Printing signs and banners is a great way to create visible reminders of your brand (or to show people to your store’s latest sale).
Creating effective signs might not be as easy as you’d think, though. There are actually several key things you should know before designing and printing your next signs and banners for your marketing campaign or for an event.
Always Consider the Distance
One big mistake many people make is not considering the distance at which the sign or banner will be viewed.
For example, people often try to take a flyer and turn it into a road sign. This doesn’t work people are a lot closer to a flyer when they see it versus a sign that is viewed from several feet away.
The result is that the information becomes almost impossible to read. The same goes for a banner that is being used for a big event. If the font isn’t large enough, only the people standing close to the banner will be able to see what it says.
Use Colors Wisely
Another problem is the color scheme people use for their signs and banners. In most cases, there is one of two problems at work:
• There are too many colors, which is overwhelming; or
• The colors aren’t bold or complementary enough
We’ve all seen those signs and banners. They have a lot going on – reds, blues, yellows, greens, oranges, blacks, and other colors that just overwhelm the viewer and make the sign or banner far too busy.
Other times, the colors either clash or just aren’t bold and bright enough. An example of that being a banner with a dark green background and black text. That is too hard to read, as are signs with muted colors (such as shades of reds and yellows).
Avoid TMI: Too Much Information
Finally, a huge mistake we often see with sign and banner design is TMI: too much information.
Your message should be short, concise, and clear. Having too many words – or too many messages – on one surface only confuses and misleads.
A stop sign, for example, is powerful because the message is as simple as it can get: stop. A stop sign that said, “Bring your vehicle to a complete halt and look all ways before proceeding” would be a very, very bad mistake on behalf of the department of public safety.
Keep your message as brief as possible while still getting the point across. Make sure you prominently display key information, such as dates and times. And if you have buzz words, like “free”, “sale”, “discount”, or “prize”, be sure they are easy to see as well.
When printing signs and banners, call on Digital Marketing Services, Inc. We can help ensure you are satisfied with the end results.