It’s not hard to spot the signs...

Check out this interesting article by Stephen Gurr from The Gainesville Times. I recommend checking out your illuminated sign tonight as you leave your office. Partially lit signs definitely send the wrong message.

~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

SCOTT ROGERS (The Times)

Anywhere you go around town at night, from the smallest of mom-and-pops to the biggest of banks, words on lit business signs are disjointed or truncated by burned-out letters. To some, it seems to have reached new levels of alphabetical disregard.

"Gainesville is beginning to look like one of the most run-down towns," said Betty Brothers, owner of Shiloh Signs.

Brothers did not approach The Times for this article; the newspaper contacted her. She said she has enough business without pointing out how many store owners aren’t promptly repairing their signs.

But the lack of maintenance around town irks Brothers, who has been in the sign business for 10 years and says it has never been worse.

"This is such a sore spot with me, and not because I’m in the business — it just looks so bad," she said.

Signs with three-dimensional letters backlit by fluorescent or neon lighting are known in the industry as "channel letter" signs. Brothers said these signs often are run by complex electrical wiring and fixing them isn’t as simple as screwing in a new bulb. Some repairs, especially those requiring a bucket truck, can be expensive. Still, many average repairs would run a few hundred dollars.

The managers of each of the businesses photographed last week by The Times said they were in the process of having their signs fixed. A manager for Advance Auto Parts said a repair request was submitted to the corporate offices two months ago.

Maya Patel, owner of the Texaco station on Ga. 53, said he was unaware his sign had dimmed letters because he isn’t at the store at night. He will have it fixed by his regular sign maintenance contractor immediately, Patel said.

The prevalence of burned-out signs raises the obvious question: Is the economy to blame? Is routine maintenance being deferred more often these days because of tight business budgets?

David Hickey, a spokesman for the International Sign Association, doesn’t think so.

A widespread lack of channel letter sign maintenance isn’t an issue his organization has heard much about in the recession economy, he said.

"I have heard that often burned-out lights aren’t changed right away because their owners think that somehow they’ll be saving on energy costs," Hickey said. "But these cost savings are negligible, and if a darkened sign means that a customer doesn’t drop by, that is a much greater loss to the business."

Brothers theorized that many signs that were new during the growth and development boom are now requiring maintenance as they get older. Some signs aren’t being repaired because the businesses are going under, she added.

Brothers noted that many mall and shopping center owners require their tenants to keep all letters lit, but there are no such county or city ordinances.

Rusty Ligon, Gainesville’s community development director, said there are codes addressing sign maintenance. Business owners must make repairs when letters have become detached or have fallen off, paint has peeled or flaked off, or bricks or stones have become misaligned or detached, Ligon said.

The code does not specifically require channel letter signs to be fully lit.

"Typically we respond to these types of issues on a complaint basis," Ligon said. "We would check out the sign to be sure there was no safety issue, first and foremost. If there was a public safety issue, then we would have the property owner immediately address it. If not, we would bring it to the owner’s attention and encourage them to replace the burned-out bulbs."

Partially lit signs send the wrong message, Brothers said.

"It really says a lot about your business, and the community," she said.

Window Graphics

I always recommend clients change their storefronts from time to time. This attracts attention to passerbys and allows a great marketing opportunity. Check out this is article on how Gap is utilizing this great advertising medium.

~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

Oversized window graphics decorate The Gap outlet on Michigan Avenue in Chicago in August as part of a multi-store graphics campaign helping to launch the clothing maker’s 1969 Premium Jeans product line.

Window Graphics Play Large for The Gap

Application heralds new commemorative product line at the company’s flagship stores

By: Mike Antoniak for Sign & Digital Graphics January 2010

When The Gap unveiled its line of 1969 Premium Jeans in August 2009, the retail clothing giant pulled out all the stops. Supporting the launch of the new line of denim was a multi-faceted media blitz that entailed advertising in all forms of media including an iPhone application, an interactive Facebook gallery, and in-store concerts.

If the fashion-conscious in major markets missed any of that, they couldn’t ignore the gargantuan window graphics heralding the line at the company’s flagship stores in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal and Toronto.

WINDOW DRESSINGS

“This was a multi-channel campaign to launch the brand for one month, starting in August,” explains Anthony Gardner, The Gap’s senior director of global marketing. The new clothing line is named to commemorate the company’s founding, 40 years ago.

“We’re an image-based iconic brand, and it was extremely important we had the highest quality prints for some billboard-sized window graphics.”

Graphics for The Gap’s flagship store on 42nd Street in New York. Crush Creative printed and installed a total of 14,911 square feet of graphics at the 12 stores for the launch. All installations were completed the same night.

