Designing a Sign: 5 Effective Attention Getters You Should Know

You have great products or services to offer. You spend considerable money on signage to promote your business. You expect your signs to bring in customers.  But for some reason you are not getting the footfalls you expected. That means your signs are not getting the attention they should. Consider starting all over again. When you do so, keep these critical attention-getting factors in mind.

 

Conceptualizing

Spend time conceptualizing your sign. Go around your locality (and beyond if possible) looking at billboards, marketing ads, movies posters and business signs. Remember the design and presentation features that appeal to you and are relevant for your business market. Spend time looking at the signs your competitors use. What can you learn from them in terms of design, presentation, size and location? What modifications will make these ideas more relevant to your business? Even if you can’t draw, try sketching out ideas on paper. It helps to clarify your thoughts and to decide on what you can use and what you cannot.

Grabbing Eyeballs

A sign must not just communicate information. It must present it in a manner that it stays in the mind of the reader. Some people may come to you on the spur of the moment, but others may plan to visit later. If your sign is not memorable enough, they will forget and never get around to coming to you. Creating visual interest is the key to grabbing eyeballs and mind space.

Find the Right Size

Keep the size of the sign and the design in mind. Cram too much information in a small sign and reading it becomes a tedious effort that people will not be interested inmaking. A great design and color scheme stuffed into a small space loses its appeal. It becomes an unwanted distraction. Limit the content of the sign to only what is essential. Use colors and designs to support, not to detract from the message. Remember, ‘big’ is not always best: a small sign that stands out from all the big ones around will catch the eye simply because it is different.

Choosing Colors

Visual impact is greatly influenced by color. A bright colorful sign will attract attention. However, that does not mean your sign should look like a rainbow on steroids. Colors are most effective when they are used in unexpected ways. A picture of a black sky with a white sun will attract more attention than one with the usual blue sky and yellow sun. Remember that minimal color use and monochrome can also be very effective.

Finding the Right Typeface

Use a typeface that is relevant to your business. A “Ye Olde” look will not work if you are selling computers. And play with type sizes to highlight important words with stronger/larger typefaces.

Your signs shoud get the attention worth the investment you make. A professional signage company will have the experience and expertise to make effective signs that will bring in customers and add to your bottom line.

Using the right colors for your Signs

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.” - Georgia O'Keeffe.

Do you know why inkblots, colors, shapes and sounds play such an important role in psychology? It’s because the human mind reacts instinctively to them and this subconscious reaction affects conscious decisions, choices and actions. Colors can influence a potential customer’s purchase decisions because they are influenced by the colors they see in advertising promotions. That is why large corporations spend vast amounts of money researching how they can use colors to increase their sales. As a small business, you can’t afford to do this. But following a few basic rules in the choice of colors used in your signage can make your business or retail establishment more appealing to the people who see it.

Use the right combinations

The key element of an effective sign is visibility. Using the right color combinations can enhance this. Using contrasting colors – a light colored font on a dark background or vice versa – will make the sign stand out and catch the eye. Keep the background simple and go easy on the graphics – these may look nice but they can distract from the message that the sign is meant to convey. Keep the fonts simple and legible and do not try to cram too much information in a limited space. If reading a sign becomes an effort, people will stop reading before they finish absorbing the information on it.

Choose the colors carefully

You may have color combinations you are partial to or those that are associated with your business. These may be the ones that you want to use on your signs. While doing this, keep the following common psychological reactions to colors in mind and modify your color usage accordingly:-

• Warm colors tend to make people feel more relaxed. If you want customers to spend more time in your office, shop or restaurant, use a palette of colors that includes reds, oranges and yellows.
• If you want your sign to immediately attract eyeballs, yellow is among the best options.
• The signature color for your business that you use in your signage should be appropriate for the commercial activity you are engaged in. For example hot pink will not work for a hardware store. That being said, electric greens, strong reds, bright pinks and blues are among the most attention grabbing colors.
• If your sign aims to convey professionalism and elegance, black on white is always a good option.

