When it comes to creating brand awareness, outdoor signs top the list. You might be surprised to know that a significant portion of customers visit your store after seeing beautifully designed signage installed at your storefront. It is because people believe that a store’s signage is highly reflective of its offerings. It means when you have a clean, clutter-free, and eye-catchy outdoor sign placed outside, you can expect to receive good footfall regardless of where you’re located.
Business owners have now understood the fact that well-designed storefront outdoor signs can help grab the attention of the right people, tempting them to visit their store. Therefore, they’re trying every possible way to make their brand look unique and attractive with the help of stunning graphics and signs. However, if you want these to work true wonders for you, you’ll have to be very careful while selecting them.
To help you with the process, we’ve shared some practical tips that you can refer to while picking the best outdoor signs in New York ideal for your commercial establishment.
How to Use Outdoor Signs for Storefront Displays?
Before heading straight to the tips, first, you must be aware of what commercial exterior signs are and why your business needs one. Outdoor signage is simply what it sounds like, i.e., signs placed outside a commercial establishment. This signage features the brand’s name, logo, and sometimes its tagline.
You can make it look simple and short featuring the business name and logo only. Or you can create it fancy and elaborate it featuring more details about your brand. There’s a range of designs, sizes, shapes, available and all of them can be customized to fulfill a brand’s precise requirements. This can be considered a cost-effective marketing tool that does an excellent job at making the brand seen by the right people.
Below are some of the reasons why you must consider getting outdoor signage for your business premises,
- It Sparks Interest: This advertisement tool not only helps you draw the attention of the right set of people but also helps you to hold their interest as well. You can use a descriptive tagline to elaborate your brand philosophy through this signage so that people can feel more associated with you. As a result, it makes others remember your business.
- Establish Yourself in a Location: Outdoor signs are especially helpful if you’re starting your company in a completely new location which is already known as the busy corner of the streets. It can help people feel more comfortable in such an environment by creating a cute little space for your brand.
- Advertise for Your Brand: Advertisement is an inseparable part of your business. To make your brand stand out amidst thousands of others doing the same business alike, signage is what makes you unique. With professional, high-quality, and durable graphics and signs, you can continue to promote your company without any manual efforts from your end.
However, there are a few things you must know before installing signs for your outdoor commercial establishment to make it truly work wonders for you. So, let’s continue reading to uncover that part.
Types of Outdoor Signs You Can Choose From
Outdoor signs come in all kinds of different shapes, sizes, and formats making it quite difficult for people to choose the ideal one. However, we have briefly explained the primary types of this signage to help you communicate with your sign manufacturer in a better manner. So, let’s take a look at the primary types below,
Banner Stands
Banner Stands are one of the most inexpensive solutions when it comes to installing signage at your outdoor premises. It’s great for directing people to your business as it’s highly noticeable and customizable.
Hand Painted Signs
Hand Painted signs are the most classic way to design your commercial premises. It offers a perfect dynamic vintage look, promoting your business uniquely. It acts as an effective advertising tool especially if it’s installed in high-traffic areas across the world like New York City that grabs the attention even of people who’re driving across the road.
3D Letter Signs
LED letter signs offer a modern finish and a dimensional look to your logo, tagline, and other branding collaterals. Usually, a letter sign is directly fabricated from acrylic or aluminum and you can illuminate them from within using the LED or neon lights.
Storefront Signage
For your storefront to look highly attractive and attention-grabbing, it needs high-quality, visible outdoor business signage installed. Fascia signs or storefront signs are the perfect horizontal signs that can be used in the front of your business premises to showcase your latest deals, offers, products, etc.
Retractable Awnings
Awnings offer a classy look for all types of businesses. It has an elegant look that can instantly put your business in front of your target customers. Besides, it also offers shelter for all your incoming customers if you’re owning a cafe, restaurant, or hotel. You can illuminate your awning to highlight the graphics, text, or any other area that you want the highest attention to.
