Visual Brand Language Warning Light Design

Federal Signal

The Best Light Designs Shine Through

Developing a Consistent and Visually Appealing Warning Light Design Langugage.

Challenge

Federal Signal was developing a new platform for its warning lights products used across warehousing, manufacturing, hospitality, and other industrial environments where people gather and may need to be alerted for emergencies. The challenge was creating a modular family of products with a cohesive Visual Brand Language (VBL) while preserving Federal Signal’s legacy of industrial safety products. This also meant using identical mounting points, light sizes, and capabilities that customers rely upon for installation and replacement equipment. The industrial design had to appeal to both end users and architects while remaining recognizably Federal Signal.

Process

Through extensive sketching and concept exploration, designers developed initial ideas for a modular system with universal mounting brackets, allowing multiple SKUs to work with common hardware and interconnect in various configurations. Our design process included detailed rendering and 3D modeling to visualize how the new VBL structures would communicate across the product family. These models helped us refine the design language and demonstrate to Federal Signal how different components would work together cohesively.

The design accommodated various shaped, sized, and colored lenses, plus accessories like metal cages for heavy-duty protection. Since these lights function as accessories within other environments, we prioritized timeless design that would seamlessly integrate across various settings without drawing unnecessary attention.

Impact

The new platform successfully modernized Federal Signal’s offering while preserving heritage elements crucial to customer loyalty. The modular design reduced manufacturing complexity through shared components and universal mounting solutions. The timeless aesthetic achieved broad market appeal, satisfying both practical users and design-conscious specifiers while strengthening Federal Signal’s brand presence in industrial safety.