When it comes to promoting a business, everyone wants to draw in customers. Businesss owners want material to look professional and approachable. They also want something that is eye-catching and sticks with them. To help us out, gaebler.com offers some pretty good advice on what to avoid when it comes to handling your sign design process.
1. Doing it all yourself
Let’s be honest, when you do something yourself, you sometimes may not get the best results. Doing it yourself may result in, well, looking like a kindergardener put it all together. By that point, you’ll be too attached to what you’ve created and you won’t see where you need improvement. You need fresh eyes and people knowing what they’re doing. And even if you are a graphics designer, doing it all yourself is a bit silly, don’t you think? It’s an excellent way to stress yourself and burn yourself out. Not being good at every aspect of your business is OK.
2. Neglecting routine maintenance
We’ve all seen those signs around the internet. Maybe in real life, too. You know the ones – “Ho Depot” instead of Home Depot or “Black Anus Steakhouse”. You get the idea. Routinely check your signs so these fails don’t happen to you! This includes your logos and design setup – check them thoroughly (with a second and third opinion to be on the safe side) before you approve them. Your eyes may not see something others may see, such as inappropriate placements or design.
3. Poor construction
We’ve all seen those signs around the internet. Maybe in real life, too. You know the ones – “Ho Depot” instead of Home Depot or “Black Anus Steakhouse”. You get the idea. Routinely check your signs so these fails don’t happen to you! This includes your logos and design setup – check them thoroughly (with a second and third opinion to be on the safe side) before you approve them. Your eyes may not see something others may see, such as inappropriate placements or design.
4. Not allowing room for growth
Even if it’s in a minor way, your sign will usually change in one way or another. You want to make sure your sign design is planned accordingly. Talk to the professionals handling your sign – they’ll know how to put your sign together and design it in such a way that allows for information changes. Don’t be that guy that decides not to plan for change. Change can be unpleasant because it’s change, but change can be good.
5. Typos, misspellings, and misinformation
It’s really easy to miss a small typo in a word – we read a word as a whole item not letter by letter after all. When you’re looking at a proof of your design, you’re going to want to have more than one set of eyes look at the proof as well. Make sure there isn’t any misspellings as well and definitely make sure all the information provided on your sign is correct! If this isn’t thoroughly checked (much like sign design setup) and you approve the design…you’re just shooting yourself in the foot.
As you can see, signs play a very important role in your business. They direct and they inform. Shortcuts in sign design and construction while tempting as it is to save money may actually cost you more since you may end up losing business!
If you have that little bug in your ear telling you to do it all yourself and that all you need to do is go to Walmart to get your needed materials, flick that bug away! Seriously!