At FASTSIGNS Hull, creating high-quality custom signs for our customers is a rewarding endeavour. Working closely with your business to produce excellent visual solutions that meet your requirements is at the heart of what we do. But, whether you are new or familiar with the custom signs industry, it may be challenging to understand what you are looking for or need in a specific signage project. There are several key factors to consider to ensure your business’ custom signs are effective, visually appealing, and convey the intended message, which we will uncover in this latest blog! Here are some tips to get you started:
1. Purpose and Audience
Make sure to understand your business’ objectives. Do you need a custom sign for branding, wayfinding, informational or other requirements? Knowing this main purpose will guide your potential design choices and, if you are still stuck, it will allow our Hull professionals to further support you with bespoke concepts.
Also, ensure you identify your business’ target audience, understanding who they are and what exactly appeals to them with visual solutions. Consider specific factors such as age, interests, values, needs and pain points among other demographic, psychographic and behavioural characteristics.
2. Materials
The type of material chosen for your business’ custom signs and visual solutions is vital. You should select materials based on factors such as the sign's location (indoor or outdoor), durability requirements, and your budget. Popular signage material options include vinyl, aluminium, aluminium composite material (ACM), acrylic, wood, and even biophilic. Weather considerations are also central to this. If your custom signs solutions will be outdoors, ensure the material can withstand weather conditions like exposure to sunlight, rain, wind and other chemicals. If your signage will be indoors, this factor is less necessary but it is still worth understanding to help choose the most appropriate custom sign material.
Again, if you remain confused, our friendly, recommended FASTSIGNS Hull experts are here to assist you!
3. Simple Design and Consistent Business Branding
When deciding on your custom sign artwork, a simple, clear layout that represents your business is essential to best attract customer interest. Adapting white space carefully will boost the effectiveness of your business’ signage, making it more eye-catching to consumers, and utilising readable font styles and sizes will only amplify your custom sign quality. Make sure any text is appropriately implemented based on its importance, again adjusting the size and style to suit your certain requirements.
Furthermore, don’t forget your business’ house colours and overall theme. Keep your custom signs and visual solutions aligned to your branding so customers will clearly recognise you across multiple channels and formats. Remember to have a suitable contrast level between the text and background colours to increase readability too, allowing your signage to serve its purpose properly.
Our Hull-based team offer content development, graphic design and even project management services, providing you with fully-comprehensive solutions for your custom signs needs!
4. Custom Sign Location
You should consider where your visual solutions are going and the viewing position, so you can maximise visibility based on your custom signs needs. The height and angle of your signage is incredibly important and can impact the success of these business goals. Also, think about the lighting conditions and whether your custom signs will be viewed during the day, at night or in dimly lit areas. If the latter, make sure your visual solutions are well-lit or incorporate reflective materials to provide effective visibility.
5. Confirm Compliance and Guidelines
Another very important aspect of custom signs and visual solutions is to ensure they are eligible for your intended use. Check all your products are aligned with local laws and regulations, particularly for outdoor signage, to prevent any potential legal troubles that could harm your business.
You should also consider accessibility guidelines when designing your custom signs and visual solutions, if applicable to your product type. Evaluating the necessity for features like braille or tactile elements, enlarged text, easy-to-read fonts, high-colour contrast and more will certainly be advantageous in making your business’ signage products legible for all.
6. Don’t Forget Contact Details and Call to Actions!
Especially if you are advertising to potential customers, it is essential to include business contact details on your custom signs, such as an appropriate email address, telephone number, website, and even your social media accounts. This will prompt your target audience to explore your business further, so it is necessary to position this information in a prominent, accessible place on your custom signs, banners or visual solutions. Whilst the inclusion of these details depends on your specific requirements, in most cases it is useful to have contact information available for prospects, if they would like to get in touch or find out more about your business.
In addition, applying a clear ‘call to action’ in conjunction with contact details can be productive in encouraging potential customers to continue on their journey with your business. Using phrases such as ‘Call Us Now’ or ‘Visit Our Website’ on your custom signs can push prospects into directly interacting with you, allowing you to build an effective relationship that boosts your business’ reputation.
7. Get Feedback
Before final approval of your custom sign or visual solution designs, gain feedback from others in your business or even from our colleagues at FASTSIGNS Hull. Test the signage products against your specific goals and make sure they accurately meet what you intend to use them for. This includes checking environment suitability for your custom signs and if they will fulfill their purpose properly. If you are unhappy with the potential result, don’t be afraid to make changes to ensure you get visual solutions that fully satisfy you and your business.
8. Utilise Online Tools
Adapting digital interfaces when planning your business’ custom signs products is key. Use graphic design software such as Adobe Illustrator, Canva, or other apps to bring your signage and visual solutions ideas to life, with various templates and features to help you get started among other impactful resources. You can further do your own research around custom signs, to help build your knowledge about the best solutions for your specific business needs.
If you require expert support from a trusted signage provider, our fantastic FASTSIGNS Hull team are here to help you! We can take care of your custom signs and visual solutions projects, with a fully-comprehensive service supplying you across the whole sign-making process, including aspects like graphic design.
Conclusion
By keeping these tips in mind, you will be able to create custom signs concepts that specifically communicate your business’ message and grab your target audience’s attention, whilst also adhering to relevant industry standards.
Our FASTSIGNS Hull team are ready to make your statement a reality. We are your recommended custom signs company, our 5-star reviews prove it. Contact us here to get started!