6 Signage Design Tips You Will Want Today

Signage plays a crucial role in branding and marketing strategies, influencing foot traffic and purchasing decisions. Research supports this impact. A 2021 survey by Inmar Intelligence found that 69% of shoppers who noticed an in-store advertisement browsed for the featured product, and 61% of those subsequently purchased it. Those stats are impressive!

Figuring out how to design a sign effectively for your business can be challenging, even for experienced graphic designers. From commercial signage design to large-scale outdoor signage design, ensuring readability and visual appeal requires careful planning and adherence to key signage design principles.

Mistakes in the design process can lead to costly revisions and missed opportunities to connect with potential customers. To help businesses create high-quality signage design, this guide covers essential best practices that enhance visibility, engagement, and overall effectiveness.

1. Prioritize Legibility

A sign that isn’t legible serves no purpose. Wayfinding signage should provide clear directions, while tradeshow and event signs must instantly communicate a business’s identity. If visitors have to squint to read a sign or struggle to understand its message, it fails to do its job.

Beyond being ineffective, poorly executed signage design can actually harm a business. Confusing or hard-to-read signs create uncertainty, making potential customers second-guess whether they should step inside. For brick-and-mortar retailers that depend on foot traffic, ensuring high-quality signage design is essential to making a strong first impression and driving in-store visits.

2. Avoid Visual Clutter

A clean, uncluttered signage design improves visibility and ensures that key information stands out. Bright colors and bold, legible lettering help grab attention. At the same time, overly complex backgrounds or intricate images can make signs difficult to read—especially for outdoor signage design that needs to be understood from a distance.

White space also plays a crucial role in how to design a sign effectively. The United States Sign Council Foundation recommends a 40% content to 60% negative space ratio, which helps prevent overcrowding and enhances readability. Whether for commercial signage design or wayfinding signs, a well-balanced layout ensures that messaging remains clear and impactful.

3. Create a Balance Between Text and Graphics and Think About Viewing Distance

An effective signage design maintains a thoughtful balance between text and imagery, ensuring the message remains clear without overwhelming the viewer. Too many visual elements can create clutter, making the sign harder to read, while too little can leave it unengaging.

Viewing distance is another key factor in how to design a sign that stands out. Signs intended for pedestrians can feature more detailed text, while outdoor signage designed for drivers should have larger, bolder lettering that can be read at high speeds. Commercial signage design can effectively capture attention and communicate information at a glance by considering placement, audience, and visual hierarchy.

4. Use Appropriately Contrasting Colors

Have you ever looked at a piece of printed material or even a webpage and thought, “Wow, that color combination is hurting my eyes!” Indeed, not all colors play nicely together, and the result of using bad combinations can make your signage downright unreadable.

Consulting the color wheel to determine which colors might work together for both legibility and an attractive look is an excellent place to start. Still, for non-designers, the relationships between different colors can be a bit perplexing.

It’s important to note that you’ll also need to think about the lighting in the environment where your signs will be located. Outdoor signage will have different color requirements than those indoors. The highest contrast designs will be most important in low-light settings. Of course, if your sign will be backlit or illuminated, that introduces other considerations best handled by the sign design pros at The H&H Group.

5. Keep the Fonts Simple

Legibility is the foundation of high-quality signage design, and font selection plays a crucial role in ensuring clarity. The best signage design principles prioritize easy-to-read typefaces that allow viewers to absorb information quickly—without unnecessary distractions.

Consider the audience when selecting fonts. Overly decorative or handwritten-style fonts can be difficult to read, especially from a distance. For example, for commercial signage design aimed at children, clean and simple fonts are far more effective than ornate script or Old-English-style lettering. Whether designing outdoor signage or interior displays, typography should always enhance visibility rather than hinder it.

6. Be True to Your Brand

A cohesive signage design reinforces brand recognition. Even without a formal branding style guide, businesses typically have preferred colors, fonts, and logos that define their identity. Incorporating these elements into commercial signage design ensures that customers instantly associate the sign with the business, eliminating any confusion about ownership.

It may be time for an update if a logo appears unclear or doesn’t align with the brand’s identity. Effective outdoor signage design and interior displays should enhance visibility and strengthen branding, creating a seamless experience for customers. A well-designed sign attracts attention and builds trust by maintaining a consistent and professional image.

Need Some New Signs for Your Business?

When you’re ready to start designing new exterior or interior signs for your business, there is no better resource for sign design and printing services in Central PA than The H&H Group! Don’t go it alone when creating business signs! Our talented team will help you realize your vision while ensuring that your signage is readable, eye-catching, and conform to local code rules (for exterior signage), where applicable.

Complete our pricing request form with a few details about your next sign project, and we’ll be in touch to start the conversation with you.