Colors that Corporates use

• Yellow is associated with “happy feelings.” That is why McDonalds uses it.
• Blue is associated with confidence. That is why IBM uses it.
• Pink is a feminine color which is why Victoria’s Secret uses it.
• Orange denotes joy so Dunkin Donuts uses it.
• Purple is for fun, mystery and wisdom so Hallmark uses it to indicate what their cards convey.
• Green is associated with health so many health related companies use this color.

While colors are important, so too are the type of signs used for a specific application - the size, the materials, the fonts, locations, etc. You know your business best, but signage is a specialized field where you may not have the knowledge required to ensure that your signs are as effective as possible. The right way to maximize the effectiveness of your signs is to have them made by a professional signage company that will understand the complexities and combine their expertise with your inputs and preferences to create signs that work for you.

4 Rules for Effective Signs

Signs are among the most effective ways of increasing business volumes. They not only tell people where you are and what your business is, they also provide reasons why the people reading them should give their business to you. Because they are so cost effective and long lasting, your competition is probably using them too. So how do you make your signs stand out from the pack and ensure that they are the most effective?

Here are the 4 key factors in creating effective signs:

1. The sign should be easily visible, even from a distance. That requires the colors, lettering and the background do not clash and that the text stands out and is easy to read. The font should also be clear and legible. The thumb rule in regard to font size is that 1 inch of letter height is required for every 10 feet of reading distance. In other words, it is important not to clutter up a sign with excess verbiage. Trying to fit too much information in a small space can backfire as it becomes too difficult for the viewer to read it.  If graphics or pictures are being used in the sign, it must be ensured that they do not overshadow the text, which is where the important information is.


2. The content of the sign should be organized in a way that it conveys the intended message. Bold typefaces, larger fonts and colors should be used to highlight key words and phrases. If a sign contains more than one concept or message, these should be grouped in a logical manner with the layout and spacing such that each message/issue makes sense both on its own and as part of a whole.  As already stated, care must be taken not to put too much information in one sign so that reading it does not become such an effort for the viewer that he/she gives up half way through. Ideally, a sign should convey one message in a clear and memorable manner.


3. There should be some design elements (shape, color, lighting, etc.) that will make the sign stand out from those around it. Changeable components, an unusual design and motion are a few of the ways to ensure this.


4. The type of font used is very important. It should match the image of the business and product that the sign is for. A highly ornate font may look attractive, but would it be right for something like a hardware store. Or would a simple, more businesslike font be more in line with the products? 
   
   You know your business best. But you are probably not an expert in the specialized field of using signs to enhance your business. That is why contacting a professional sign making company to design and create your signs is very important. They will be able to provide you with options that a lay person in signage may not be aware of. For example, a certain style or type of sign may be more effective for some applications than for others. Or some types of signs may work better at some locations. Signs can be the most cost effective way of promoting your business and increasing sales, but only if they are used properly. A professional signage company will ensure that you get the maximum return on your investment.

Rules for Retail Signage

In any retail establishment, the signs are the salespeople that are on the job from the moment the doors open till they close. Signs never take a break, never get tired and irritable and never give out conflicting information. If you own or manage a store, your focus is on getting customers to come in, telling them what is available, where the items can be found, alerting them to bargains and informing them about new products. This is what signs do, 24/7. By keeping a few simple guidelines in mind, you can use signs to increase sales and provide customers with an improved shopping experience.

Entrance Signs

A clean and well maintained sign at the entrance creates a positive impression in the mind of the customer. More than just telling him or her who or what you are, it should create anticipation about what is available inside. A positive slogan or catch phrase will arouse curiosity and expectations. And an interchangeable element that allows you to inform them about special offers or discounts will increase their expectations of having a positive shopping experience.

Floor / Department Signs

Large signs that indicate what is available where will make it easy for people to find what they are looking for. Everyone is in a rush these days and enabling people to get directly to where they want to go improves their shopping experience and their impression of being in an efficient establishment. Adding a little about what is available in each department without cluttering it up improves the sign’s effect. For example, if the store sells both home improvement and gardening supplies, adding a few products under each sign will save people time. If they know that hoses are in the gardening department, they will not have to waste time going to the home improvement section.

