How to Design a Really Good Sign without Having To Hire an Expert
You may have asked yourself if you could possibly make your own signs and banners without needing to retain the services of an expert. The answer is yes! Your final designs will depend on several factors. The first factor that plays a key role in your success is your own personal taste. If you’re an adventurer at heart, your personality will probably show through in your sign designs. If you’re a quiet homebody, that will be reflected in your designs, too.
While just about anyone can easily dabble in graphic design, some people are just far more skilled at it. You don’t have to have any kind of official education in London graphic design colleges, sign engineering, or any other field that might appear to be suitable. You should have no difficulties at all in designing a good sign or banner if you just follow a few of our pointers below.
- Avoid information overload! One problem many people have is putting too many details on a sign. You can do more harm than good by including too much text and design elements. Next time you’re on the highway and pass a billboard, pay attention to how little wording is on the sign. Take a lesson from that and reduce the wording on your own sign design.
- Choose colors that don’t mix and lean in the direction of blends that contain effective eye appeal. For example, putting grey letters on a white or tan background is not a very good choice for a readable sign. Of course, if those are your company colors, then go ahead! But otherwise, there are better and more readable choices. Just remember that by choosing such similar variations you are sacrificing how readable your sign or banner will be. A trick here is to think about adding an outline onto your words in the color white to help you divide the darker colors and entice the eye better. A poorly designed color scheme will create an unreadable sign, which is overall, a bad thing to do. Obviously, that means you’ll lose business! Generally, the easier it is to read your advertisement from a distance, the better off you are. A good choice for signs is the color yellow. Try yellow words on a black background. That will really pop out and be easy to read. A safe choice for signs is the color white. You can use it as a color for text (if you have a dark background), or as a background (if your colors are darker overall). Pair white with any darker color and you’re usually going to have a good design. White lettering on a purple background would look stunning. Again, consider using a color wheel to assist you choose colors which blend effectively.
- Use the Space: Take advantage of the space you have available at your disposal. Now, that doesn’t mean you should go overboard and fill up each and every square inch of the sign with information! That might possibly be difficult to look at. It’s easier to read larger letters from farther away, so be sure that the biggest text is on the sign first. Those are the most important elements to consider. Once the text is in place, then you can get creative with the remaining empty space to make the sign more attractive and eye-catching. A sign with white space (or “negative” space) as it is sometimes called, can be even more appealing than a design crammed to every square inch with something to read or look at.
- Fourth, choose the shape of your sign. The shape of your sign is an extremely essential choice. It may either strengthen or deter from the message, so you want to choose wisely. For example, if your sign is going to have numerous rows of copy, then you’re best off selecting a rectangular sign to suit the whole set of words. Square or block signs have got their place, but you don’t get a similar flexibility with all the wording that you would come across with a rectangular sign design. There is no “absolutely correct” choice here. Simply think about the layout of all the elements you want to include. Rectangular and square signs are the most favored choices, however, you can also make oval signs, signs with rounded corners, and other shapes as required and also depending on your entire design concept. You should also consider getting hold of a local sign professional for more guidance on what is appropriate for your particular application.
- Incorporate Visuals: Photographs, graphical designs, borders, and colors will all add more their unique impact to your structure. Try becoming daring and experiment with including a few of these components to observe what the result is; chances are you’ll enjoy the final result. If you’re not sure how to go about adding these kinds of elements to your sign, get hold of an established sign company for some extra suggestions.
- Visual Alignment: One of the ways you can step out of the “amateurish” look is to pay attention to the overall text alignment and layout of the overall design. For example, if your design has elements that should be left-aligned, make sure they are actually on the left. If you have pieces that should be centered, make sure that they are indeed centered on the design. If you intentionally stayed away from lining up the elements of the design, the audience should be able to guess that was your intention. They shouldn’t look at the sign and say, “Were they drunk when they made this sign?” If you don’t pay attention to the left-, right- and center- alignment of your design, it will be glaringly obvious.
- Last, but not least, “steal” from the best. The truth is, when it comes to sign design, very little is actually “new and original”. Most designers borrow ideas from other people. So, here’s your chance to follow suit! What do you notice about the use of color and text in the signs that you see in everyday life? Examine how the design is structured, and try to figure out what makes it effective. Then, work to add those kinds of elements to your own signs. Even though we’re emphasizing that you create your own sign designs in this article, sometimes it helps to go to a professional for new ideas and inspiration.
Summary
Follow the general design tips listed above, and you will increase the likelihood of creating a sign that has visual appeal. Of course, this article can’t make you an expert in sign design. If you still feel like you need help with designing your next sign, I recommend contacting a professional. The biggest challenge when designing your own signs is that it can take a long time to make a really good design that you’re proud of, especially if you are a novice. So, don’t feel embarrassed about calling in a professional to help. Most professional sign companies want to do a good job because they know you could be a repeat customer or give them a good referral. So, they want to do a good job. Contact your local experts and let them help you create something thrilling and appealing!
