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The Do’s and Don’ts of Designing a Sign

8/7/2021 | admin

Signs are the ultimate way of promoting your products, services, or upcoming event.

However, many New Bern businesses and organizations who attempt to design their own quickly realized that it’s a lot harder than it looks. This is why hiring a New Bern sign designer can help eliminate the uncertainty and stress of doing it yourself. If you still prefer to have a go on your own, here are a few critical do’s and don’ts of sign design.

Do Add Branding Elements

It’s important to incorporate elements of your branding into the sign design. This will help people quickly associate it with your business or organization. Adding company colors, logos, and imagery will also help improve trust as it allows people to recognize it as yours instantly. Some New Bern organizations don’t have a cohesive branding strategy—in this case, try incorporating attractive elements that appeal to your audience. For example, if you’re designing a banner for the local Farmer’s Market, try adding veggies and fresh farm produce images. This will make a greater impact than simply having the name of the Farmer’s Market and nothing else.

Don’t Add a Ton of Text

One of the biggest mistakes that amateur sign designers make is cramming too much text into a design. The purpose of a sign is to quickly convey information without the person having to sit there and read it. Try to get your message out in as few words as possible so that people can glance at the sign and instantly understand what you’re trying to convey.

Don’t Use Temp Signs for Permanent Placement

Temporary signs work great, that is, temporarily. They’re intended for a limited time and won’t stand up to the long haul. Permanent signage will last a lot longer, and you can opt for many different finishes, such as weather and UV-resistant inks. This will allow them to look as good as new many months or years down the road.

Do Create a Purpose

Why are you designing the sign? Before sitting down at your computer, try to answer that question to help with the creative process. Your sign should serve one purpose and one purpose only—if you try to accomplish too much, it will often wind up falling flat. For example, if you’re designing the trade show signage for your upcoming booth, create a dedicated sign that talks about how your products or services solve the attendee’s pain points. Then make another sign that explains why doing business with your company will add value.

Do Consider Location

How far will people be physically when they’re reading your sign? If you’re creating an outdoor banner, consider the intended viewing distance. If you make your lettering too small, people won’t be able to read it from very far away. The general rule is that you need to increase lettering height by 1” for every 10’ of viewing distance. For example, if you want people 100’ away from your sign to be able to read it legibly, you’ll need to at least make your lettering 10” in height.

Do Add Color

Thanks to the state-of-the-art printers at AlphaGraphics of New Bern, you can have vivid, life-like color images added to any sign of your choosing. A full-color sign makes a far more significant impact than a black and white one. If, for whatever reason, color is not an option for your design, consider adding a colorful border to frame your message and capture the reader’s eyes. Keep in mind that certain colors work better from a design perspective than others. A color wheel can provide you with general color guidelines.

Don’t Use Fancy Fonts

It’s really easy to get carried away with your sign design. However, what looks good on your computer monitor may not look good in real life. This is why you should stick to the more commonly used fonts instead of getting too artistic. If you’re unsure as to which font will work best, give the expert sign designers at AlphaGraphics of New Bern a call. They’ll sit down with you and give you a few pointers on fonts that will work best for your application.

Sign Design and Creation in New Bern

Sign design is both an art and a science. It takes years of schooling and practice to understand how to do it right. If you’re struggling with your design or the creative ideas just aren’t flowing, give the experts at AlphaGraphics of New Bern a call. At AlphaGraphics of New Bern, we can help you design and create the perfect medical sign. To learn more about how AlphaGraphics of New Bern can produce and design your next project, you may email us, request a quote, or call us at (252) 633-3199.

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