Some business owners spend thousands of dollars on a
sign for their storefront, but most never really think through what makes a
sign effective. By following these simple suggestions to design your storefront
sign, you will bring in more customers and make more money.
Visible
from up and down the road
If your sign is on the front of your building, and
your building is close to the street, your sign will not be visible to passing
traffic until they are in front of your business, and then only if the driver
turns her head to read your sign. Your sign needs to be more or less
perpendicular to the roadway, and so will have to be lettered on two sides. Even
if your business is one a one-way street, your sign should be double-sided for
pedestrians. A sign painted on the building will only be highly visible if your
building is set back a good distance from the road. But even then, you should
have a sign right up at the roadside. Pedestrians are not likely to wait for
the signal to cross a busy street unless they can clearly see your shop sign.
Visible
from sufficient distance
Your sign needs to be visible from at least 500 feet
away. Especially if traffic is moving at speeds around 55 miles per hour,
drivers need plenty of time to slow down safely to pull in to your business. Make
sure that your sign is high enough to be seen above cars and trucks, and that
it is not blocked by tree branches, etc.
Well lit
Even if your business is shut at night, you want
people passing by after dark to see your business. Make sure your sign is well
lit. Check frequently to make sure that all the light bulbs are working.
Lettering
of sufficient size
To be visible from 500 feet, especially in a
fast-moving vehicle, letters need to be 12 inches high, for people with normal
vision. As the average age of the population increases, more and more of your
customers will have impaired vision, so your sign needs to at least meet these
standards, if not exceed them.
High
contrast lettering
Use black lettering, or a dark color, against a
white or light-colored background. Do not use reverse type, that is, white
against a black or dark-colored background. Our eyes have evolved to focus on
an object (foreground) against a background. Work with this natural tendency,
not against it.
Use plain
lettering
Use relatively plain lettering, not fancy lettering
such as cursive.
Use all
upper case
Upper case letters are learned first, and people can
read upper case more easily than lower-case or mixed-case lettering.
Distinguish
your business from the competition
You are competing for the attention of customers who
have limited time, attention, and money. Fewer shoppers will stop at a store
with a sign that says “POTTERY” than at a store with a sign that says “LOCAL
HANDMADE POTTERY”.
Be brief
Shorter is better.
Grab
attention with something a little unexpected
Do something creative with your signage to capture
your customers’ attention and to make it memorable. Nobody remembers the logo
for Kaybee Toys, now out of business, but everyone remembers that the “R” in
Toys-R-Us is backwards.
Promote
your website on your sign
Of the hundreds or thousands of people driving and
walking past your sign every day, only a small percentage will stop at your
business. Make sure your sign communicates effectively to everyone who passes
by. Your website name, the dot-com, is your de
facto business name. Promote it.
For more
profitable business communication advice, see DanShaw.com.
