Signs advertising real estate can say more about your business and you than the properties they advertise.
Your signs can be used as ambassadors for your company, whether you are in commercial or residential real estate. While signs may not be as important as the logo of your real estate company, they still serve an important function.
It would be better if you were in charge of your signage’s message.
Don’t let it go to chance.
Traditional real estate signage (for sale signs, open houses signs, benches ads and billboards) fall under the purview of Out-of-Home (or “OOH”) advertising.
Let’s look at the best practices for creating custom and unique real estate signs that increase awareness of your brand and spark a conversation between potential clients.
You should think about the elements of real estate sign design.
When planning your signage strategy, the first thing you should decide is which type of sign you want.
There are many options. You have options!
Here are some examples of real estate signs that you might consider.
Common real estate sign styles:
- Colonial Post A solid, wooden, inverted frame with a sign suspended. These are great for marking homes for sale.
- H Frame Stake This lightweight wireframe is great for temporary signage. Think of “Open House” signs. Frame legs (or stakes) are inserted into the ground, making it easy to set it up and take it down.
- The frame-style signs are made from sturdy metal frames that enclose a sign. You can choose from Standard (one sign), Single Rider (with one or smaller signs) or Double Rider (with one or more “riders”). These are another option for lawn “For sale” signs.
- A-Frame These signs can draw attention to open houses or other events. These easily portable signs can be left unattended and could become lost.
- Vinyl Window Cling – Vinyl window clings are a non-adhesive vinyl film that adheres to your window glass. These are great for commercial properties that have large plates-glass windows.
- Feather flag A feather flag is a long, flexible frame that attaches to a narrow fabric flag. It is easy to see the fabric’s loose side. This allows it to move in the breeze and makes it a great signage option. The fabric flag can be printed directly with your content.
Each sign option has its dimensions and media. Your sign’s design layout will be affected by the available space and shape.
Before you begin designing the content or graphics, you need to choose the type of sign.
Before we get into design details, here’s the last consideration. Make sure you are familiar with the local laws concerning signage.
Many cities and residential areas have rules or ordinances that limit the types and locations of signs. As you choose your next sign, knowing what signage is allowed in your area will be easier.
Signage design essentials
The same design guidelines will be used whether you are making a lawn sign “For Sale”, branding signage to increase awareness of your business or an event sign “Open House”.
So, let’s get started!
Design consideration #1: branding
As we have already said, real estate signs are an out-of-home form of advertising. They are a great way to build brand awareness.
Use your logo on your real estate signs.
Your realty company’s logo is not prominently displayed on your sign; it will be almost useless from a brand awareness standpoint.
Start by making sure your most valuable visual branding tool, your logo, is prominently displayed on your sign.
Your brand colors should be used on real estate signs.
To help establish a consistent visual presence, you should use your brand colors on signage. This will allow potential clients to quickly identify your business and help them get to know you.
Your signage should be consistent. This will build trust and familiarity between you and your customers. This is how passers-by turn into clients.
Most people who pass your signs aren’t looking to buy or rent commercial space or a house at the moment. You have planted a seed if you have used your signage over the years to establish a consistent visual presence.
These people will remember your company when they decide to buy a house or rent commercial space.
Design consideration #2: Readability
Signs communicate.
It is their raison d’etre.
Every design decision you make should support the sign’s ability to communicate clearly.
Many other factors can influence the success of your brand.
However, brand awareness and aesthetics should not be compared to readability. It is not easy to read signs that are difficult to read.
Visitors won’t come to your open house if they don’t get it.
OOH, signage must be easy to read.
Use fonts that are simple to read
The most important element of creating a sign that is easy to read and effective is choosing the right font.
A sign that combines a simple font and a script logo. Candy’s Dirt.
Signage is different from other types of graphic design. You can use a beautiful script font (such as the Ebby Halliday logo to the right) or funky serif typography for your regular sign copy, but that is impossible.
Signage must be easy to read from far away and in a moving vehicle. Your message will not reach large audiences if it isn’t easily read from a distance or in a moving vehicle.
This includes your company name and any other information you have included on the sign. Make sure that everything is clear and easy to read.
Try to use simple serif and sans-serif fonts for any text other than logo text.
These powerful psychology strategies can help you choose the right fonts to suit your business.
White space is a good thing.
White space refers to a design area without any lines, colors, shapes, or text. It’s simply space.
Even though it isn’t always white, white space is essential to a design’s aesthetics and readability.
Design considerations include the importance of space around text and graphics. It is easy to fill up the space with as much text as possible. It becomes difficult to read text that is too crowded. For optimal readability, white space should be kept at least thirty-to-forty per cent of the sign’s surface area.
Design should have enough white space to give it a sense of freedom and airiness. Visual tension is increased when a design is packed tightly with text and other graphic elements.
It’s better if your audience associates your business with ease than tension.
Signs should not be too long. Keep it simple – explain who you are to your audience and what you want. That’s it.
Prioritize white space if you want your sign to communicate confidence and peace of heart.
It is important to create a brand for your business by using a unique logo. You can follow the lead of famous logo-designing companies and focus on what makes your business unique instead of trying to make your business similar.
You should know what you are doing when designing a logo for real estate companies or realtors. This is crucial.
Choose smart colors
Your signage color choice can make or break your design.
Bad color choices can make signs difficult to read. Smart color choices can make signs easy to read and stand out among the crowd.
It is all about pairing your brand colors with contrasting colors that make your sign stand out.
Above, the Kelly Right sign features their unique tangerine brand color with white and a beautiful cool gray. These three colors create a brand-specific palette that is easy to read. Perfect!
You can find out which color combinations to use for your sign by starting with the most prominent color of your brand.
