The Long View

Okay, I realize that I have no training or experience as a designer for graphics or signage, but I do know when something isn’t working. I cannot tell you how many really bad signs I’ve come across over the years. I call it Bad Sign Syndrome.

Design mistakes can hurt the effectiveness even the coolest application. I’ve seen spectacular applications totally fail because they were poorly designed—either there was too much to read, or I simply couldn’t figure out what the ad was actually promoting.

I think it’s largely up to the sign maker to create a sign that achieves its purpose. The client doesn’t necessarily know what makes for good signage, and so the single most important thing you can ask a potential client is, How will this sign be used, and what is our goal?

The answer will often give you strong clues as to how to best design the message for readability and graphic appeal. The elements of design will vary, of course. A building wrap shouldn’t be designed the same way as a tradeshow graphic, or an LED display, or a routed dimensional sign.

The most common mistakes that I have noticed all seem to boil down to a few basic concepts: Crowded text or text that’s too small to read; the overuse of creative fonts and/or too many font types; a lack of contrast(or clashing colors) between text and background; backgrounds that are too busy; graphics that are too busy, that conflict with or otherwise distract from the text message.

Good designers know that just because Photoshop allows you to create super-cool looking flame-job backgrounds with ghostly skulls and shooting stars, it doesn’t mean that it will make for an effective sign. It usually doesn’t.

In the world of effective visual communication, less is generally more.

But what do you when your paying client insists that they know better? They know what they want, and by God, that’s what the want. It might go something like this: We did this terrific brochure campaign last year and had tremendous response. We want it to look just like that, only larger and at outdoor locations.

What’s a sign guy to do?

You calmly tell them that—in your opinion, based on your experience as a longtime professional in the field of outdoor signage—just because this layout worked great in a brochure campaign, doesn’t mean that it will translate directly into a sign campaign. Next, you need to sell your design concepts.

Tie your design ideas back to the company’s business objectives. Explain the elements of good sign design, and why they work. Remember that the key issues with customers are timing, cost and ROI. Discussing realistic expectations every step along the way will definitely help. Managing expectations is a part of the game that cannot be ignored.

If all else fails, then defensive measures must be taken. Just to—you know—C.Y.A. If they still insist on pursuing a bad idea, tell them, Sure, we can do it that way, but I don’t think you’ll like the outcome. A good warning may help. You just know that if you don’t try to warn them, the campaign’s failure will become your fault. Be careful out there.

Okay, back to work