It amazes me every day that I drive down the street and see the same outdoor advertising graphic design mistakes repeated over and over again. Business owners trying to make a living with a street presence that barley draws attention.

There are two scenarios that I see on a regular basis.

• A potential customer walks into a custom sign store and indicates their budget. The sign shop owner is weak, afraid of losing a potential sale, so he delivers a sign product designed to fit the proposed cost. Using a simple educational style, selling the sign store could have sold a product that would have made more money for your store and for the customer.
• Another customer walks into the sign shop with a design or design concept that sucks. Again, the fear of losing the customer makes the sign maker hand over the useless sign. Money down the drain.

Here are some key design elements that I have learned over 15 years in the outdoor advertising industry.

1. Remember that potential customers of all backgrounds and ages view your business from a moving vehicle, in traffic, day and night. They should be able to see and read your outdoor advertising easily. Don’t try to sell them with information on the sign; save that information until they are in your business. 2. The correct design and layout of your sign is critical to its effectiveness. Cluttering the sign with too much text makes it impossible to read from a car or from a distance. Therefore, the fewer words the better. Use the old adage – KISS method – Keep it simple, son. 3. Understand the concept of “First reading”. There should be a focal point located on the sign that will have an impact and attention. Ideally, the first reading should incorporate branding elements such as a large graphic or your company logo. 4. Your sign is your “first impression” with the mobile market, and first impressions are lasting impressions. Your outdoor advertising should project the positive image you want the public to have of your business. Potential customers will judge the interior of your business by its exterior appearance. 5. Many owners mistakenly think of a sign as simply a device that identifies the business. What they don’t realize is that more than half of all new retail sales are the result of impulse purchases. People see, buy and buy. If your outdoor advertising is ineffective, it will cost a lot more in lost sales than the full cost of a good sign. 6. Your outdoor advertising must have a visual impact. You should make your products or services and their location easy to remember. 7. Make sure colors are used in contrasting patterns. Green on blue is not readable, while black on white is extremely visible. 8. If you have multiple colors in a chart, stay away from lines of multicolored text or words (they will compete with the colors in your chart). Black text is better. 9. Ideally, the design and colors of your location or building should reinforce the design and colors of your sign (or vice versa). Color is probably the easiest and most cost-effective device for this design coordination for business identification. 10. “White space”. This is the surface area of ​​the face of a sign that is exposed by text or graphics. The right amount of white space is just as important for quick reading as graphics, text, and colors. In fact, 30% to 40% of the sign’s face area should be left as white space for optimal readability.

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