You made the choice to open up a business. You took the leap. Now you realize that you need signs to advertise your business and promote sales or products you want to push. Choosing the right kind of indoor signs does take some real consideration, especially when it comes to where and how you plan to display them.
The First Thing:
The first thing you need to acknowledge is your budget capabilities. There is not “one price fits all” when it comes to the purchase of signage. Understand what you have to spend on signs and adhere to it as best you can. We are here to help. Our thought process is “light is right.” Go with as light a sign as you can, as it will save you some money. However, make sure the sign(s) you do buy are durable enough for where you plan to place them and what you’re trying to accomplish with them.
Location:
In the real estate market, the common phrase is “location, location, location.” The same holds true for your signs. Your goal is to attract as many eyeballs as you can. Let’s play a hypothetical scenario. You own a small pet store. You have parakeets on sale. It’s obviously not a smart idea to place the sign promoting them at the opposite end of the store. Signs placed on a front window or glass door will garner you the absolute most amount of traffic. But maybe those are filled with other signs or graphics. The next best option is inside on a floor stand very close to the entrance.
Also be thinking about the sign’s viewability. A small 12” x 18” sign with a letter height of two inches can’t possibly be viewed well and certainly not read well at all by someone who’s 70 feet away. Keep in mind a mathematical ratio for letter size. It’s called the 1” to 10’ rule. For every extra 10 feet of distance to your sign, increase the text height by one inch.
Other things to consider when planning for viewability include the following:
- Thickness of Banner Letter Size: Thinner letters will be more difficult for viewers to read. Choose a simple, bold font type.
- White Space: White space is the term referring to the area around letters and visuals. Use the industry-standard 40/60 rule. This means your copy should take up 40% of your custom sign, with the white space occupying the remaining 60%. It may seem counterintuitive, but the white space makes correctly sized letters contrast well with the background, increasing readability.
- Kerning: Kerning is the space between letters. If letters on your custom banner are spaced too closely, the copy becomes more difficult to read, thus decreasing your effectiveness.
Deciding on the Type of Sign:
If the sign will be handled a lot or on the counter, it will require some extra care. Hands are dirty, so if the sign will be handled often, it will need cleaning. The same goes for a counter sign. Think about how often a counter sign will get touched, coughed on, sneezed on, and more. It simply is a fact. In these cases, you will want to spray down your signs to remove dirt and germs. And if that’s going to be necessary, you will need to laminate the sign. The reason for this is that if you spray directly on the sign, you will damage the ink, therefore the necessary laminate to protect it. On the other hand, a sign that’s hung won’t really need much attention, as it won’t be handled. All that it will require is an occasional dusting.
Sign Materials:
Now to our recommendations for the optimal sign material choices.
Counter Signs: For counter-displayed signage, we suggest a laminated foam board. This kind of sign is a bright white paper foam board with a moisture-resistant clay coating. It’s an industry standard for quality, well-priced foam printing and is commonly used for indoor retail display. If your counter sign is not going to be temporary or is larger than 8”x10”, consider upgrading to PVC. A foam sign can absorb excess moisture in the air over months, then begin to warp.
Ceiling/Hanging Signs: For smaller ones that you plan to hang, we recommend polystyrene. This is a material that is a premium flexible plastic board. Good for 1-sided and 2-sided printing, this makes for an excellent hanging sign. With 2-sided printing, you garner viewing from people walking in either direction of it, potentially doubling sales of the product you’re advertising. Another thing to consider… for larger hanging signs, 3mm PVC is usually a great way to go as an option.
Wall Sign Display: The kind of finishing on your wall dictates the adhesive you will need to maintain its position for the decided timeline that you have in mind. It’s important to note that if you’re going to place the sign on a wall that’s been painted, you’ll need a removable adhesive. This kind of adhesive will ensure that you won’t ruin the paint when it’s time to take the sign down.
Floor Stands: Floor stand display structures are a cost-effective way to promote your products long-term. Whether you choose to go with a metal, plastic, wire, or wood stand, you can be assured that you’ll get a sturdy structure that is built to last.
There are three good materials that work well for floor stand advertising. The first is corrugated plastic, also known as CoroplastTM. Corrugated plastic is an often-used material for signs, both indoors and outdoors. All those political signs you see displayed around town during campaign season…most all of them are made of coro.
This material is highly durable. How durable? It can last for many years inside. It’s best used for events, sales, and introducing your services and products to new customers.
Next up, polystyrene, of which we already discussed. So we move on.
Lastly, poster material will be an effective material for you to use. Think about any movie theater you’ve been to. Floor-stand posters are incredibly prevalent there. You can place a poster display right at the front of your business for maximum exposure. It will instantly deliver targeted advertising content to your customers. Floor stands and the poster material are both affordable and durable. And a final piece of good news: when you want to change out the poster, you don’t have to buy another stand. Saving money on that is a true bonus for this kind of ad presentation.
Floor Stickers: We segue from floor stands to floor stickers now. This is important. Use a non-skid laminate, preferably one that has a pebbled feel to it (meaning tiny little bumps throughout). Why is this important? This type of pebbled, non-stick laminate sticker will help protect you legally from a slip-and-fall scenario. It can happen. The last thing you want is to be held liable and your company sued. Be smart; be careful with floor stickers. A wet leather shoe can slip on most anything. Any good sign company like ours can produce this type of floor sticker for you, and you’ll know you’ve done your due diligence.
Window Signs & Glass Door Signs: Being that windows and glass doors are clear, see-through surfaces with which to advertise, we endorse the use of plain stickers, poster stickers, and even lightweight rigid boards made of PVC. You won’t want to go with anything heavier, as adhesion of materials to glass can get slightly tricky to keep on. A PVC sheet is good for long-term indoor display. The lifespan is 2-3 years when used indoors. We brought up that you don’t want to go with too heavy a sign on glass. Our PVC signs weigh less than a half pound per square foot.
Additionally, on glass doors, a good idea is to use static cling stickers, also commonly referred to as decals in our industry. Static cling stickers are very popular in the retail industry. How they work is different than any of the other signs discussed in this article. Static cling stickers actually have no adhesion. With it, they can easily be repositioned, re-used, or removed.
You’ve seen static cling stickers on the inside of your windshield that remind you to get an oil change in three months. You’ve probably removed them as new ones are going to get put on. They come off with ease. It’s the same principle with static cling advertising stickers for your business. The way they “stick” to a glass surface is because the forces between them and glass are cohesive. That means that molecular forces between the two objects actually unite, and therefore no adhesion is needed.
In Closing:
When planning on advertising or promoting with indoor signage, remember, your budget is the first thing that will determine what kind you’ll be able to purchase. Go over where you plan to display your promotional piece(s), and that will go a long way in helping you decide what kind of signage you’ll want to get. Lastly, understand the makeup and properties of the different kinds of signs that are on the market. These three factors should be the complete guide to helping you make a decision. If you still have any questions, head to our website or call our professional, knowledgeable sales team at (800) 614-8040. They can assist you with any inquiries you may have. We look forward to helping you. Our success comes from your success, and we’re excited to be a small part of it.
