Customers buy from brands that know them – intimately and individually

Signage is a great way to promote your brand. It may be the sign outside your office, on a window, at a conference, in a shop or on your company car. Every time a customer sees your sign, it reinforces your company brand and builds awareness, recognition and trust. The signage design may consist of your logo alone, or it may include strong branding, image and message. 

Here are four things to consider in effective signage design:

1. Visibility

When designing a sign, viewing distance is very important. The message and logo must be readable by whoever sees it, so the size of the image and text depends on where they will be and what you expect them to be doing. The sign may be seen by someone walking, driving past, or looking across a room or street, so the message needs to be conveyed in a matter of seconds. Signage on a car should be large enough to be viewed from the footpath or from another car. Ideally, there should be signage visible from every angle, on both sides and the rear.

Your sign and the message it conveys must be readily distinguishable from the surroundings. When you don’t have room for lettering as large as you would like, try using light-coloured letters on a dark background. The contrast will make the lettering appear larger and viewers will find it easier to read.

2. Keep it simple

• Keep the signage design clean and simple, as a sign with too much information won't be read.
• Unlike a brochure, the reader can’t take a copy away, so the message must be easy to recall. Use large, simple, clean and readable typefaces.
• Use simple, not busy backgrounds.
• When using text over a background, the type should be in a contrasting colour and bold so it is easily readable.
• Signs with photos have 300% greater recall than signs without photos.