How to Make a Business Sign Stand Out
When it comes to business signage, your designs need to do two things: attract customers and look professional. Figuring out how to make a business sign that does both is a challenging task – and one any business owner must be up for.
At Smartpress, our business printing services make it easy to create and print custom signs. But before you do that, it’s important to consider a few things, like your intent and location, as well as design elements like color, size and material. So, let’s dive in!
How to Make a Sign for a Business
Business signage plays a crucial role in the marketing of your brand or organization. It sends the literal message and makes an impression on your audience. For new and potential customers, it’s a make-or-break first impression. For existing clientele, it’s a reassurance that builds a relationship.
Above all, your custom signage must be clear, attractive and informative while aligning with your brand identity. Here are the steps to do it all with ease:
- Define the purpose of the sign
- Choose the right location
- Select a type of business sign
- Incorporate eye-catching design elements
- Pick the right colors and fonts
- Decide on the size and scale
- Print using high-quality materials and construction
- Consider lighting and visibility
Define the Purpose of the Sign
Before you create any business sign designs, the first thing you need to do is figure out the intent of your sign. What’s the purpose? What kind of ROI are you hoping to get? Is it brand recognition, sales, engagement, traffic?
Answering these questions will give you a clear and focused purpose, which leads to a clear and focused design plan. Once you know the end result you want, you can put the design pieces into place to get you there.
A-Frame Sidewalk Sign
Choose the Right Location
Location, location, location. It’s as true for real estate as it is for business signage. You want your signs to be seen and by the right audience, so where you install them is super important. You may have the best idea for how to make a business sign, but if no one sees it, it doesn’t matter.
So where do you place them? Consider indoor vs. outdoor (or both), traffic, sight lines and local zoning regulations. You might even map out customer traffic patterns and travel them yourself to see where your eyes land. Then install your signs accordingly.
Select a Type of Business Sign
You can’t begin making a business sign without determining your material first. Also known as a substrate, the type of material should align with your intent and needs, the location, and of course, your budget. But with so many substrate options, how do you choose? We’re so glad you asked. To simplify the selection, check out a rundown of our sign types below.
A-Frame Sidewalk Signs
A-frame signs, or sandwich board signs, are perfect for catching customers’ eyes as they go about their day. With two printed signs on either side of a durable plastic stand, they get your brand promos, announcements, even cafe menus, out there for all to see. Whether you’re wondering how to make a sign for a business or nonprofit organization, A-frame signs are an excellent choice for high-traffic areas and make great directional signage, too.
Aluminum Signs
Want a message that lasts? Print it on custom aluminum signs. Super durable and weather-resistant, metal signs like this can be as versatile as you need them to be. From parking and real estate signs to navigational and utility signage, they’re customizable by size, and you can add drill holes for an easy install. Design a business sign for indoors or out with these.
Backlit Signs
Custom backlit signs literally light up any space with backlit film that produces vibrant print – your messaging can’t be missed! For use with your existing lightbox, these signs make your graphics shine and reveal a depth of color that demands customer attention. Design yours for retail windows, POP displays, trade shows, even airport and arena advertisements.
Find your sign among 10 substrates that intrigue, inform and wow.
Clear Acrylic Signs
Totally modern and sophisticated, clear acrylic signs are a must in any professional setting. Simple yet stunningly glossy, they look very clean with a thick, transparent, glass-like aesthetic. You’ll find their rigidity is the perfect backdrop for printing business names and logos. When you think about how to make a business sign with acrylic, remember it’s printed on one side, but a second surface can be printed so artwork can show from behind.
Foam Signs
Smartpress offers a few different options for foam signs: foam board, polystyrene foam, PVC foam and styrene. All of them are ideal choices if you’re designing signs for temporary or indoor use. Lightweight yet durable, foam signs are a cost-effective sign solution and easy to install with easels and various tape options. We love these for trade shows, presentation visual aids, open houses, retail marketing, directional signage, and of course, giant checks.
