Making Better Signs

[joe]

Making Better Signs,

Years ago, when I purchased my first CNC, which was a 48"X96" PRT, there were very few good software programs. I heard of a couple and purchased Rams and Insignia. I did so for the purpose of doing V-2.5 carving. It was eye poping and when I posted my first signs, the email lighted up. For several years I was selling lots of V Carved signs. I also enjoyed posting my experiments with the latest materials. HDU was fresh on the market. Why would anyone, ever, spend that much money for a piece of foam? Little did I know this was to be a major product in our shop. Then there was MEDEX a exterior fiber boar. Followed by Trupan which was not only a good spoilboard, but it was also excellent for letter carving. Not long after was that heavy, oily, paint resistant Extira. Which I hated at first, then fell in love with. Those were such fun years.

Most of the mail, I currently reveive is with the concern for proper construction. That's a major consideration however it's not anymore important than design. I see lots of signs which need only a few design changes to make them more ledgable, readable and pleasant to view. It's so unfortanate to get all the equipment to make signs with no basic knowledge of layout and design. One of my favorite books is "Mastering Layout" by Mike Stevens. It can be purchased from www.signcraft.com (http://www.signcraft.com). Although this is a very fundamental book, for example one of his drawing shows how to properly layout a "For Sale By Owner" sign, it touches the fundamental basics which are so necessary. Everyone should do this exercise.

Leon Stovall, One of the fellows who attended my workshop last summer, droped by last week to give me a hand with overdue signs. He stayed a couple of days and really helped out. One eveing, while I was fixing some grub, he spyed my copy of Mastering Layout, and was transfixed. This isn't one of those books which is a quick read. He picked it up several times over the next two days. I gone over it from time to time. I believe Raymond Chapman has also recommended it also.

Although it's good to know the Elements and Principals of Design, it's of little application during the design process. For example, knowing "Unity, Dominance, Variety, Harmony, Contrast, etc." are good for evaluation and referance, I don't know of any artists who consider them part of layout and design process. However when I get stumped with a drawing and can't seem to get it right, a quick review of the principal are very helpful.

I have a question for you! Have you ever looked at one of your drawings, knowing something isn't quiet right? Or when you see a beautiful, drop dead, but simple sign, what makes it sing! I'ts the design elements and principals that make it happen. I could go on for ever about the subject but let me give one simple but important Principal. "Dominance". Every sign should have one element that is dominant. It stands away from every thing else. This can be accomplished by size, contast, depth, etc. But that one part of the sign is where the eye goes first. It's necessary!

I would encourage everyone to spend more time on layout.

Joe

[donchapman]

I second Joe's recommendation of the Mike Stevens' book "Mastering Layout". Mike passed away many years ago, but not before his teaching and examples improved the quality of sign layout throughout North America and beyond.

I have Mike's audio recording by the same title and have listened to it many times over the years and still find it fresh and inspiring.

Once you understand the principles of good layout you can look at any sign and better understand what works and doesn't work and why.

You learn to appreciate the importance of negative space, color, contrast, graphics, and appropriate fonts and font sizes.

Contrast is extremely important: You must be able to convert your colors to grayscale and still have an effective sign, or you colors do not have enough contrast.

The sign must focus on a simple, concise main message and not have other text or graphics conflict with or outshine the main message.

Often you'll need to convince a customer to limit text or put it on separate signs, as we did in the below photos.

I am a craftsman, not an artist, and will never be able to hand letter, draw, or paint like many of the great sign artists.

My signs are never perfect and I learn from my mistakes all the time.

But I, and anyone else, can learn the principles of good layout and create signs that are attractive and effective.


5658
5659

[joewino]

Excellent posts.

Let me add my recommendation for Mike's book. While he was in the process of writing this most important text, he sent me an advanced copy for my critique and suggestions. My first thought was that it should be written in English. As Joe has said, it is not a light read. Mike was very intelligent and seemed to think at a higher level than most of us. I suggested that he tone down the language some so that us common people could understand it. He didn't take my suggestion.

In the workshops that I teach, I follow the principles that Mike presented in his book.

The human brain can only think of one thing at a time, although it does it very quickly. Our designs must have a single priority message that has the greatest color and weight contrast, along with the most negative space. The viewer's eye will be drawn to that area of the layout.

Since most signs only have a 3 to 5 second viewing time, that priority copy must be transferred simply and quickly. Everything else is secondary.

There was a time when we all concentrated on layout and design. Now, newbies tend to call tech support.

[donchapman]

Raymond is right that Mike's book isn't the easiest to read, but it is well worth the effort.

You can buy a new copy at signcraft.com for less than $30 and if you take the effort to learn Mike's layout principles and apply them in your business as a sign maker, it will have been worth a thousand times your expenditure of time and effort.

Even better is if you can find a rare copy of Mike's tape also entitled "Mastering Layout" but which is not simply a reading of his book.

The tape is much shorter and easier to listen to than the book is to read, but it still includes all the essentials of the book.

I should know, since I've listened to the cassette tape a couple dozen times or more over the past two decades, usually in my old truck while driving to or from town.

