Fonts and Typefaces Could Make The Difference

Fonts and typefaces and sizes, oh my; I mean this is pretty boring stuff. Nobody really wants to hear about it or think about it, even me, and my livelihood depends on it. Letters are the single most important part of a sign or banner, they are the building blocks of your message.

It may be a boring topic, but I can tell you this: nothing can screw up a sign faster than typeface experiments. With that said, here are my helpful type-tips:

• Boring fonts usually work best if you’re considering a type-face with a name like Lounge Bait or Mighty Tomato, please just stop what you’re doing and count to ten. Old stand-bys are called that for a reason, they are clean and readable use them.
• Avoid too many words it’s tempting to put a lot of information on your sign.  Don’t do it!  Simple is best. You are not making a menu for people to sit and ponder.  You have one chance (about three seconds) to target your desired audience and then you’re done.
• Use the right size type try to figure out how far away people will be from your sign when they read it and select your letter size accordingly. Check out the helpful chart below, it will help you build a readable sign.

Size Does Matter (Sign Sizes, That Is)

What can I say? Sometimes, I think of the headline before the blog topic. In this case though, it is relevant. People always come into the shop and ask us what sign size they should get.

Signs come in a bunch of sizes: 9×24, 12×18, 18×24, 24×24, and 24×3 and that’s just yard signs. Throw in custom banner sizes and you can get a sign in virtually any size. But what’s the best size?

I can tell you the most popular size, that’s the 18×24 standard plastic yard sign. It might not be the right size for your purpose, but it offers a good compromise between affordability and printable surface area. It’s large enough to be readable from a relatively fast moving vehicle, yet cheap enough to allow you to purchase several signs to increase your advertising area.

Three things to consider when deciding on sign size:

• Speed of the vehicles that will see your sign – larger signs work better at higher speed limits.
• Complexity of message – a more complex message, requires a larger sign (see our 3 second rule to simplify your message)
• Area of advertising zone – more signs are better for a large advertising area. Smaller signs are cheaper so you can get more for the same price.

On our web site, you can experiment with sign size and quantity to get the best per-sign price before you even design the sign.