Mike Antoniak is a freelance writer based in Dowelltown, Tenn. He’s covered digital imaging since its inception in the early 1980s, then covered early developments of digital printing as photo labs made their initial forays into wide-format printing. Since then, he’s written about varied aspects and applications of digital printing for several publications.

What Investing in Signage Will do for your Business

This is an article a college friend of mind wrote for companies looking to grow in 2010.

~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

What Investing in Signage Will do for your Business

By Alyssa Burroughs ©

It is the fresh New Year of 2010 and time to throw off the economical slump of 2009. Corporations such as Coca Cola and Proctor & Gamble are reinventing themselves to sell to a savvier consumer and a tighter economy. Small business owners who have survived the foreclosure and bankruptcy hurricane are looking into cost-effective ways to market themselves successfully. Whatever the size your business may be, driving traffic to it is essential to a profitable and growing company. Here are three ways to increase your marketing exposure with signage.

Banners

Starting the New Year with brand new product offerings, discounted services, or a sale on inventory may be a good way to jump start sales. New product and sales will not help you if no one knows about it. Displaying your sale to the world brings in traffic, and at the very least will turn heads. A relatively inexpensive investment would be to purchase a banner. Vinyl banners are especially popular, and can be used repeatedly. They are weather resistant and can be attached to a storefront, displayed on poles, or even hung indoors. They can be custom created with one color up to full color graphics, even printing your logo to capture brand recognition.

Vehicle Graphics

Driving to meet a client? Going to the grocery store? Marketing your business can even happen while on the road. Vehicle graphics are becoming very popular. According to a study done by Arbitron Inc., an international marketing firm, outdoor marketing plays a key role in the advertising industry. Vehicle lettering, car wraps, and window coverings are getting the attention of thousands daily. Where ever the vehicle goes, it offers your unique brand to impress upon the masses that are commuting. The Arbitron study concludes, that with the heightened awareness needed to operate a vehicle, it has been shown that brand recognition is easier to recall than indoor media (television, radio etc.). Wrapping or lettering a vehicle can give small business owners vast exposure with a low cost.

Illuminated Signs

As a business owner you have searched high and low for the perfect spot to open up shop. You have researched the demographic and found the niche that you are looking to market. Sometimes the sign that points to your front door gets overlooked or it will be missed if customers cannot see it at night. While an illuminated sign might cost more than the run of the mill banner, they have significant advantages. Obviously when dusk hits, illuminated signs will stand out brightly against the darkening sky. A lit, mounted, or free-standing sign subconsciously tells the viewer that your business is no fly-by-night operation. The ultimate goal, other than first attracting customers, is to keep them coming back and wanting more. Providing a strong, trustworthy image is essential in creating return customers.

Expect Results

Whether choosing a simple one color banner or installing lit signage that indicates where and who you are, results will roll in. Investing in signage will always give you a return and provide much needed information to your customer.

Line Value

This is an older article that I still find invaluable and utilize daily.

~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant

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Line Value Avoid monotony by changing letter weight.

In our effort to find the most effective layout for our client, we use many different pieces of the design puzzle to draw and keep the attention of the viewer. No matter how much software we use or how many bells and whistles we apply to our design, in the end our sign must be readable and pleasing to the eye. Information must be conveyed from the sign to the mind of the viewer. And it must be done in such a way that a positive image is left. In a very short time (usually three to five seconds) our layout must transmit not only a piece of information, but also an image that is favorable to our client.

GRABBING ATTENTION
In order to grab and keep attention, our designs must be pleasing to the eye. One of the things that will detract from a pleasant image for our customer is monotony. If everything in our layout looks the same we will not be very effective in getting a message across.

One of the most useful tools for avoiding monotony is the simple procedure of varying the line value of our letter styles. (This is also called weight.) Value is the relative lightness or darkness of a font. Just as we can draw attention to an object with color by placing the darkest dark against the lightest light, we can draw attention to any copy block we want by placing the heaviest weight letter next to the lightest weight letter.

Figure 1 is boring and monotonous; in Figure 2, your eye is drawn to one word.

No one likes to listen to a monotone speaker; it is dull and uninteresting. In the same way, we lose interest quickly when what we are viewing becomes monotonous.

Figure 1 has three words of all the same line value (weight). Each word must be read individually to receive the total message. Even though this example is just a series of words, the end result is still monotony. As the line values are varied (see Figure 2) we can draw attention to any part of our layout. The word Heavy is the first thing the eye sees because of the bold weight (of course, the rule lines help, too). This would be where the priority copy of our design would be placed.