Now I'm going nuts trying to remember where I put the cassette so I can listen to it again, which means I'll also have to find my old portable cassette player since my newer truck just has a CD player.

[myxpykalix]

Disclaimer- I don't do signs...however I can take a "canvas" and layout a design and have an eye for "proportionality" of elements.

However what I don't have a good sense of is picking a particular font that might best express the name of a company or subject of your sign or particular design.

So when you are making a sign from scratch, not using customers logo or fonts, what goes into the process for you to design with a font? Do you take your canvas and just try various fonts till one strikes you or is there some rule of thumb where say for example a bank might require some type of bold striking font, where, as in this exaple the music shop was a more thinner straight font?

[joewino]

Selection of a font comes later in the design process. First there is the editing of the copy to decide what is priority, then secondary, etc.

The most important message is placed in the optical center and then all other copy blocks are arranged around that central thought.

Then a shape is assigned according to the shape of the copy elements. To this is added any borders, inlines, corner treatments, etc. One of the last processes is the actual choosing of the font...and it's not just one that looks nice or is the latest one you bought.

There is a lot of psychology that goes into font developement and choice. Each has it's own personality and that psychological image must be right with the overall image you are trying to design for your client.

When everything is placed in the layout I squint at it to see if I can still read the priority copy. If the squint test reveals that the border or a piece of clip art is more visible or evident than the priority copy, there is something wrong and you start the process over or make adjustments.

As Old Man Joe has said, many enter the sign game today with little or no thought for design, just depending on the software to do what only the human eye and brain can do. Sign layout and design is visual - it is not mechanical. You must develope the ability to "see".

[drodda]

Joe,

You forgot to mention the time you spent as a sign carver up on Mount Sinai. How did you decide on layout of the stone tablets for Moses?

-D

[joewino]

Ouch.

(But still funny)

[donchapman]

In response to Jack's question on choosing appropriate fonts: I've learned mostly from paying attention to fonts I see dozens of times every day on TV and the internet, in grocery stores, along roads, etc. and then trying various fonts in my layouts and seeing what works and what doesn't. SignCraft magazine has photos in every issue of great signs with appropriate fonts and usually at least one article related to fonts.

If you pay attention you will see that every font conveys its own emotional message and you want that message to be compatible with the message you are trying to convey with your sign.

With fonts, you feel the message and no one has to describe it to you.

Imagine how inappropriate it would be to use a wedding script or a Times Roman serif font on this warning sign I photographed in East Texas last weekend:
5660

You might call this font Bad Dog Helvetica.

I submit that the homemade bad dog sign is just about perfect for its intended purpose despite the fact that it violates about half the principles of good layout. Combined with the metal-roofing American flag and mounted to a chain link fence, there is no mistaking the sign's real message that this is not a property you want to trespass on.

The sign has good contrast, is quite readable, and the text is nicely divided rather than all run together. There is enough negative space to be able to clearly read the text, but you also know you don't want to mess with this owner who has no respect for leaving more space around the border.

The Papyrus font of the music shop sign I made conveys a rustic message that fits the shop that caters to accoustic traditional string musicians, is located in an old house in Austin, and invokes the myth of fiddler's green. If you tried it on a bank sign you'd immediately feel it is too old, informal, and irregular a font for a bank which wants to convey a message of strength, security, and a business attitude. That's why banks often choose a serif bold font like Times Roman, althogh modern banks often prefer sans serif fonts of Helvetica lineage.

The owner of the shop had used the same font on a previous sign and on his bumper sticker, but its effect was quite different from the way I used it on his new signs.

Scroll through the hundreds of fonts in your computer and take time to think how each affects you emotionally and where the font might look appropriate.

[joe]

Thanks Dave and Raymond.

Jack,

I know exactly how you feel about being stumped with finding just the right font for a job. It happens to everyone. To speed up the process I divided my fonts up into folders. For example there's one labeled my favorite Western Fonts, Decorative Serifs, Bold Scripts, San Serifs, Ribon Fonts, Art Deco, etc. All folders are additions to the regular alphabetical list.

I keep from twelve to twenty fonts in each folder. This really saves me lots of time.

Many of my fovorite artists move along themes. "Headliners Type" often moves along a historic bend like Art Deco. Supportative copy which is usually lighter will fall in line.

Have you ever considered moving along a theme when choosing fonts?

It's fun to visit www.letterheadfonts.com (http://www.letterheadfonts.com) to see the latest offerings. This is a dyanmic website as there are beautiful new offerings all the time. These aren't made in some big font factory. They come from some real talented guys who make their livings as sign artists and designers. They are just regular guys who share their majic. I think the costs are very reasonable.

Joe

[joewino]

I'll second Joe's recommendation for Letterhead Fonts. Not only do they have a fantastic array of letter styles, there is also a gallery of actual signage that incorporates those fonts. There is a ton of information and inspiration there.

I must be getting old. I'm starting to agree with Crumley.

[dubliner]

Joe told that story when he explained "upselling" a sign to me at his "Craftsmen Workshop", apparently there were originally only 5 Commandments planned. :-)