Signage is an affordable and effective means of business advertising if done correctly, but there is more that goes into great sign design that meets the eye. Ausign is the leading Melbourne signage company, with over 40 years’ experience creating high quality and visually appealing shop signs, light boxes, banners, traditional sign writing and more. When it comes to creating eye-catching signs for your Melbourne business, there are many factors that should be taken into consideration before and during the design and installation process. Here are a few tips that professionals use to create attractive and engaging signage that has maximum impact.
Keep Your Message Short and Avoid Clutter
Visibility and legibility are the most important aspects of your signage design. A short and concise message is easier to see and read at a glance. Crowding your sign with too many words or lines of text makes it harder to read from a distance. White space is the area of a design that is left uncovered and this is just as important as text and graphics included. As a general rule, thirty-to-forty percent of the sign’s surface area should be left as white space for maximum readability.
Choose an Appropriate Size
Signage can come in almost any shape and size, so it’s important to go for a size that is appropriate for the distance you expect it to be viewed from. To give your business the best chance of success, you should take full advantage of your sign allowances. To determine the right size, you should consider:
- Is it at eye level or up high on a building or on a tall pylon?
- Is the traffic reading your sign while traveling 40, 60 or 80 km/per hour? Speed plays a big factor in the readability of signage, the faster the traffic, the larger the message needs to be.
- How visible is the signage area from different angles?
- Are there any obstacles such as trees, other signs or structures that may be in the way?
There are standardized formulas and letter height charts that can be used to help determine if your signage and lettering size will be large enough to be readable by those driving by your location. A professional signage company will be able to guide you with this.
Carefully Consider the Type and Fonts
- Clean, easy-to-read font styles should be used to ensure maximum legibility.
- Most fonts have varying weights, ranging from regular to bold, black, extended, and more. You can use these to emphasise certain parts of your message.
- A combination of upper and lower case letters is more legible from a distance than all upper case letters.
- Try not to use more than two different fonts in a single design, it can look messy and be hard to read.
Choose Effective Colour Combinations
When choosing a background colour for your design, don’t use anything that will make it difficult to focus on the main message. Black contrasts well with any light colour, and white works well with darker colours. The greater the contrast, the more legible text will be from a distance. Studies have shown the below combinations are amongst the top 5 for optimal visibility and readability:
- Black on yellow
- Black on white
- Yellow on black
- White on blue
- Green on white
Light It Up
With the right lighting, your signage can advertise your business 24/7. The type of lighting you choose for your signage should reflect where the sign is located – Consider how the sign will look at night and how well it coordinates with surrounding signage. Two popular choices are light boxes and LED signs. Light boxes can create vibrant, eye-catching displays and allow you to integrate words and images into exciting and informational backlit arrangements. LED signs are highly energy efficient, can be easily seen at night and allow for easy updates to messaging.
Investing in a high quality sign that is legible and bright is a smart marketing investment for any business. Whether you are looking for retail shop signs, light boxes or vehicle signage, Ausign is the trusted Melbourne signage company committed to helping your business grow through attractive and affordable signs. Get in touch with us today online or by calling (03) 9419 0970.
