Business Signs 101: Everything You Need to Know About Signs for Business
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Writing a Business Signs 101 guide is a huge undertaking. Our goal is to give you just about everything you need to know about signs for business. When we stop and think about it, we see signage every day. From the coffee shop that we get our morning brew from to the restaurants we frequent, signs are essential to business.
You’ve probably observed that some signs stand out and others are almost unnoticed. Worst, some are simply not designed well and hence distract from their mission. Do you own a business with a storefront? Then you definitely need signage of some kind. In fact, many of the most successful businesses use multiple signs in different designs. For instance, we’ve all become more aware of social distancing. In many stores and shops, floor decals have become the norm. We might not think of it, but those are indeed signs! Signage performs a number of functions. Let’s learn why your business needs a sign.
Why Do I Need a Sign?
Simply put: you need a sign so that your business will be seen. Signs help customers find your business. When you are surrounded by other businesses, a sign can be one of the easiest ways for people to find your business. Our first impulse in 2021 is to think: ‘How I find a business is with Google’. That’s true, but one study suggests that 49.7% of customers have driven right past a business because their sign was not clearly seen.
A well-designed sign is also one of the cheapest ways to advertise your business and showcase your brand. Once it is designed, your sign becomes a key part of your marketing strategy. It can work for you every single day. Signs also help to create impulse buys. Another study noted that up to ⅓ of shoppers readily admit to purchasing at a business solely because of a compelling sign. All of these are great reasons to invest in good signs for your business.
How Do I Design a Good Sign?
There are 3 elements to good sign design. Since you want your signage to be a reflection of your brand, it’s important to incorporate your brand identity clearly in your sign design. The following 3 elements work together to create impactful signs.
Graphics: The graphics you use for your signs need to be clear and impactful. When you submit your designs for production, make sure that they are vector and not raster. Read our handy guide on the importance of vector graphics for sign making here. Make sure that any graphic elements that you use in your signage are either original or purchased from a reputable source.
Typeface: There are so many fonts or typefaces available that it can be a challenge to create the right combinations for your signs. We’ve produced a list of 20 free typefaces for commercial use that can help get you started. If you’re having trouble choosing a font combination you can try resources like Typewolf for inspiration. The other challenge with typefaces and fonts usually has to do with size. Here’s a rule of thumb from our post on sign letter height: 1 inch of letter height provides 10 feet of readability with the best impact. For example, 3” tall letters make the best impact within 30′.
Colors: As you can imagine, we love talking about color. It’s so important to choose the right colors for your signage. Your signs need to be clearly seen and that requires pairing the right foreground and background colors. You can see some examples of the way colors work together (or don’t) here.
Why Choose VisualPro
The VisualPro is ready to help you get your signage ready for the world to see. Our production studio has been creating some incredible signage and we can’t wait to help you. We have a uber-talented graphic designer on staff who can assist you with your designs. When it comes to installing your signs, we only have one of the most experienced teams on the planet: ClimatePro. With 40 years of experience, your final designs are in good hands. See some of our work in our Project Center. Get a free estimate here or give us a call at 707.755.7337.