Yard Signs
Yard signs get attention from any and all who pass by. And whether that message is local advertising or simply for informational purposes, our fluted corrugated plastic ensures it doesn’t fade. How to make an outdoor sign like this pop? Use brand colors so it’s instantly recognizable, plus targeted messaging to turn the right heads. Try lawn signs for directions to your business, community support, real estate announcements, political campaigns, graduations and other events.
See yard signs in action (and get design inspo for your own).
Banners
To promote your business, create brand awareness and advertise events, custom banners are a no-brainer. From hanging banners and retractable banners for retail window displays and events to step and repeat banners for trade show backgrounds, our online printing options get your message across perfectly. Drive engagement with temporary and semi-permanent banner materials (sustainable, too!). Customize your size, materials and installation for messaging and branding indoors or out.
Posters
When you think about how to make a business sign, you may not think about posters – but you should. Both small posters and large posters get the word out about events, exhibit artwork, provide product details and absolutely belong in your overall marketing strategy. Like with all signage, an important key is placement. Where will your audience see it most frequently? Where will your poster make the most impact? Print yours on a range of paper stocks and finish it with a protective coating that secures attendance or the sale.
Window & Wall Decals
Durable and attention-getting, wall decals offer a vibrant way to display logos and messaging on your brick and mortar’s walls. For window graphics, choose from static clings, perforated window decals or classic window decals to enhance the glass with a creative touch. And since all are repositionable and completely removable, you get to transform your business’ aesthetic – and messaging – quickly and easily any time you want.
Install your wall and window graphics with these simple steps.
Incorporate Eye-Catching Design Elements
Now that we’ve explored different types of business signs, it’s time to think about how to design a sign. One of our best recommendations is also a simple one: incorporate eye-catching elements. You need your sign to be seen, so things like dynamic graphics and bold colors are excellent places to start. Once you’ve played around with those elements, you might even up the ante with moving parts like a spinning wheel for clients to interact with.
Pick the Right Colors & Fonts
While graphics and artwork are crucial to your sign design, your target audience also needs to be able to read your message. You want to choose a font that’s not only easy to read, but also legible from a distance.
We already mentioned the importance of color, but it comes into play with fonts as well. The colors you choose have a direct effect on your customers’ behavior, so be sure to understand the impression certain hues give – and confirm they don’t clash with the color of your font!
How do you make a sign that’s easy to read? With these 10 fonts.
Foam Board Sign
Decide on the Size & Scale
The size and scale of your signage is closely related to the location of it. When you brainstorm ideas for how to make a business sign effective, one thing’s for sure: It has to suit your space. Whether that space is indoors or out, you want your sign to be sized appropriately – not too big, not too small. Mockups can be helpful to see the actual scale of your sign in the place you plan to install it. Oh, and be sure to research local zoning laws, if applicable.
honeycomb cardboard sign
Print Using High-Quality Materials & Construction
Another hallmark of high quality signage design is the sign material itself. The higher the quality, the longer it lasts and the more your message gets seen. But it’s not just about durability and lifespan. A higher quality also makes the printed content truly pop, with vibrant colors and clean, clear fonts (especially when you print your signs with Smartpress). Make sure to consider the environment you’re installing your sign in, too, and choose a weather-resistant substrate.
High quality can be sustainable, too – check out eight of our eco-friendly sign materials.
FSC Honeycomb Sign
Consider Lighting & Visibility
A well-lit sign is a well-effective one (which isn’t really a word, but you get it). Your message has to be seen, and the right lighting ensures that. If your sign location is on the dim side or your sign needs to be visible at night, there are ways around that. We already mentioned our backlit signs, which give your design a can’t-miss glow via backlit film, but alternatives like spotlighting your sign with LED or neon lighting also achieve compelling results.
Print Your Business Sign Designs with Smartpress
Now that you know how to make a business sign, especially a stand-out one, all that’s left is for you to print it with Smartpress. Explore our custom sign options, choose your size, material and finish, and then simply upload your print-ready file. Your design, created with intent, location, color and size in mind, mixed with Smartpress’ premium online printing prowess, is sure to result in the buzz and boost your business needs.