BETWEEN THE LINES
As a more practical example, notice the wording in Figure 3. Again, each word has to be read in order for the message to become clear. The wording and spacing is mechanical. The negative spaces between the words are the same heights as the lettering.
Monotony reigns.

Figure 3: Nothing jumps out at you; by varying the line value, the layout becomes more readable in Figure 4.

This simple sign becomes easier to read when the copy is broken into two blocks with one having a heavier value (Leasing Office) and the suite number rendered much lighter (see Figure 4). Leasing Office draws attention, and then if the viewer is looking for that office they can read further.

Figure 5 represents a common attempt to fill up the sign space with words, but the eye is actually drawn to the negative space between the words. Since all the wording has the same weight it is very difficult to read. Actually, the eye tries to read the message as two columns. By varying the font style and line value (see Figure 6) we can get our viewer's attention drawn first to the main copy (Free Wash) and then to the remaining copy in a descending order of importance.

Figure 5: A typical effort to "fill up" the sign with words. Figure 6: The customer's message is more easily read.

MORE IS LESS
By arranging our copy properly and using varying weights of fonts, our goal is to produce a layout with a 1) Foreground, 2) Middle Ground, and 3) Background (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: Guiding the viewer's eye through the layout.

These examples have all been presented in black and white to emphasize how important this piece of the layout puzzle is to good design, but with the addition of color the layout can be even more effective. By placing the darkest color value against the lightest color value we can draw the viewer's attention to our priority copy immediately. The less important copy receives less contrast in color value. But, that is the subject of another article down the road.

Figure 8 is the typical For Sale sign that can be seen anywhere. In an effort to get our message across we often make everything as big as we can, forgetting that more is less.

Figure 8: Unfortunately, what we see everywhere.

Since most of these sign panels must be produced as economically as possible, we often throw our layout principles out the window and just slap together some words -- Letters-by-the-pound. This doesn't have to be the rule. Good design does not take any more time to produce than garbage and does not have to be elaborate to be effective.

In this example all of the lettering is Helvetica, which is not basically wrong, but becomes monotonous when used for everything. By using Helvetica in different weights and adjusting the negative space to allow the layout to breathe, this design could be very effective while being very simple.

The sign that I produced several years ago (see Figure 9) is not elaborate but does the job of getting the customer's message across neatly and attractively, I think. Notice the ample use of negative space and the range of values in the weight of the copy. Of course, there are thousands of different ways in which this 18" x 24" could have been designed, and all may have been effective.

Figure 9: Nothing elaborate, but readable and attractive.

By using the principles of good layout (the puzzle pieces) we can achieve designs that are both readable and attractive. Everything that goes out the door does not have to be an elaborate masterpiece, but it should present our customers with the best image possible.

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By: Raymond Chapman for Sign Business. July 2003

Vehicle Wraps Part Deux

A few other often asked questions in regards to vehicle wraps...

Will a Vehicle Wrap damage my paint?

In most cases vehicle wraps will not damage factory paint jobs. It is important to talk with your supplier and possibly pre-test your paint job prior to wrapping with vinyl. Paint in poor condition may peel when vinyl is removed.

What in your opinion is the single most advantage of a Vehicle Wrap as opposed to a new paint job?

The biggest reason in my mind is flexibility. With vehicle wraps, a designer's creativity and design possibilities are limitless. For example, it is difficult to paint a photograph, but easy to digitally reproduce a photograph. Paint simply cannot duplicate what is possible with digitally printed vinyl vehicle wraps.

Does a vinyl wrap weigh less than a paint job?

Yes. According to research done by 3M, using vinyl instead of paint on race vehicles can lower the weight of a car by as much as 30 pounds!

Amy L. Donahue
Signage Consultant

Vehicle Wraps vs. Paint

Are vehicle wraps better than painting a vehicle? This is probably one of the questions I am most often asked when someone is looking into marketing on their vehicles. Below is the non-biased research I discovered...

First off, despite the seeming expense, vehicle wraps are less expensive than painting vehicles. Actually in most cases less than 1/2 the cost.

Secondly, vehicle wraps will give the vehicle better resale or trade-in-value. Wraps actually help protect the vehicle's paint and can easily be removed without harming the vehicle's finish. If the vehicle was painted it would need to be sanded down and re-painted.

The third reason vehicle wraps are better than painting is the ease of updates. Phone number change? No problem- a simple removal with heat and application of new and you're done. Painting on the other hand...

The fourth reason is the safety factor. The graphics used to cover the windows is a perforated material that allows the driver to still see clearly through the windows.

Lastly, is a creative aspect. There is much more flexibility and freedom with vehicle wraps. They can be created digitally prior to any production. Also, vehicle wraps can seamlessly cover virtually your entire vehicle, giving more space for the advertising message.


Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant