Bayan Signage designs and builds campus map signs for schools, universities and training campuses from its factory in Ajman. We redraw your site plan into a map visitors can read in seconds, orient every board to the direction its reader faces, and fabricate frames with slide-out panels, backed by a 5-year warranty outdoors.
A campus map sign is a large, simplified plan of a school or university site, mounted where people make decisions: inside the main gate, beside visitor parking, outside admissions and at path junctions. A good one shows only what a visitor needs, buildings by name and letter, entrances, accessible routes, toilets, prayer rooms, drop-off and assembly points, with a clear you-are-here marker. Spread-out university campuses, school groups that have added a nursery or sports complex, and training institutes all benefit, because a readable map takes pressure off security at the gate.
The difference between a useful map and a decorative one is design, not size. The architect's site plan, scaled down, shows car park lines and every tree but not the way to the sports hall. North-up on every board forces visitors facing south to rotate the map in their head. Our designers redraw the site for wayfinding, rotate each board's map so ahead is up, and our factory builds frames with panels that can be swapped when the campus grows.
Bayan Signage is the production arm of Bayan Advertising, with 15 years in the UAE market, and we have fabricated signs at our Ajman factory since 2016. Map boards bring together several of our in-house trades: designers who lay out the bilingual map, large-format UV printing, CNC-cut aluminium and galvanised steel frames, powder coating and installation crews who set foundations. Outdoor boards carry our 5-year warranty on finish and structure.
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Most campuses use one freestanding format at gates and junctions and a wall-mounted version in lobbies. These are the options, with pages for each.
Twin-post freestanding boards with a slide-out map panel, oriented for each location. The standard choice for gates, car parks and path junctions.
View details →Single-sided or double-sided totems with the school identity above a map or building directory, for main entrances and admissions.
View details →Fingerposts and blade signs along paths that confirm the route the map has shown, so visitors do not have to return to the board.
View details →Green bilingual assembly point signs at the locations marked on every campus map, using the same symbols as your evacuation plans.
View details →For large university lobbies, a searchable map on a touchscreen kiosk that we supply, install and integrate alongside the printed boards outside.
View details →We walk the campus from every visitor entrance, mark decision points and check sun direction, planting and buried services at each proposed board. Surveys are free in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.
Our designers redraw the site plan into a simplified map, with buildings lettered, accessible routes and assembly points marked, then rotate a separate version for each board location.
Arabic and English labels are set together, checked against official building names, and proofed at full size so your team can test readability before printing.
Map panels are UV-printed on ACP and laminated against sun and graffiti. Frames are cut, welded and powder-coated in-house, with a channel that lets two people swap the panel.
Our crew sets concrete footings with cast-in anchors or bolts to existing slabs, after checking for cables and irrigation, then plumbs the board and fits the panel.
We keep the editable map files, so when a new block opens we print updated panels for every board, each still oriented to its own location.
This is our standard outdoor freestanding board. We adapt it to your brand, ground conditions and how often the campus changes, and itemise every option.
| Component | Our standard | Upgrade options | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map panel | 3 mm ACP, UV print, UV and anti-graffiti laminate | Exterior compact laminate, illuminated film | Light backgrounds with dark text keep their contrast far longer in UAE sun. |
| Cover | None, laminated face | 3 to 4 mm UV-stabilised polycarbonate in lockable frame | Glazing protects against vandalism but reflects sunlight, so we only add it where needed. |
| Frame | Powder-coated aluminium with top-loading channel | Fabricated steel with branded header | A swappable panel turns a campus change into a printing job. |
| Posts | Aluminium or galvanised steel box section | Clad totem body in ACP | Sized for the panel area and wind load, with the map at reading height. |
| Foundation | Concrete footing with cast-in anchor bolts | Base plate bolted to existing slab | A correctly sized footing keeps the board plumb through shamal winds. |
| Illumination | Non-illuminated | LED backlit map for evening use | Only boards used after dark justify the cost of bringing power to them. |
Most map boards fail for reasons that have nothing to do with fabrication. These are the design decisions that matter most.
A visitor facing south who reads a north-up map has to turn it round in their head, and most people cannot do that quickly. We orient each board's map so the direction the reader faces is up, add a small north arrow, and treat each location as its own artwork. Five boards means five versions of the map, not one printed five times.
Visitors understand five minutes to the sports hall far better than 400 m. We add walking times between the main points, mark lifts, ramps and level entrances with one consistent symbol, and make the you-are-here marker large and in a colour that appears nowhere else on the map.
Maps are read standing still from 1 to 2 m, so legibility depends on simplification and label size, not overall board size. A 900 x 1,200 mm panel suits most schools. Keep labels at least 20 to 25 mm high and the bottom of the map at least 800 mm above ground so planting never hides it.
South and west-facing boards take intense UV most of the year, and dark, saturated maps fade first. Where we can, we place boards under tree cover or a canopy and design on a light background with UV-resistant inks and laminate. That choice alone often doubles the time before a map looks tired.
Campuses grow. We leave space on the map for planned phases and design the frame so the panel slides out. When a new block opens, you order updated panels from the files we keep, and the structures stay in the ground.
We price from the number of boards, their size and the site. Send your site plan, the locations you have in mind and a few photos, and we will usually send an itemised quote within 24 hours.
Each location needs its own oriented map, so every extra board adds design time for a new version as well as one more frame and foundation.
Redrawing a complex university site with many bilingual building names takes far longer than simplifying a compact school with five blocks.
Larger panels, exterior compact laminate and lockable polycarbonate covers all cost more than our standard laminated ACP face.
Simple twin posts are the most economical. Clad totems, branded headers and custom shapes add fabrication, welding and powder coating time.
Soft ground, existing slabs, buried services or hard landscaping change the footing design and the time our crew needs on site.
Backlit boards need LED assembly, drivers and a power supply to each location, which can mean trenching across landscaped areas.
Boards inside a private campus usually follow the institution's own rules and do not need a municipality permit. Campuses in free zones, master communities or leased sites may need landlord or authority approval, especially for structures near boundaries or roads. Our draftsmen prepare the drawings if a submission is needed, and we confirm the requirement for your site.
Civil Defence requirements typically expect assembly points and evacuation routes to be clearly identified on a campus, so we show assembly points on every map using the same symbols as your evacuation plans. Accessible routes follow the principles of the Dubai Universal Design Code where it applies. Requirements vary, so we check them at the survey.
Map design, large-format UV printing, frame welding and powder coating happen at our Ajman factory, so one team owns the result.
Outdoor boards are covered for 5 years on finish and structure, with a warranty document at handover.
We keep the editable map files and design swappable panels, so a new building means new prints, not new structures.
Arabic and English labels are set together and checked against official building names, so maps match every other campus sign.
Our crews set foundations and install boards in all seven emirates, from Abu Dhabi university campuses to schools in Ras Al Khaimah.
Education groups, national retail groups and international brands rely on our factory, and most of our work comes from repeat clients.
It depends on the number of boards, map design complexity, panel size, structure and foundations, and whether boards are lit. A set of laminated twin-post boards costs much less than illuminated branded totems. Send the site plan and proposed locations for an itemised quote, usually within 24 hours.
Most school campus maps work at around 900 x 1,200 mm, while large universities may use 1,200 x 1,800 mm. People read maps standing close, so simplified design and label size matter more than overall size. We recommend sizes after seeing the site plan and the locations.
Whenever buildings, entrances, parking or assembly points change, and checked at least once a year. Growing campuses often update every year or two. Because we design most boards with slide-out panels and keep the artwork, an update is a printing job rather than new fabrication.
Only if it is used after dark, for example near residences, sports facilities or event entrances. Illumination needs power at each location, which can mean trenching. For daytime school use, a well-placed board under existing site lighting is usually enough and far cheaper to run.
Yes, and we recommend it. Showing assembly points on every map helps visitors who never took part in a drill. The locations come from your approved emergency plan, and we use the same symbols as your evacuation plans inside the buildings.
In the UAE they almost always should. Building names, facility labels and headings are bilingual, and many institutions have official Arabic names for their buildings. We design both scripts into the map from the start, because Arabic labels take different space and cannot be squeezed in later.
The aluminium or galvanised structure typically lasts many years, and outdoor boards carry our 5-year warranty on finish and structure. The printed map fades first, especially facing south or west. With UV laminate and a light design, panels usually stay legible for several years and are simple to replace.
Send your logo, the fascia size and a site photo. Our estimating team replies with options and an itemised price, usually within 24 hours.