Why Signage is important for Large and Small Businesses Alike.

As any marketer knows, branding is an important part of any business strategy. Getting this wrong at the start can prove a large hurdle to overcome. Mostly, marketers focus on logos and websites, but, despite the advance of technology, many people are, still, highly suspicious of anything that does not have a recognisable physical presence. Research also shows that most of the popular e-commerce websites are those that have a high street presence, such as Mark and Spencer’s, for example.

If you look at photographs from Victorian times, when the high street shop started to establish itself, you will notice, that, most of the exterior signs on the shops are very similar. These were often hand painted by the same person, especially in the smaller towns, where literacy was perhaps not very high.

As commerce prospered, however, competition became fiercer. No longer was there simply one butcher on the high street; in many cases, there were several. This inevitably meant that they were competing against each other for the same trade. Naturally, there are a number of factors, which attract customers to businesses and many people calculate which shop to use, based on quality of product, and price, depending on which is most important to them.

However, to enable the customer to make that choice, the shop must entice them in, and one way in which to do this, of course, is to make the premises attractive, and use signage that gives the customer confidence. The styles chosen are likely to reflect the different types of businesses.

Even today, we still see a huge variety of exterior signs for different types of businesses. For some, the most important factor is style. For example, a solicitor or accountant would not want to be considered daring or bold, as people looking for those services are usually looking for security. For a business such as this, any signage design is likely to be clean and minimal.

Businesses, such as dental practices, are likely to use a ‘friendly’ approach to their exterior signage, with soft colours used to suggest relaxation. These businesses are also very likely to use a photograph, in this instance; it is likely to be a friendly face that is smiling. This suggests ‘happiness’ to the customer, whilst at the same time showing a nice white set of teeth, which is exactly what a patient hopes for, from a dentist.

Of course, not all businesses are concerned with stylishness. For some, the most important consideration is boldness and making sure that the public notice them, however garish their signage is. Discount shops make good use of this by using very large and bold, and often in red, lettering, stating simple slogans such as ‘buy now’ or ‘50% off’. They are perhaps less interested in building a long term client base, than they are getting as many people into their shops as they can. The nature of this type of business often means that they view their business as short term, and will, in effect; grab what they can, while they can. The same, of course, does not apply to accountants or solicitors.

There are many different types of exterior signs too. Few, now, employ painters to hand paint their signs, though those in traditional trades may still choose to do so in order to claim ‘authenticity’. Most signs are now made using digital printing, which is both quicker, and cheaper, and of course, are much easier to amend if an error is made.

Neon signs, which used to be so popular, are seen less and less, as councils around the country attempt to make city centres more upmarket, and consider neon signage as something rather ‘tacky’ and undesirable.

Voodoo Design Works are company who thrive on creating and providing businesses with unique Exterior signs to let the business stand out from the crowd.