Directional Signs

Finding the products they want is the main part of offering your customer a good shopping experience, but not all of it. They need to know where to find the restrooms, the cash registers, where free samples are on offer, where they can go for help and so on. This is where directional signs are important. A simple arrow, with a few descriptive words, hung high enough to be seen from anywhere in the store, will serve this purpose. If need be, this can be supplemented by a few extra words such as “Refunds – At the Rear to the Left.”

Special Services

Customers need to know about any specials services you offer. For example, if you sell bulky products they cannot take home in their cars, and offer a delivery service, signs near these products that say “Delivery Service Available” tell people about the extra benefits of buying from you.

Size is Important

Signs should be large enough for a customer to read without a problem, but not so large that they overshadow the products on sale. A thumb rule is that the lettering is 1 inch high for every 10 feet of distance from which it should be readable. In other words, if a sign has 3 inch high letters, it will be readable from 30 feet away.

Warning and Negative Signs

Warnings about shoplifting, penalties, surveillance etc. are essential and in some cases mandatory. However, their use should be controlled so that customers in the store, who are not going to cause problems, are not put off into thinking that they are automatically suspects.

Designing and creating effective signs is both a science and an art. Certain types of signs are most effective in certain locations and for specific applications. The look of the sign is critical to the way it attracts customers to what is waiting for them. A professional signage company will be able to work with you to design and create the signs that will add to the appeal of your store and the products on offer.

Creating Signs That Sell

People rarely, if ever, will actually think about the signs that they see. Whether it is in the background on TV, in a super market, while driving down the road or at a sporting event, signs are always around. So if people do not remember the signs, are they of any use at all?

As a matter of fact, they are.

If they were not, why would signage be such a major part of the multibillion dollar advertising and marketing industry? The fact is that the conscious mind will store information that is relevant to its experience, expectations and environment. For an individual, this is only a very small fraction of the information that is presented to him or her every day. That does not mean that the rest of it is all junk. The mind also operates at the subconscious level and here, it has an enormous ability to accumulate data. This may lie idle for a long time, but with the right stimulus, it rises to the conscious level and influences the decisions we make.

How It Works

Let’s say that you are at a ball game. Somewhere in the huge stadium your eyes see a sign for a pest control service. You do not have and maybe never had a pest problem till date. Our conscious mind sees the sign and moves on. But your unconscious mind stores the information away for future use, should it be needed. Then one day, perhaps months later, you see a cockroach in your home. Your subconscious recalls the pest control sign and brings it to your conscious mind. That influences your decision on what to do next – call in a pest control service.

But it’s not quite that simple. Over the years you may have seen a lot of pest control company signs. The majority of them forms a big jumble with no specific details or influence on who you should contact. But there may be 1 or 2 that stand out from the rest. These are the signs that will cue the conscious mind towards a specific course of action – a pest control company that can be contacted to deal with the problem. These are the signs that sell.

What Makes A Sign That Sells?

An effective sign needs to convey a message that will touch an emotion or nerve. When the need for the product or service that the sign sells arises, the signs that touched a nerve will again prod you to take a specific action. For example, a sign asking you to vote for Tom Jones will be relegated to the bottom of your subconscious. But a sign asking you to vote for John Smith who will fight to lower your taxes is another matter. The taxes you pay are important to you and when the time comes to vote, and taxes are a major concern, you will think of John Smith. That sign connected with your concerns and needs and for Mr. Smith, is a sign that sells.

A successful sign has to project an emotion that the viewer can identify with – humor is a good example. Emotions influence even the most rational of decisions and an emotional link to a sign affects the decision. In a world of information overload, a sign that merely conveys information is not enough. A sign that connects to the viewer is one that brings him to your business.

The best way to promote your business with signs that sell is to use the services of a professional experienced sign maker who will be able to work with you to create signs that will make your business grow.