Wednesday, May 25, 2011

A Few Simple Banner Design Pointers

A Few Simple Banner Design Pointers
By Brian Roberts


It's time to really start bringing people back into the store once again. You had a slow winter and lackluster spring but you took the opportunity throughout the lull to toss some new paint on the walls, install some new track lighting and replace the fixtures alongside the main aisle. Now the store is really looking like a million bucks, and the summer stock has come in. You're preparing a big summer sale in a few of weeks; it's simply a matter of advertising it. You have some bag stuffers already printed out and you will be placing an ad in the local newspapers. What you want now are a couple of custom banners to hang outside the store, one advertising that the upcoming sale and another for when it is taking place. The catch is you have never actually done any banner design before. Don't worry. It doesn't have to be complicated. Here are a few simple things to keep in mind.

## First of all, know where you're planning to display your banner.

Decide where the banner is going to go. This will tell you how much space you have to work with. It'll also tell you who's likely to see it; are they likely to be largely your own customers, walk by traffic, or drive by traffic? Also if you have never placed a banner there before, you're going to need to be certain of all the sign bylaws. If you cannot find a good placement on the side of the building perhaps you should look into custom banner stands.

## Know what it is you hope to announce.

The trick with a banner, even a big banner, is that the message should be short, clear and precise. People should know who the banner is for (if it's not obvious by the placement) what it is advertising, and one or two pertinent bits of information. In your case the date of the sale and the type of discounts.

## Make sure it is as bold as possible.

Based on your location you must make sure the text is bold and visible. If most of the eyes landing on your banner are doing so from the far side of a parking lot or perhaps across the street you'll want toensure that the text can be read from that far away. Understand that color is going to play a big part in visibility. If you opt to use color text with a color background ensure that they offer strong contrast. Blueish-green letters on a greenish-blue background will not make much of an impact. Remember that dark text on a light background is generally accepted as being more visible than light text against a dark background.

## Make sure it is legible.

Even an awesome banner - one that's the right size, in a tremendous location, with bold contrasting colors, is going to be compromised if the text isn't incredibly legible. You want a brief message, written large, and in an extremely legible font or typeface. If the font is too curly or gimicky, you are likely tolose the impact of the banner. People's eyes are naturally drawn to the written word. The more legible the text the less of the eye you need to catch.

There's no reason you can't go to your local print shop, or to an online print shop for that matter, and order a couple of attractive outdoor vinyl banners that will draw customers in to your summer sale. Some of the better online shops these days will even allow you to design your banners right on the site. Give it a try, you might find that you're better at it than you imagined.




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A Few Simple Banner Design Pointers

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