If you want your business to be successful, you have to make sales. And if you want to make sales, you have to attract customers. While there are a number of ways to do this, one of the most effective is to establish an attractive business sign.
But making an attractive business sign isn’t easy, especially if you have no experience in doing so. As such, before beginning the task, you’re advised to read up on some design tips.
Looking for some tips right now? Then read on. Here’s what you need to know about business sign design.
Relate It to Your Brand
When it comes to marketing of any kind, your brand is of utmost importance. Your brand is your business’s identity. It’s vital in establishing familiarity between your business and potential customers.
As such, when designing a business sign, you need to relate it to your brand. This means using brand-specific colors, brand-specific logos, and a brand-specific style of copy.
Yet to build a brand? Then you shouldn’t be making a sign. Brush up on the specifics of branding first. Then, once your brand has been established, you can move onto designing a sign.
Utilize Color Contrasts
Your sign shouldn’t just be informational in nature. It needs to be eye-catching as well. If it’s not eye-catching, it won’t draw anyone in, and won’t result in any sales.
The question is: how do you make a business sign that catches the eye? One of the biggest keys is to use colors that contrast.
Ideally, you’ll have chosen contrasting colors during the branding process. However, if you didn’t, you can still make this work. You’ll just have to contrast your brand colors with white or black instead.
Let’s say that your brand colors are blue and purple, for example. You could make them contrast by placing purple letters over a white background. Then, you could add blue accents to different portions of the sign.
The purple letters would pop right out of the white background and the blue accents would still allow you to incorporate your brand in its entirety. Another option is to use a purple background, and then add white letters lined with blue borders, for example.
Keep the Writing to a Minimum
When a person passes a business sign, he or she typically only has a chance to take a small glance at it. As such, if the sign contains a great number of words, there’s very little chance of it being read in its entirety.
This is why you need to keep the amount of writing on your sign to a minimum. The fewer words it contains, the greater chance it has of being read by passersby.
Unless you’re McDonald’s or some other nationally-known business, the name of your business probably won’t be enough. So, in addition to your business name, you’ll also want to add the type of business that it is. For instance, underneath the name of your business, your sign could be labeled “Bar and Grill” or “Pizzeria” or “Logistics” or any other label that indicates the purpose of your business.
But apart from this, it’s not wise to add any additional writing to your sign. Keep it short, keep it succinct, and make sure that it can be read in the time that it takes a car to pass by it.
Use Simple Fonts
There are thousands of fonts out there, some of which are clear and easy to read, and some of which are wild and borderline illegible. One of the biggest mistakes that individuals make when adding writing to a sign is using the former.
After all, the entire point of a business sign is to draw in the reader. If it’s difficult to read, there’s very little chance of the reader being drawn in.
As such, when adding writing to your sign, you should be using simple fonts. These fonts include but aren’t limited to Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman, and Alegreya, to name just a few.
Avoid Clutter
When it comes to designing an attractive business sign, you can usually lean on the idea of “less is more”. This is true not only in terms of writing but in terms of aesthetics as well.
If the sign is so loaded with symbols and accents that it’s void of blank space, it’s going to be overwhelming for those that are looking at it. And instead of imprinting itself on the viewer’s brain, it’s going to be lost in the recesses of his or her mind.
As such, when creating a sign for your business, you need to avoid clutter as much as possible. Think clean lines, big shapes, and open space.
Make It Big
When it comes to the size of your sign, you should always err on the side of “too big”. After all, a sign that’s the size of your building is much more likely to be seen than is a size that’s the size of a piece of paper. And, in truth, getting your sign seen is half the battle.
While you’re at it, make sure the sign is in an easily visible area. This will likely require you to put it out in the elements. And don’t worry about your sign being ruined: there are substances available that are capable of waterproofing outdoor signs, ensuring that they don’t succumb to rain, snow and other forms of precipitation.
Time To Take Advantage of These Business Sign Design Tips
And there they are, the top tips for business sign design. If you want to create a sign that attracts customers, these tips must be followed. Get the sign right and you’ll soon be rolling in new customers.
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