Business signs help communicate to customers what your company is and what it offers, especially when you are just starting, and people are not yet familiar with your brand. You can use signs to cascade messages about your company, persuade your customers to make decisions, and help you build brand awareness. They can also enable you to reach your target audience, attract new customers, improve the overall appearance of your business, and increase your visibility in the community.
With all these benefits, business signs can become a cost-effective tool for you to market and advertise your business. Aside from the initial production and installation costs, there are no other major expenses besides routine maintenance, which is necessary to keep your business signs in good condition. Having well-kept and professional-looking signs will then help you to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
But while it is possible for your business sign to contribute to your company’s growth, not all business signs can give you this result. A sign must be well-planned and well-executed in order to do what it is supposed to. If you want your sign to bring benefits to your business, follow these key designs elements and strategies:
1. Make Sure It Reflects Your Brand’s Identity And Message
Remember that your sign is often the first interaction potential customers have with your business, which is why investing in a high-quality and well-designed sign is essential for building brand recognition and attracting customers. Aside from this, your sign is an extension of your brand and should reflect your brand’s personality, values, and aesthetic, such as the colors, font, and creative style used in the layout.
However, don’t get carried away with your creativity when planning the design. A good sign should be simple and easy to understand and clearly communicates what you do in just a few words. To achieve this, you need to make sure that the main message of your sign is understandable and that it stands out from everything else in the material. Ideally, there should only be one central message or image per sign, so it’s better to get two or more different signs if you have several messages that you want to send out to your customers.
2. Use A Bold And Readable Font
Your sign faces must be easily readable from a distance and at different angles, so the font type, font size, and font color should be carefully selected to ensure maximum legibility. Avoid tiny font sizes that blur together into illegible blobs of black ink on a white background, and instead, use bold fonts that are easy to grasp while ensuring that the words do not overlap on the layout.
Do not clutter the design with too much information or visual elements that might confuse or distract potential customers. Ultimately, if people can’t understand what they’re seeing while driving by, there’s no point in having a sign.
3. Choose Contrasting Colors That Attract Attention
Use contrasting colors for any text with a colored background so that it stands out in the design and does not blend in with the rest of the layout. This is especially important when your business sign is placed in an area where there are other bright lights nearby, like street lamps or store windows with fluorescent lighting behind them, which can affect the readability of your material.
Choose a color scheme that’s easy to read but stands out enough to grab attention. Bright and bold colors like red, orange, and yellow can make your sign more visible from a distance, but they must be used with caution because they can look overwhelming if not properly balanced. High-contrast combinations like black and white or blue and white can be effective as well.
4. Include Relevant Information About Your Business
A well-crafted business sign should display essential information such as your brand name and logo, company website and contact information, physical address, operating hours, and the type of products and services that you offer. You can also use this space to announce limited-time offers, discounts, or upcoming events to draw attention and encourage customers to visit your business.
Having your phone number on the business sign allows potential customers to contact you with inquiries or to schedule appointments. Meanwhile, adding your website encourages customers to visit your online platform to learn more about your products or services, read customer reviews, and stay updated on any promotions or events. However, too much information can be overwhelming and could detract from the sign’s effectiveness, so you must prioritize and include only the essential details that would effectively represent your business and be able to attract potential customers.
5. Make It Visible And Easily Identifiable
A business sign that customers cannot see or notice would not benefit your company, so you have to find ways to make it visible and easily identifiable. Firstly, you should place your business sign in a prominent location where it is obvious to passers-by, such as your storefront, on the building facade, or on a roadside with high traffic. Then consider the height, distance from the road, and surrounding environment to ensure it is not blocked from any angle.
If your business is open late or is located in a relatively dim area, add lighting to your sign to make it noticeable at night time. You can place lights around the sign, use backlighting, or put spotlights to enhance its visibility, enabling it to stand out in dark and low-light conditions. Finally, a dirty or damaged sign can be difficult to read and would detract from your brand’s professional image, so make sure that your business signs are cleaned and maintained at regular intervals.
