What makes a good sign?

A number of factors come together in the creation of effective corporate signage, such as custom color combinations, varying graphic elements and/or high-resolution images. After massive amounts of brainstorming with a professional design team and a series of rough drafts and revisions later, your perfect logo evolves before your eyes. Contacting a reputable sign company, such as Signarama, can make a world of difference to help get your message out and ready for business.

A few years down the road, if your business is still operating and growing, as well, then congratulations! And as you look around and say, “Wow! We did it!” you notice that your sign is not as cutting edge as it was when you started. The colors may start to look faded and not as sharp as it used to be and the design may look outdated.

Perhaps your company has diversified or evolved in a direction you didn’t see coming. Now your business offers so much more than your original products and services. And while that’s a good thing, your brand may be suffering from an identity crisis due to growing pains. A lot can happen in few years: Tastes change, technology evolves and industries expand to meet demands. Your business might be ready for an update or for an entirely new look. The top five reasons your sign needs a redesign include:

Ch-ch-ch-changes

One of the most predictable things about humans lies in the fact that no matter their likes and dislikes at any given time, they will, in the trending nature of social beings, gain new perspectives, get bored with whatever is fashionable and change their minds. Backlash happens; just as sure as winter follows the fall, color combos, fonts and sign styles go in and out of style with fashion trends. New colors appear, making splashy, up-to-the-minute fashions pop. Colors get bolder and more vivid. Sign technologies advance and boom, your sign is outdated.

New Technology  

With the digital printing industry making significant technological leaps forward into large flatbed printing, with new, more durable printing methods and a larger variety of printable materials, the sign industry’s revolution is taking commercial signage to places it’s never been before.

As we increasingly weave mobility technology into the fabric of our lives, businesses are taking their shows on the road with wrapping solutions that are impressing to the point of revolutionizing mobile advertising. Offering bold statements with slick, sharp digital imaging, vehicle-wrapping’s high visual impact is proving to be the hottest ticket in town. Mobile advertising can also be a great move for companies in transition.

Positioning

If your business has outgrown its current facility and moved to larger digs or other businesses have grown up around yours and your sign blends in with a sea of other signs, you might need to update your sign to stand out in your current surroundings.

Perhaps your business needs a different kind of sign altogether. Signarama offers a wide variety of styles and special features:

• On a medium to large scale, custom pylon signs are durable, freestanding structures. Usually illuminated with florescent lamps, a number of options are available to highlight your corporate image, from full color graphics, to neon borders, to LED digital displays or interchanging message boards.

• For more choices in illuminated statements, customized static lightbox signs pack a powerful visual punch for effective advertising, while branded electronic digital signage systems create a polished, sophisticated look for your brand’s message.

  [caption id="attachment_4085" align="alignleft" width="438"] Illuminated sign[/caption]

• Awnings incorporated into your company’s signage can give your business added visibility for your buck.  Attach a decorative architectural feature to your brand’s identity and create a distinctive vintage look for your corporate branding. Illuminated awnings, popular with restaurants, bars and other businesses that stay open late, not only create a warm ambiance, but work to brighten up the area at night.

• One of the most distinctive ways to set your business apart and create a sophisticated look is with 3D channel letters. Each letter, holding its own in 3D stands out as architectural elements in your building’s design. Internally illuminated from the back, channel letters make great visual impact. 3D channel lettering is so impressive that you may want to re-brand your entire business to this refined level.

Re-branding

As your business has grown, maybe your focus has changed and your sign doesn’t really reflect those changes. Unless you are Shell Oil company founder, Marcus Samuel, who originally sold seashells down by the seashore, the ideas and products behind your sign might need updating. Even the Shell Oil logo has changed over the years to reflect the company’s image in changing eras and design trends.

Re-branding, a currently fashionable trend witnesses McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Walmart in the process of updating their corporate images to project cleaner, more contemporary lines, signs and designs.

Reflecting the times, Walmart Markets have literally gone green, updating their grocery store concept from the traditional Walmart Superstore blue and yellow color scheme to green everything, featuring more organic and local selections. Wendy’s, perhaps going for more transparency updated their image to feature ultra-modern full-length Jetson windows in many locations.

The Take Away

Whether your business is just evolving and maturing or you’re an established industry icon, keeping your brand image and corporate signage in step with the changing times is important. Updating your logo, adding technological features to your sign, repositioning and replacing your sign with an entirely different type of signage all work towards ensuring your relevant stance in the business community. For all of the latest signage technology, the most up-to-date design capabilities and state-of-the-art production processes for your company’s signs, contact your local Signarama store today. Find your most convenient Signarama location today!