Monthly Archives: July 2022

What Should One Know BEFORE Entering the Signage Industry?

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What Should I know BEFORE I go in to the sign business?

While this SignForce blog space is generally focused on the benefits of signs, the pitfalls of signs and general selling of signs, this post will be different as the writer was recently approached by a family looking to get into the signage industry, and asked about it.

After my initial shock – wondering why would any ‘sane‘ individual – the mom who spoke to me looked and sounded VERY sane – WANT to get into the signage industry.

It is quite possible that I was stressed at the time and thus I was too quick to forget that this was me about 22 years ago. Someone looking to get out of the financial / consulting industry I was in and looking for a new challenge – they do say be careful what you ask for!

I guess that at a time when business is tough I had forgotten all the positive aspects of the signage industry that have served me well for the past two decades, and was more focused on the day to day challenges I was facing.

As a colleague recently mentioned, the signage industry is not for feint of heart, sane people ho want a boring, predictable, regular job where you have structure and know days in advance what your schedule – and life – will look like.

Signage is an extremely dynamic business where, if one is not disciplined, your daily schedule can change every other minute.

On the positive side the signage industry requires one to be a jack of many trades, possibly a master of one or two, with the ability to design, work with multiple materials and SEE (visualize) some things that don’t exist – in the sense that one has to be able to imagine what the end product (that does not exist) will look like AND be able to work backwards from what the end product looks like through the step by step manufacturing process – which may change when actual production begins, so lets add in that being in the signage industry one needs to be extremely FLEXIBLE – to the start which includes determining what materials will WORK to achieve the desired outcome. All this in the most cost effective manner.

While traditional sign writers in the 21st century tended to be artisans that came through the ranks of artists who did some apprenticeship and could go into a one man business, modern signage is more computer generated, and more business like than ever before.

For a modern sign business to be successful the head of the business tends to need to be a marketer and sales person with a BIG PICTURE mentality where one is able to talk to, motivate, lead, inspire and deal with the widest possible range of people – from the MD of a large publicly listed business to an ego driven politician who will never have done a days work in your industry but will always know how to do it better, to the slowest, lowest paid employee in a business who may be required to do the simplest and most important of tasks, without which the work comes to a sudden – not even grinding – HALT.

The need to be able to get all individuals to work together is possibly the second largest challenge, second only to the need to be able to turn off and take time away from work in the modern world where one tends to be expected to be online, on call and available 25 / 8 / 366.

On the other hand, if one possesses the necessary mind set and skill set and is prepared to put in some HARD WORK, working what can be insane hours with little gratitude or reward, then signage can be the most amazing and rewarding industry.

Working in signage can be amazing because it opens doors for a person with a flair for design to put their skills into practical operation. There are seldom two days in a row where signage wok is the same. Signage requires one to think out of the box a LOT more than one would expect, possibly because the industry is dynamic, and client’s can have some EXTREME expectations, from how long a sign will take to produce to what the sign will cost to how long the sign will last to what the sign may look like. 

The signage industry has almost ZERO limitations in design. This means that ten sign businesses – or ten estimators within one sign business – can quote the same sign and come up with 10 different designs, 10 different costs and 10 different structures. It cannot be stressed enough that all 10 designs will ALL look the same on paper, and they will surely ALL work – at least in the short term – but they can (and most likely WILL) be VASTLY different in design, (finished) look, appeal and cost. This is one of the reasons it is so difficult for buyers of signs to compare the offerings of one sign business with another if they do not have detailed specifications on EXACTLY what materials will be used in the manufacturing of the sign, as well as how they will be assembled.

Signage is also an ancient and static yet changing and dynamic industry. Signage is possibly the third oldest profession – ok, that is an exaggeration, especially as physical businesses needed to come first – because it has been around a LONG time. Some ancient techniques are still used to manufacture certain signs, yet there are also new and exciting developments, new materials and a lot more digital processes used in modern day signage.

BUT, even with the new materials and the -progress of digital signs, for the large part signage is still an EXTREMELY LABOUR – read that as PEOPLE – intensive and oriented business. Yes, machines can make a number of modern signs, BUT machines (and AI) have limitations that may mean the client’s reject the signage or the machines cannot make signs with certain materials or they cannot be used to DESIGN certain signs or processes.

This means that until AI can (a) design and think out of the box, (b) get on it’s – their? -hands and knees and climb ladders and drill holes that are nor necessarily ‘straight’ – people employed in the signage industry are sort of secure in the knowledge that like many artisans – plumbers, electricians and the like, the physical elements of the work will not be done away with in the foreseeable future.

SignForce believes that the market is large enough for all competitors, and collaborators, so we at SignForce work closely with a number of our competitors. Because this is our philosophy, we are glad to assist any folks that are as insane as we are and looking to enter the signage with information on the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of the signage industry as we see it.

