7 Things You Should Know Before Designing Yard Signs

One of the most known physical ways to advertise about your business is by using some yard signs. This is a classic way of getting the word out about your product or service. And these signs have been shown to have a big return on investment if they are done right! But how can you make sure that your yard signs are designed to perfection and they will actually bring more customers to buy your product or service?

Well, we’re going to go into all of that in the below article. There are tons of things that you should keep in mind before you design to design the first yard sign for your business. And we want to ensure you’re aware of each of these things before you head to the copy shop. Sit back, keep reading, and get ready to make some awesome yard signs.

1. Think About the Size and Scale of the Signs

The absolute first thing you need to think about before you create a design for your lawn signs is how big you want them to be. The size and scale of any sign is going to determine how much you can add onto the design and how intricate the design can be. If you don’t think about this first thing, you could be wasting a whole lot of time on a design that’s just not going to work. Most yard signs are going to fall into the 24 inches by 18 inches range, but most of the time, you’ll be able to customize that size to your own liking.

You want to make sure that your sign will be able to be read at a distance. When people are driving down the road or walking towards your store front, you don’t want them to have to squint to understand what’s on the sign. Everything about your sign should be simple and maximize the impact it can make on those viewing it.

2. Location, Location, Location

Next up, you’re going to have to think about the location of yard signs. This is almost more important than the size and scale question. You’ll want to ask yourself questions like:

• Will the signs be placed on a roadway near your business or right in front of the store?
• What is color being the environment around the sign? What colors can you add to the signs to make them stand out from the colors around?
• Where are the highest traffic areas that will get the most people seeing your signs?
• What local regulations are there in the location you’re looking to put the signs?

All of these questions need to be thought about before you start designing your signs.

3. Big Colors and Graphics Are the Way to Go

When you’re designing your yard sign, color is probably one of the biggest things you need to determine before you get started. You will want to approach this topic with two things in mind: your own branding and color contrast/visibility. Generally, when you’re adding color to any design, you will want that color to be bright and contrasting from the surrounding environment. This is going to draw more attention than tons of pastel or light colors that blend in with the area around the sign.

Make sure that you don’t have too many graphics that confuse the design. Pick one big graphic and focus your entire energy on that with supplemental text. That’s going to really get people’s attention

4. Keep The Text Simple, Short, And Sweet

Next up, you need to think about the text that’s going to accompany the graphics on your yard sign. The biggest rule you should remember in regards to this is that your text needs to be short and simple. Go for a font that doesn’t require a lot of thought to read – sans serif is a good choice or some other simple font. And make sure that this font is big on the design. You wouldn’t want people passing by to have to squint to understand what the text is saying!

Another rule of thumb to keep in mind is that your sign should not go over 15 words of text. Nobody wants to spend a couple of minutes reading a yard sign, so it needs to be understandable in a couple of seconds.

5. Think About the Material It’s Printed On

Your design will matter a lot by the type of material that it’s printed on. You may not think about it at first, but this is something that you should keep in mind from the start. You’re going to see most materials broken down into categories like indoor vs. outdoor and durability. Go ahead and ask right away what kinds of material there are to choose from for your yard signs. It’s a good idea to get this done in the beginning, so you can ask recommendations about file type and any kind of distortions that could be caused by the material used.

6. Don’t Forget to Include All Your Important Contact Info

And of course, one of the most important things on your sign is to include all of your important contact information. If someone’s interested in what you’re offering through the yard sign, but you haven’t included any method of contact, then what was the point of putting up the yard sign? Include the name of your business, email address, phone number, and physical address. These shouldn’t be the largest text on the board, but shouldn’t be so small that the information is not noticeable at a glance.

7. Always Remember a Strong Call to Action

And lastly, one of the most important things to think about before you finish your yard sign design is to have a call to action. You want to leave an impact on the viewer of the sign. If there’s not a call to action like “Buy now!” or “Meeting on Friday!”, then you’re going to risk not leaving a memorable impact on that person. They will be more likely to follow your call to action if it’s written in big and bold font.

All of these tips are things that you have got to remember before you even open the software to start designing your yard sign. Keeping these points in mind is going to save you a ton of time and money in the long-run.