11.25.2015
Simple Outdoor Signage Tips to Remember
Many of our clients often come to us for insight during the design stage of building their outdoor signage. We don't try to run the features up on them for the sake of padding our bottom line. That doesn't help them. That doesn't help us. It certainly doesn't allow us to build strong relationships. Most importantly, short-sighted, selfish tactics doesn't allow us to do what we love to do: build incredible outdoor signages and get messages out to the world.
If over 30 years in the signage business has taught us anything, it's that word gets around. Let's call that the first simple outdoor signage tip to remember.
Below are a few more tips to help get your started on any and all outdoor signage you are a part of. From LED and Healthcare to carved wooden storefront signs, the tips are the same.
Make it (Re)Memorable
We get clients that come in with incredible plans. Sometimes, they're a bit beyond what they need. We can't fault them, building your outdoor signage is taking your idea and planting a flag, staking your claim in the world. Who wouldn't want the greatest sign that ever existed?
The tip we try to tell them when they're looking to make a timeless, famous, everlasting sign is to focus less on making it immortal and instead focus on coming up with a message that will be easy for their customers and clients to remember.
The first step to making it memorable is to make it easy to remember. Not only that, you want customers remembering it when they need your products and services.
Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
One of our recurring themes is to remember there's only a small, finite space to place a message and there's even less time to get a passer-by's attention. To help push the boundary edges on these concepts, we stress repetition. Not only repetition in the signage itself, but for those who have additional marketing materials - brochures, logos, print and billboard advertising, digital marketing - keeping the message consistent throughout all the advertising materials helps reinforce the overall message throughout your sales & marketing funnel.
A little rhyme is fine
There are are plenty of pros and cons that going into using messages that stick to a meter and / or rhyme. The semantical common ground is usually found at what constitutes a "rhyme." While we're not necessarily brow-beating advocates of, say, limericks or sticking strictly to hard-lettered rhymes - especially if there's too much shoehorning involved to get it to work for your business. That said, we do like a bit of rhythm or the occasional literary device in a message. A little alliteration does a lot of good in remembering messages. Plays on words (note: we didn't say, "pun"), is another great way to keep it memorable.
Make it do as much as possible
We just talked about having a small, finite space so this next step will probably sound like we're breaking our own rules. Luckily, if done right, you can have for.
The technological advances in outdoor signage in the last 15 years alone are incredible. From the days of lightbulbs and analog clocks, to LCD, then LED signage hooked up to computer software to create animated signage, the opportunities continue to abound.
We know not everyone has the budget for such innovation, but what everyone does have the opportunity to do is make sure their signage can do as much as possible: answer those how, what, where, when and why questions. That could mean providing a phone number, hours of service, the primary product or service you provide... The most important thing to include is your best feature: "the best (product / service) feature in (this area)."
Make sure you answer those.
Keep it simple
Sorry, English majors, no sonnets here. Sweet and simple. Something that puts your best foot forward. Save the long explanations for your other marketing materials.