For more information – or for signs – contact SignForce now on info@signforce.co.za or call +27 (0)11 440 7525 or WhatsApp +27 (0)82 558 6413

Find out more about SignForce by visiting our website at http://www.signforce.co.za

The 4.5 Secrets of a Successful sign

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The 4.5 Secrets of a Successful sign

“Almost any sign is better than no sign – but not always.”

A successful sign needs to follow some basic rules, the most important being:

Legibility, Contrast, Size, Color and Competition.

1. Legibility:

Regardless of the color used, the size and the beauty of your sign, if your sign is not legible, it is not likely to achieve it’s objective of attracting viewers and potential customers. Legibility is determined by a combination of factors including the TEXT SIZE, FONT, TEXT COLOR and CONTRAST.

If the text is too small or too large, it can make the sign difficult or impossible to read. Either way people will most likely not take the time to read or try understand the message, and the sign will not attract the necessary attention, and will fail in it’s objective of attracting prospective customers.

The font you use can have a massive impact the legibility and understanding of your sign and it’s message. The writer remembers a sign that he always believed was for a beer company as the legible part of the sign read BREW. Turns out when the signage was replaced it was a design company. Their sign was almost totally illegible, had too much ‘noise‘ and the font was exceptionally difficult to read, especially in the short time one had to read the sign while driving.

The color of the text relates to both the text itself and the contrast between the text and it’s surrounds.

2. Contrast:

If your sign has little contrast it may look fantastic ion paper and also be classy on small items – badges, folders and the like. The lack of contrast tends to become more of an issue when the sign is large, the time to read is limited and the contrast is so limited that it is not easy to IMMEDIATELY differentiate between the text and the background.

Successful signs need CONTRAST. The greatest contrast is between BLACK and YELLOW. It may not always be practical or possible to use black and yellow – for example if your logo is green or blue or red or a combination – but if your logo is red and you use the same or a slightly different shade of red for the backing, the chances are that if you placed that sign on a billboard, your message would be lost.

3. Size:

In signage, the general rule is BIGGER IS BETTER! While BIGGER IS BETTER is true in the vast majority of cases, it is not always so. The larger the sign the further away the reader can be. That is simple. The larger the sign the larger the text, hence it is more legible from a larger distance. However, if the text is TOO LARGE for signs that need to be read from close up, then size of the sign can distract from the intended message, and at worst end up with the sign looking gaudy and unprofessional – something which could negatively reflect on your brand.

The question of SIZE also impacts the distance the sign may be spaced off a wall or backing board.

Free Floating signage is great in that it enhances a 3D look, makes the sign look modern and professional and helps attract attention while making the business look GOOD. This positive effect can be reversed when a sign is spaced too far off a backing board. If for example, your text is 100 mm high, and you have it spaced 100 mm off the backing board, not only are all the fixings visible – which can look very untidy and unprofessional – the fixings being the same size as the sign (in this example) often makes it look like the owner skimped on the signage, which could have a negative impact on the brand.

4. Color

As already stated color (colour) and contrast are essential for successful signs and signage. It is the writers view that the color you use in your signage should be as close as possible to the colour you use in your other promotional material. A little secret – most people will never see your letterhead close enough to your sign to do an accurate comparison. That said, our subconscious mind is an extremely powerful tool, and will pick up even slight variations that may look incorrect. If your subconscious sees or believes that a sign is incorrect, it is not uncommon for people to rather walk away and try an unknown brand than to use a brand that they know, they recognize and they trust, BUT not the fong kong LOOKING replica. This phenomena has been demonstrated to this writer on a number of occasions. (For more information on this phenomena you are welcome to contact the writer).

siBold colors work well in signs, especially when they contrast with the back ground. Because bold color works well with signage it is always recommended to remember that signs, like music, are not only about what one sees and hears, but about the SPACE around what one sees and the space between the musical notes.

4.5. Competition

Competition is not it’s own number as it may seem a little strange to think about when designing one’s signage, however, like most things in life, signage is SLEDOM seen in isolation.

If you are the only sign on a long road, with nothing else around for miles (kilometres for those on the metric measuring system), you can most likely get sway with almost ANY sign. A hand written board that is too small to generally get noticed could attract attention on a long open road as it is simply not the same as it’s surroundings, and could thus stand out enough to be seen. [Please remember that being seen does not necessarily equal being read or legible].

On the other hand, if you are looking to install a sign in an area that is almost overpopulated with a variety of signs that create sufficient visual pollution to give prospective viewers a head ache, if the sign does not have any ‘special features’ that make the sign stand out from the competition, the sign may not get seen at all.

Competition is a seldom considered factor in signage that has the potential to make a HUGE impact on the success of your sign.

For advise on signs that work contact SignForce now on info@signforce.co.za or call and ask for Arnold on +27 (0)11 440 7525 or WhatsApp Arnold on +27 (0)82 558 6413.

Find out more about SignForce by visiting http://www.signforce.co.za