should use your organisation’s logotype on your external signage. If your signage is shared with another NHS organisation, or if you are part of a non-statutory organisation, you should use the national NHS logo instead.

If you belong to a statutory organisation, but for some reason you have to use the NHS logo on its own, you must ensure that your full organisational name appears somewhere on your signage. This is to demonstrate your accountability and ownership.

Your NHS logotype

When reproducing your NHS logotype on signage, you should use NHS Blue (Pantone® 300) and black.

If the panel is generic (e.g. option 1) and only contains your logotype, the panel should be all white. If the signage is directional, or contains text in addition to your organisation name, the panel should be divided into two parts.

On the top part of the panel you should set your logotype against a white background. Your directions or other messages should appear in white text using Frutiger Bold on an NHS Blue (Pantone® 300) background (e.g. option 2).

The lower panel, if it is colour-coded, such as in option 3, then chose a suitable colour from the NHS colour palette. Match all coloured panels as closely as possible to the NHS colour palette.

Option 3: Colour-coded panels

Other signage examples

Exclusion zone

When applying the NHS brand to your main signage, you must ensure that your NHS logotype, or the NHS logo, is set within its exclusion zone.

The exclusion zone is the clear area around the NHS logo/your logotype in which nothing else should appear. It helps to ensure clarity and readability and improve overall impact. You must not insert any additional words, images or graphic details within the exclusion zone.

This clear space (X) is proportional and defined as the height of the NHS logo.

The exclusion zone

Corporate typeface

You must use the NHS corporate typeface, Frutiger Bold, on all signage that you create. For more information about NHS typefaces, visit our main typeface section.

Colour

You should reproduce the NHS logo in NHS Blue, or its nearest match, on all signage. The best paint colour reference for NHS Blue (Pantone® 300) is BSI 18E53. The best RAL match (a colour specifier for paints, powder coatings and gels) is 5017.

Using the NHS logo on glass

If you are using the NHS logo on a clear background – such as a pane of glass – you should reproduce the NHS lettering in white. The only time this lettering can be clear is when the NHS logo is etched into the glass.

Last updated: 22/05/08