Things to Know Before Choosing the Best Outdoor Signs for Your Storefront
Even if you find a good outdoor signs manufacturer, chances are you might get perplexed seeing the vast range of designs and options. It will eventually prevent you from putting across clear-cut design requirements. If you don’t want to end up in a similar situation, consider the following points to draft your precise outdoor signage requirement.
1. Your Signs Should Complement Your Building
Regardless of the size of your commercial establishment, commercial exterior signs should be created in line with your building structure to make it effective. Most business owners do not understand this phase and they usually go for oversized signage to complement their building. However, the fact is that not all types of this signage are suitable for all commercial places.
For example, if your business is established inside a strip mall or if you have nearby buildings, then the signs should be created to complement your building along with the neighboring structures. Therefore, the color of those buildings, materials, and the overall graphics should be created accordingly while considering all the nearby structures.
This truly helps your building to stand out among others without making it look like a forced advertisement or cluttered. You can ask any reputed sign manufacturer to help you with the process if you are unable to decide how to design it uniquely.
2. Be Clear with the Type of Signage You Want
Outdoor signage is of various types, and each has its pros and cons. For example, fabric sign is one of the many signage options that are simple yet versatile, generally inexpensive, and can be used by any type of business. Metal sign boards are another type of outdoor signs that exude a more sophisticated and professional look and are usually very eye-catching.
Businesses low on the budget might want to go ahead with outdoor fabric signage, but brands that want signs that talk volumes about their business, irrespective of the cost, should go ahead with the metal signboards. Painted glass signs, banners, illuminated signs, A-frame signs, plywood signs, LED letter signs, window signs, awning signs, and metal logos are some other types of outdoor signage a business can choose from.
A great tip is to first do a little bit of research on all these signs before reaching out to a signs installer. Being aware of all the sign types will bring clarity to your requirement, and you’ll be in a better position to explain to the sign installer what you exactly want.
3. Choose the Right Size
When it comes to storefront signage, size does matter. You wouldn’t want to install a sign that is barely visible and legible. Though the bigger size is preferred, be sure you don’t go overboard by installing one that is disproportionately bigger than your storefront itself. Choose a size that, when installed, can be perfectly visible to people walking or driving by.
The letters in the signage should also be big enough to be legible. A rule of thumb some people follow with regards to the lettering and height is 10 feet per inch of letter height. It implies that if your signage text is at 10 inches high, people can view it from 100 feet away.
4. Don’t Make the Signage Hard to Read
There are a few things you must know before you head to a sign and graphics printing service provider to discuss the signage design and text. The list includes the following,
- Choose a signage font that is easy to read
- There should be just the right amount of white space around words and images
- Avoid elaborate cursive fonts that are difficult to read from a distance
- Don’t overuse capital letters
- Ensure the sign has well-spaced letters that don’t look overcrowded
These are the few points to be considered before selecting a sign for your outdoor placement. It helps to yield the maximum impact for your business.
5. Always Consider Your Audience While Choosing the Design
When choosing an outdoor sign design for your business, always consider what will appeal the most to your target audience. For example, if your business targets families and small kids, try to make your exterior sign more colorful with a beautiful-looking logo. Also, bright, playful colors with eye-grabbing visual elements would be a great addition to such brands as well.
But if your business targets grown-up adults, you should design the signage in a way that exudes a more professional and elegant look. Well-worded signage featuring clean lines, eye-soothing colors, and minimal graphics would work better for brands that are trying to attract grown-up adults.
6. You Must Hire a Professional to Tackle Municipal Restrictions
Lastly, it can be stressful to deal with municipal restrictions and permitting before installing new signs for your business. Especially, if you’re planning to install a large banner or decal to your commercial establishment, getting a permit from the local authority is essential.
By working with a professional company, you can ensure that everything meets local guidelines so that you never get into trouble in the future. The experts are well versed with the municipal code regarding the placement of your signs, lighting, and sizing.
Let us know how can we help you with Outdoor Signage requirements
Now that you’re aware of the do’s and don’ts of outdoor signage design, you can easily put your design requirement in front of a sign manufacturer. If you need multiple outdoor signs, an additional thing to keep in mind is to ensure that all the different signage adheres to your brand colors.
