Can’t-Miss Sign Design Tips To Fire-Up Your Marketing Results

Pro Advice for Custom Signs, Banners, Barricade Covers & Fence Screens

Effective sign design begins with an artistic fusion of colors, designs and messaging, but the magic formula is tough to pinpoint without guidance from an accomplished creative team. To achieve a high-impact, brand-forward signage presence, check out this handy, printable SONCO guide with proven tips for custom signs.

Adopt our style, message and implementation recommendations when you need high-performance banners, custom barricade covers or privacy fence screens for your business, construction site or event venue.

Tip #1: Make It Visible & Legible

Unmistakable visibility is critical to sign design, so it’s vital to choose a proper sign size, message font and installation location. SONCO’s creative team helps you select the best shape, size and orientation based on sign or banner placement and average viewing distance.

As you think about your sign’s size, font choice and layout, ask yourself:

• Are there physical obstructions or other detractors that impair sign clarity? If so, consider a larger layout, more distinctive font or increased color contrast. You may also want to move your sign, fence screen or banner to a more prominent location — or install multiple custom signs to ensure clarity from every angle.
• Would custom barricade covers and temp fence screens garner more views than other sign styles? Remember, temporary fence screens and custom covers for barricades are unique, eye-catching ways to brand a venue, advertise an event or line your perimeter. Plus, these products have other amazing benefits! Protect barriers from weather and daily wear while safeguarding construction crews from dangerous dust or debris blasts.

Tip #2: Less Is More & Simplicity Reigns

You’ve heard us say the most effective signs must be seen, understood and followed. While this may seem obvious, the execution can be tricky. To get your point across, keep custom signs simple and direct. Remember: 

• Content really is king. Place key text front and center to be seen at first glance. 
• Drive action with focused headlines. From large event banners to the barricade signs commonly found along parade routes, high-quality headers spur action and coax viewers to learn more.
• Ditch the visual clutter. Sexy graphics and glitzy visuals seem alluring, but in the end, excessive artwork often serves to confuse or dilute key messages.

Tip #3: Stay On-Brand

It’s tempting to create flashy signs with fluorescent colors and gimmicky fonts, but the best custom signs are brand-focused. Keep advertising and marketing tools consistent in brand voice and overall appearance. A brand-forward approach prevents customer confusion and keeps your company top of mind. It also promotes logo recognition and assures a clear, memorable visual identity across every touchpoint — from highway billboards and brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce platforms and company-sponsored events.

Tip #4: Emphasize Visual Quality

There’s no doubt: pixelated images, poor-quality photos and gimmicky fonts taint your brand and convey a cheap, hasty design sense to customers and event spectators. At SONCO, we care about every little detail when we create crowd-control signage. Our creatives develop professional templates and best-quality graphic renderings to produce the industry’s best custom signs and barricade covers. Using proper file formats and image sizes, correct color codes and high-resolution imagery, we deliver banners and signs that garner attention and promote action.

When you work with SONCO’s in-house design team, you get time-tested sign design tips from experts who prioritize the quality and visual integrity of every logo, typeface and sign element.

It’s Worth Repeating: Simplicity Is Fundamental

The best signage design is concise and uncluttered. Think of the last vehicle wrap you passed on the highway. Was it covered in photos, phone numbers, URLs and amateur graphics? Did you get lost in the visual mess, or were you confused about what they were advertising?

Clean, uncomplicated messages are “sticky.” They get the point across, linger in our memory and encourage us to take action. And, like the truck wraps that crowd your daily commute, well-designed business banners, festival signs and barricade art must be seen clearly by customers on the move — in cars, on bikes or on foot. 

In the moment, it’s tempting to go crazy with graphics or exaggerate your marketing claims. But in the end, extreme tactics often obscure the most vital part of your message — and that’s the worst kind of marketing failure. 

Connect With the Industry Pros for Results-Driven Custom Signs

For the crowd control industry’s best signage advice, trust SONCO’s skilled in-house creatives. Submit high-resolution artwork, logos and photos, and we’ll create high-caliber sign designs that guarantee your return on investment. Before your custom barrier cover or fence screen goes into production, you’ll also receive a FREE proof, so you’ll know just how that final product will look. There are no gimmicks or surprises when your large-format print product arrives!

Electrify your next event, promote spectator safety or monetize any work zone with custom sign design tips from SONCO’s graphic virtuosos. Fill out a short form to request free design services for upcoming traffic projects, event venues or building sites — or call today to request full-color, double-sided sign printing on a durable array of mesh and poly-blend fabrics. 

Additional Resources

Get more essential design hints and crowd control barrier signage tips when you read our posts about printed covers for barricades and OSHA-compliant safety signage!