Why SIGNS are important

Signs are defined as the use of letters or images to communicate a message

Your business deserves to be seen, and with help from the right company, they can help you with becoming visible while maintaining your individual branding. Finding the right signage expert will show you how important certain colors, words, lighting and designs affect your business being seen. Most signage experts handle a wide variety of your business’s needs, including branding, design concepts, permitting, manufacturing, project management and installation. They should work closely with you to understand your business and develop customized solutions that convey your message properly.

Designing signs isn’t as easy as it seems…

Have you ever been told you’re not allowed to have that sign?

Well, many other people have too. Infact a lot of businesses have. This is due to town, county, and city regulations regarding signs. Zoning districts also effect the design and lighting of signs. Luckily, every state, county, town and city have difference zoning and code ordinances. For example: in the state of Florida – you cannot file your own permit application for a sign. You must have a general contractors license in order to file for a sign permit. In other states, such as New York (outside of the city), if you are an independent business owner, you can file for the permit of your sign individually. Other restrictions include plaza master sign plans – if you are going into a multi-tenant shopping plaza as a new business, and the requirement of engineered drawings. All areas are different, so the most important thing you can do when starting to ponder about your exterior business sign, is to start diving into the town code in your location of business.

Creating your brand

When you are first starting your business, you should always keep in mind the message you are trying to send your customer. Creating a logo is the most important step of starting a business. This should not be something you come up with on a whim but take days, weeks or even months to decide on a final design. You also always want to remember that if you’re opening a storefront, you will need to use your logo for your signage. Choosing small, skinny, super decorative, hard to read letters is not a good idea if you plan on creating a sign for you business. Most business locations will be set back from a roadway and vehicles will travel past your sign at atleast 45mph+. Those tiny, thin letters will NEVER be seen.

Take advice from your signage expert

When you start to explore options with your newly found sign company – take their advice.
Us sign people have been around for a long time and most importantly we have dealt with a lot of signs. This is our way of life. We don’t drive down a mile long road without noticing every single sign. Which one is not lighting, which one cannot be seen, which one has fading colors, which one is cracked or broken. We notice them all and we know which ones we would never create!

Trust us when we tell you red will fade. Trust us when we tell you to utilize your square footage to maximize the soul purpose of your business. Trust us when we tell you that you need a new logo.

See the signs – they will be there

Most customers aren’t going to be interested in the name of your business. They want to know what you are selling. If you saw a sign that said, “Mary’s store”, would you go inside without being able to tell what Mary was selling? Probably not. If the sign including the words “children’s toys” or “antiques”, would you be more interested in turning your car around to see what’s inside? Most likely. Adding additional words onto signs may also have its downfall. You know the saying, less is more. Remember those 45mph+ vehicles? They are saying the same thing. When there are too many words, the words won’t matter because no one is reading them anyway. This is where your signage expert will help you discover what is important and what can be left off. Clarifying to the public what you have to offer is the number one way of gaining business. That is why signs are important.

DID YOU KNOW: You can see all of Lauren’s blog posts under the “blog” tab at the top of the page!