What Do I Include on My New Sign?

The process of selecting and buying a sign is filled with lots and lots of decisions to be made --
- How big?
- Where on building?
- What materials?

Much of this gets decided in the budget process, or even by city permit regulations related to sizing and placement.

For many customers the hardest decision is to know exactly WHAT to put on the sign! They see the investment and want to maximize the "bang for the buck" and put the right info on there.

MORE IS BETTER? Sometimes, but generally not in signs! Keeping it simple is better -- your business name must be primary! Much more than that is tricky. You want to balance getting GOOD info on the sign that is useful, vs. cluttering it up so much it is ignored altogether!

LOGO IMPORTANT? Certainly, your logo is important to your brand, but if your logo or mark is complex, full of details, multi-part, or not really related to your business, then leave it off and let your name do the job. Unless your logo is clean, easy to read, and an integral part of your name, then I would drop it and let your business name, and maybe product, stand on its own!

WEBSITE? I never advise my clients to put a website on their PRIMARY sign, as the clients are right there, about to turn into your parking lot! No need for a website to attract them. Other signs, like your window lettering or vehicle graphics would be a great place to feature your website.

ADDRESS? I would also not include your address if you can exclude it. Your clients are probably looking for your BUSINESS name, and not the address. If it works, put your address on your building -- that's where it belongs!

PHONE NUMBER? You might consider a phone number if you are a kind of business that requires or encourages clients to make appointments, or even is a business that delivers your product. If you generally have a lot of walk-in business, then don't include it. If you feel strongly, it isnt' a bad thing to have there, but only if you have plenty of room for something "extra".

If your tendency is to do "MORE" and you are having a hard time editing yourself, think about the biggest brands in the world -- even though they are the best known brands, they still keep their signs SIMPLE and CLEAN to make the business easy to find. Best Buy, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts... they all let their name speak for themselves and focus on high contrast, easy to read graphics.

Long Live LESS IS MORE!