How to Make the Most of Popular Signage Styles: Banners 101
At Signworld, we offer a variety of signage styles to accommodate our clients’ needs. Throughout history, people have used banners to announce big events. Aside from being easy to install and highly portable, banners are inexpensive both to purchase and produce, making them a great option for all kinds of customers. Whether you’re looking to announce a grand opening, stand out at a trade show, or draw attention to a regal-looking in-store promotion, banners are a great choice. In today’s post, we breakdown some sign design tips to help our clients make the most of their banners. Make the most out of your banners.
Always factor viewing distance and time in your sign design. Whether you are leading the sign design yourself or gathering information for your Signworld design consultant, it’s important that you factor in how far away your target audience will be while reading your banner, as well as how long they’ll spend viewing. These factors will greatly affect your sign design. For example, if your banner is intended for a grand opening at a business with a large parking lot between the storefront and street, your lettering should be big enough to be viewed by prospects on the street. You should also keep in mind that drivers can only glance at banners; on average, a passing motorist will give a sign or banner 1.5-3 seconds of attention. With this in mind, it’s important that your sign’s message can be taken in at a glance while in motion.
On the other hand, many business owners choose to mount their banners in-store to announce promotions or upcoming events. Under these circumstances, viewers are already in-store, which means that they’ll have plenty of time to study your banner. These banners can get away with longer messages and smaller or fancier fonts. We recommend that you consult with a Signworld expert to ensure you’re factoring viewer time and distance into your sign design.
Take advantage of compelling color combinations. Your chosen color scheme can help or hinder the effectiveness of your banners. As a general rule, the greater the color contrast between your font and background medium, the easier your banner will be to read. With this in mind, we recommend color combinations with high contrast. For example, black on yellow provides high contrast, whereas blue on green offers low visibility. As always, the specific environment and desired function of your banner will dictate which colors and contrasts will work for you, and your Signworld consultant can help you choose what’s best.
Give your banners the margins and white space they require. Margin width is one aspect of banner design that is frequently done wrong. Stretching lettering and graphics to fill the entire banner right to the edges is a common mistake, but some people leave their margins too big, too. As a general rule, your top and bottom margin should be 10% of the banner’s height, while right and left margins should be at least as wide as the banner font. Resist the urge to fill empty spaces, as this helps the viewer concentrate on your main message.
In truth, this article has only scratched the surface. If you want to learn more about Signworld’s best practices for banner design or book a free consultation, visit http://www.signworld.org today.