24 Oct The Secrets of Stunning Sign Design
Effective sign design is multi faceted. It involves a wide variety of design and copywriting skills, knowledge of how signage is best located within different environments, and an understanding of how a client’s desired aims and outcomes can best be achieved.
Our experience of designing all types of business signs, including building signs, illuminated signs, light boxes and much more, means that our signs are regularly seen across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and throughout Australia, delivering clients’ messages in a variety of media and in many different locations.
We work in close partnership with our clients to ensure that signage is designed, manufactured and installed in a way that helps you to achieve your goals, and so that you can obtain the best possible returns for your investment.
The key factors in sign design
Having literally thousands of sign design projects to our credit, we have in our 30 years in the industry determined that the four most important factors in creating effective signage are:
- Understanding your audience, and who you want your sign to reach;
- The message you want to convey, either in general terms or as pat of a specific campaign;
- The physical environment in which the sign is to be located, e.g., in your premises or a public space, how many other signs will it have to compete with, etc.; and
- The most appropriate media to be used, e.g., illuminated sign, a neon sign, printed graphics, etc.
Know your audience
In the same way that different age groups and demographics respond to TV shows, films, music and art in different ways, the same applies to sign design. To take an extreme example, if you’re creating signage for a skateboard shop and a retirement home, how you reach those distinct audiences is going to be done in a very different way.
Therefore, at the outset of the sign design process, we will work with you to determine whether your signage is aimed at a specific target audience, e.g., children, young families or pensioners.
Determining your audience will then determine a range of other design factors, such as the language used, the visual images and the media.
Your signage design may also be determined by the location of your signage. Your shop signage, for instance, will likely have different design elements to a billboard advertising sign in a public space.
Our aim is always to help you achieve positive outcomes from your signage, and determining the audience plays a crucial part in the process.
What’s the message behind your sign design?
Just as sign design needs to take into account the intended audience, it will also be influenced by the messages you want to convey. These, too, will be very diverse depending on a range of different factors.
For instance, is your signage intended to show and direct customers to your premises, to promote a particular product or service, or to raise more general brand awareness? Do you need a menu board sign, wayfinding signage, or temporary signs to promote a sale?
Understanding this is an important step in the sign design process, and we will work in partnership with you to determine the purpose and function of your signage, and how this will shape the message it displays. In turn, this will impact on the number and style of words used, the images displayed, the use of brand colours or corporate tag line, the prominence of your logo, etc.
Where are your signs going to be situated?
When we are considering the intended audience and the message for your signs, a further important consideration is the location of your signage.
For instance, will the signs be displayed indoors or outside? This needs to be taken into consideration because whether the signs will be seen close up, or from a distance on the roadside, will significantly influence the role and prominence of the words and images used.
An indoor sign that people have the time and space to read will be able to use words in a different, more complex way, than an outdoor sign that people can only glimpse briefly as they drive by. Similarly, the way an A-frame sign that is displayed outdoors on a crowded footpath is designed will be different to indoor office reception signage.
Our sign design team will also consider whether your sign will be seen largely in isolation, or have to compete with others in a crowded urban retail environment. This is a significant factor in the sign design process, as it can help to determine the relative prominence of the text and images, and how colour can best be used to help your signage stand out.
Creating your sign design in the right media
Finally, the audience, message and location all come together to determine the type of media that will best suit your signage.
Will the sign need to be seen at all times of the day and night, for instance? If so, what will be the best way to illuminate it so that it can display most effectively? Will it be seen by drivers, pedestrians, or both?
If your signage is going to be displayed indoors, what materials would be best for creating the lettering? What sort of 3D or light box effects would work best?
After more than 30 years in the industry, our sign design portfolio encompasses just about every signage type imaginable, utilising all available types of media, and our team of specialist designers will work with you to choose the most effective, visible form of signage to help you achieve your goals.
Our commitment to quality Adelaide sign design
We employ all of these principles on each and every sign design project we undertake. If you have a clear idea as to the sort of signage you need, or you are at the initial stages and still are unsure how best to achieve your goals, get in touch and our sign design specialists will be happy to help.
Our highly experienced team will work in close collaboration with you to realise your ideas and concepts, and find the best way for you to identify your audience, convey key messages, select the right sort of location, and choose a media that will be most appropriate.
Call PB Visual Communications on 1300 441 571 or email us to find out more about our comprehensive sign design services.