The Maine Sign FAQ

Signs are an integral part of advertising your business. If done well, your signage can be
responsible for half of your customers! (International Sign Association)

• Attracts New Business – 85% of your customers live or work within a five-mile
  radius of your business. But according ot the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.6% of the
  population relocates annually. The most efficient, effective, and economical
  way to attract new customer and grow your customer base is with signage.
• BRANDS YOUR BUSINESS - When driving to and from work, school, and
  shopping, your customers pass your locations some 50-60 times a month. Your
  sign should be designed to command their attention every time they pass.
  That’s how signs build top-of-mind- awareness and brand your business!
• CREATE IMPULSE SALES: Best Buy discovered that about 17% of its
  customers were people who did not intend to stop there, but did so specifically
  because THEY SAW THE SIGN!

Before deciding on the placement of your sign, stop and look at your store from the same angles as your future customers would.

Notice the passing traffic, trees and foliage,
power lines and other street signs, all of these things can limit the visibility of your sign.

You only have a few seconds to grab the attention of passing drivers, use proper color, typeface, and lighting to distinguish from busy surroundings.

Capitalization and Font. As a general rule, capital letters are more easily recognized but are tend to be read individually.

Lower case letters on the other hand are generally read as whole words or phrases. Sign design research designates six font styles as the most basic.

The most important reason to consult with an experienced sign design professional,
we can help create an effective and attractive sign within budget or sign code limitations.

• Choose a font that not only fits your businesses’ style, but is easily legible. Bold, sans-serif fonts tend to be more legible. Make your message clear because drivers have just
  seconds to read your sign, some experts suggest three to five words.

• Maintain white space, an industry guideline suggests that 30-40% of the sign area should remain blank space. Too much clutter can distract drivers from your message.

• Color combinations and color shades are important factors as well. The most easily read combinations are black, dark blue, or red on a white or yellow background.

• DID YOU KNOW: 8% of males in the U.S. are color blind. It’s important to use
  high contrast color combinations, blue and yellow for example, is a good color
  combination, but blue/green on white or grey are more difficult color
  combinations for a color-blind person to read.

Is your business open for business at night? Your sign needs lighting.

Lighting options are vast, internally, externally, back-lit, light fixtures mounted above a flat wall sign, a sign cabinet lit from within with LED or fluorescent bulbs, channel letters lit from within or behind with neon tubing, a light behind the sign face, lighting the main message through a translucent material.

As a business owner, you should realize the importance of the location of light fixtures has on the readability and always remember that your sign is working for you 24 hours a day!