Guerrilla Markeing: Making Your Own Signs on a Shoestring

Wow! It has taken me a while to get back to writing another blog entry! Life just gets in the way! The garden is finally put to bed (almost!) so I can now sit here and work on this entry for you all!

Signage for any small business or small non-profit is a VERY hard financial hurdle to cross when the operating budget is a shoe string. Today you can use a variety of different "on demand" printers that will give you really nice signs at an "affordable" price; but not always is that "affordable" price one you can afford. Often, groups, businesses, or even yard sales need MULTIPLE signs (set of course in strategic locations around town) in order to draw in the crowds.

We need to clarify some things about signs so you can get the biggest bang for your buck!


Rules of Signage:

Signs MUST BE:

-Easy to read
-Eye catching
-Clip art should be limited to ONLY what is the bare bones simplest concept. Limited shading,  little or no gradation, just flat color.
-SUBJECT DRIVEN (such as Bubba's BBQ, the "BBQ" should stand out more than the word Bubba)
-Contain simple, yet ACTIONABLE information

There are 3 ways to make signs on the cheap:
1: Publishing Software, printed out and put together to make a bigger sign than your 8x10 piece of paper
2: Using a Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Die cutter to cut out individual letters
3: The Swiss Block Method, which you only need a word processing program and color printer paper.



That being said...
You must know what makes good signage before you make one.
MS Publisher has some premade layouts for you to use...but take a look around you. See what signs make you take action each day.
MS Publisher's templates are most likely not specific to your needs,
but they do make use of one thing: White space

The appearance of less is often MORE. Too much information on the sign, and it becomes visual noise. No one pays attention. Almost too much information on a sign, and no one can remember what they NEEDED to remember.

This is a concept people don't really get, especially when pride gets in the way. People LOVE their business names... and are obsessed with branding and logos far too early. With signs, you must think what is going to make you take action. Think of it this way... if you were driving all night and needed coffee, would you stop for a sign that said "Rosalind's" or a sign that said "Coffee"? If you answered coffee, you are correct. This sign is a good example of what not to do with roadside designs. When I see this sign, I think of a paving company. Why? Well somewhere around here someone had the same font and style PLUS they did it with a red back ground. Do I remember the name of the company? No... I just remember they did paving. These folks have a food trailer and make a great breakfast right down the street from where I live. The subject of the sign should be iconic to the product they are selling, not the name of the business in a wordart curve no one can read at 30mph.

(insert road food truck sign HERE )


Method 1: Software

Some suggestions for designing with software:

*Use BIG and small fonts... and when I say "big" I mean "heavy" or large. The small is for contrast... and for details. The large font is for your "point" Such as BBQ for Bubba's BBQ.... Or if you you want to put a sign out to advertise a sale. The word "SALE" would be in capitol letters with the heavy font, the time and date would be in the smaller font underneath it. Add more information than that, and you risk loosing your audience. If you have more than 2 lines of text, try to limit the number of fonts to less than 3 and no more. More fonts makes your brain work harder to read it. If people are driving, they only have a split second to get the point of what you are trying to say. Use big BlOCK type lettering. Stay away from the Curlyz MT and the rest of cutsie stuff. You are looking for HEAVY lines, and also for letters that are not bunched up too close together.

*Use color. Not all of us can afford a color printer, but if you can use poster board that has color, use it. Don't be afraid of using a red posterboard and maybe white lettering. How do you do the lettering...well, that is for a subsequent blog post. This one is just to give you overviews

*Print it out!

MS Publisher has a great "tiling" feature that will tile your sign. From there it is just like putting a puzzle together. Cut excess paper out of the way and then place the printed paper on foam board or a corrugated realestate sign. As I live on a busy intersection, real estate agents are forever putting signs on my lawn. When they don't come back for them, or have rudely placed them in one of my garden beds, I claim them for my use and paint over the wording and then place my printed items on top of it.

2. Silhouette or Cricut Die Cutters
Well, these little gems are a great toys for the home graphic artist or scrapbooker. However they do cost beyond $100 for the die cutter itself, plus around $14 for their specialty vinyl that can be used in all weather. Here you do need to learn their software and choose an appropriate font that not only can be seen, but can be cut as well. This takes a bit of trial and error... but if you are going to have a sign to be used year after year this method may save you lots of money. I find if you are frugal with your blank plastic corrugated lawn signs (you can find them at big box hardware stores) and reusing them (scraping the vinyl off to change the date of the plant sale for the next year) this really works well. But again... this takes investment in equipment and time to learn


3. The Swiss Block Method

This is the most economical method you can use... All you need is a word processing program and color printer paper, with poster board and you are ready to go!!!
The Swiss Block 721 Outline font is an OPEN block font, because it is just an outline! The neat thing about this, is that when your printer prints on color paper (lets say RED paper) you will have a red letter that is shaped by black ink that your printer printed already! This allows you to SAVE ink! Yes, you may be using more black ink than expected, but it works! Set your font to upwards of 70 points (yes you can go to 100, 200 and so on.... You must experiment with your printer to see what the largest letter size is that you can print on an 8x10 sheet of paper is for maximum impact!







 Once printed *carefully* trim around the letter, slightly in to the ink of the shape. Draw some lines with a yard stick so that you can line up each letter for your word SALE or BBQ so it doesn't look like alphabet soup! Stick some tape on the back of each letter to affix in your imagined layout. Play with it until the sign looks good to you. Take this moment to step BACK from the sign. Notice what impact the sign has. Think about what word you see first. Is your message getting across? If not, change the layout or the letters.

 And then here is the big reveal... you can faux laminate all methods it with clear contact paper! This can be a two person job, and no it is not quick... but with two people it is easy. Once you have your sign laid out the way you want it (do be sure to stick Then peel back the contact paper for about 4" longer than what your sign's length is. Lay the sign down on top of the peeled back paper, and repeat for the other side. Cut excess paper to 1" around placement, then fold over to opposite side to help to prevent water from coming in.  Use a popsicle stick to smooth out any bubbles.

A few tricks... I have used in the past a  hanger with bull clips attached to a nail in a beam to hold the paper so it does not stick to itself as I peel it back. Don't have a beam in your house? A pot rack works well here too! I do this especially if I am doing this all by myself. I don't typically have help to make signs.  I get one end of the sheet started about an inch on each corner, clip it, and hang it from the hanger. Then I pull it evenly to expose the sticky adhesive cleanly, with out having the paper turn on itself. I then take it by the side and deftly place it down on the sign. Do not hesitate here, you will leave bubbles and wrinkles if you don't... oh and there is no "pulling it back up" to re-situate it. Lay it down and place it.

Please stay away from handwriting signs... often people do not write evenly and end up by scrunching up lettering, making it illegible. If you must hand write them, sketch them out in pencil first. Then go back with marker and ink it in if you are happy with the lay out.