Instant Custom Signs – Drew Brims' Blog

Signs, Signs, everywhere is signs…

Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind…

And so the song goes.   Sure, signs can block out the scenery but they can also carry a message beneficial to the audience and hopefully, profitable for the advertiser.   Signs are a great way to advertise your product or service but, like anything else, if improperly executed, things can go horribly wrong.    Have you ever wondered what goes into a really great sign and how to get the biggest bang for your buck?

Hi, I’m Drew Brims.  Welcome to my blog! I am the owner of Instant Custom Signs in Brampton, Ontario.
IC Signs has been operating since 1992 and we are passionate about our business and our customers.  I look forward to sharing lots of ideas with you with respect to signage.

The way I see it, there are two basic categories of signs:

1. Signs that are designed to attract attention,
2. Signs that are designed to inform.

The first should be used to create or build brand awareness (perhaps a billboard), create interest in your product or service or draw attention to your location (as in a storefront sign). These signs are usually only able to catch the audience’s attention for a second or two.

The second category is located where the audience has more time to review and digest the information. This might be a menu of items on sale with price points or discounts, a Restaurant menu or perhaps a list of services available at a particular place of business.

Since the layout of the second category is not as critical as the first, let’s deal with the first – Attention grabbing signs. Any sign that does not convey the message it was designed to, is a waste of space and money.

Here are 3 helpful tips to remember when designing your sign!

Brevity :

TMI (Too Much Information) is not just part of the modern vernacular, it’s relevant to our discussion on signs. My mantra is, ‘the best sign says the least’.   If your audience is driving past your sign, how much time do people have to read and digest the information? A second or two? Ten seconds? Perhaps more if your sign is located where traffic is stopped for traffic lights or a stop sign.   If not, the main message of the sign should scream out one or two words at the  most:

The object of the sign is to get customers to visit your business in person or visit your website or call you on the phone), not to list products and services. That’s the job of sign category two.    Take a look up above at the Instant Custom Signs logo, you will see that ”SIGNS” is the largest word in the logo.  No confusion over what we sell.  It makes our job a lot easier when designing signs for ourselves.  We have the name, the logo and what we do all in one package, ready to go.

Clarity :

Some signs have such powerful background designs that the main message is overpowered and lost. Technology exists today that allows us to efficiently decorate a space on screen that looks very beautiful. Then we add the message (company name or product or service) and think we have a terrific-looking sign.   Beware!  What looks good on the screen does not always make for a readable sign.   Background colors and patterns can add zip to the sign but too much can overpower the message.  There has to be a balance.

Layout :

When sitting down to design a sign, rather than starting with the background, try starting with the message.    This is the most important information on the sign.  Remember – one or two words.   Brevity is our friend!  It should be the largest and most noticeable element on the sign.   After locating it in the most prominent position, we can add contact information, preferably only one. It can either be location, phone number or web address but definitely not all three.

Finally, we can add in the background.  It’s important to take a critical look at the entire sign to ensure it is balanced, conveys the message you want and can be read and digested in a very short period of time.

Of course, size matters.   The bigger the sign, the more effective the message and the wider the audience. In a future blogs, I will get into these items in more detail and talk about the visibility of different sizes of letters from a distance.

I’m looking forward to your feedback!

Tags: Advertising, banners, Billboard, Design, ICSigns, Instant Custom Signs, pylon signs, Signage, Signs, Storefront