The Sign Depot
 

class="tag"Posts Tagged ‘visibility’

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Ways To Increase Your Visibility In Your Community

Custom Sign - Tim Horton Children's Foundation Memorial Camp - The Sign Depot

Top 5 Ways To Improve Your Company’s Visibility Within Your Community

  1. Do Not Put It On The Back Burner – Many businesses say that they are going to eventually work on their company’s visibility, but you need to state when this will happen.  Figure out how you will accomplish this and set a timeline for each step of the way.  Once you have put these steps of action in place be sure to celebrate each milestone that you execute and achieve.
sign permit community plan - The Sign Depot

2. Get Your Business Involved In The Community – Sponsor local events that are a good fit with your brand.  Be sure to bring signs that represent your business so that you can be fully present during the event.  Always follow up with the people that you met during that time to get their feedback about how they liked the event overall.

Custom Sign - Tim Horton Children's Foundation Memorial Camp - The Sign Depot

3. Network Within Your Community – Join local business groups such as your local Chamber of Commerce and see what opportunities they provide for networking within the local business community.  Make sure to contact the business representatives you connected with to see how you can work together going forward.  A B2B relationship can be lucrative for both sides.

      chamber of commerce - The Sign Depot

4. Find Local Influencers And Make Them Your Ambassadors – Check out who is talking about your local area on social media and connect with them.  Find ways you can work together to increase your visibility to their audience, and be sure to reciprocate by sharing their content with your networks as well.  It makes for a win-win situation for both parties.

Influencers - The Sign Depot - influence marketing

5. Refresh Your Signage – Your business signs are 24 hour advertisements for your business.  Nothing captures attention like a bold new custom sign in front of your company.  Be sure to increase visibility by adding vinyl window graphics and A-Frame signs.  The ensures your business is noticed by both vehicle traffic and those walking by.

A-Frame Sign - The Sign Depot

These simple steps will quickly improve your company’s stature.  By making a few changes it will make a positive impact on your business and your company will become known as an establishment that your community respects and connects with.  This keeps your business top of mind with those within your vicinity, which makes it more likely that they will give their business to your company down the road.

 

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Custom Cottage Signs And Address Markers

Cottage Signs That Stand Out From The Rest

Cottage Signs And Address Markers - The Sign Depot

Big or small, custom crafted cottage signs can prove to be great address markers.  When your guests are looking to find your cottage or cabin, there are some important details to think about to ensure your sign is getting the job done. When the expert signmakers here at The Sign Depot created The SCHWANS sign in the image above, the following three items were considered.

Font Size

A large font is always a good choice.  If the font is too small it will be difficult to read from a distance.  When it comes to address markers for your cottage/cabin it is better to be seen and not passed by.

Colour Choice

When finishing a cottage sign, choosing colours that create contrast assist with increasing visibility.  In this case, the bright letters stand out much better against the dark background.  This is also important for wayfinding purposes.

Creating Dimesion

This wood sign was sandblasted. This means the wood was carved into to create the background leaving the letters raised and creating dimension in the sign, once again increasing visibility of your sign.

If the above three items are considered when designing a cottage sign and/or address marker, you are certain to find the results you are looking for. Plus you can rest easy knowing that your visitors will be able to find you.

There are lots of other ways to customize a cottage sign to your personal taste.  When you choose to have a custom sign shop create your cottage sign possiblities are endless.  Read more about it on our post about the Advantages Of Working With A Custom Sign Shop.

Heading to a cottage or cabin in the near future? Be sure to check out our list of the Best Campfire Recipes To Try Out At Your Cottage Or Cabin.

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Custom 3 Dimensional Signs Can Be Big For Business – Baden Coffee

A Big Bean For Baden Coffee

Finding ways to bring attention to a new location can cause difficulty for some businesses, but Baden Coffee knew just what to do for the opening of their sit down coffee shop and retail location.  They decided a 3 dimensional sign would be a great way to attract attention to their establishment and increase the findabilty of their location. Baden Coffee decided to create a landmark sculptural sign that would make their business highly visible to passers-by.  Over the years we have created several signs for Baden Coffee and they wanted to heighten the visibilty of their unique brands.

Unique Signs - The Sign DepotCustom Sign - Baden Coffee - The Sign Depot

 The 3 dimensional sign was created to extend their branding to the exterior of the store. A replica of the animated coffee bean from their logo

Business Logo Signs - The Sign Depot

 was constructed from Carved High Density Urethane (HDU) through the use of our CNC Router Table and a lathe to manufacture the rounded objects.

Below is photo recap of how the project evolved within our Sign Depot workshop.

CNC Signs - The Sign DepotHigh Density Urethane Signs - The Sign DepotCustom 3 Dimensional Business Signs - The Sign DepotLathe Signs - The Sign DepotCustom 3 Dimensional Sign - The Sign Depot

Artistic Finishing Touches

An artistic custom finish was applied to the sign scuplture. It included a styrocoat spray applied to the surface to harden the HDU (sign foam) and serve as a base for the paint to adhere to. Painting was done in stages and made to match the character logo for Baden Coffee.  Creating the custom paint finish for the Baden Coffee Bean sculpture added to the “look” of the 3 dimensional sign.

3 Dimensional Signs - The Sign Depot3 Dimensional Signs - Coffee Cup - The Sign Depot3 Dimensional Signs - The Sign Depot

Bringing In Big Business At Baden Coffee

After the Baden Coffee Big Coffee Bean was completed it was installed above the main entrance.  This 3 dimensional sign is sure to become a landmark for the Baden Coffee retail location and will attract the attention of the traffic passing by.

testimonial - The Sign Depot

3 dimensional sign - Baden Coffee - The Sign Depot

To see more pics of the Baden Coffee Team with the new BIG BEAN head over to their facebook Photo Gallery. To learn more about our 3 dimensional signs for business  and how they can create a branding buzz, be sure to check out Proportion Is Everything post.  There you will see how sculptural signs quickly become landmarks and a 24 advertisement for your company.

 

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Find What You’re Looking For – Findability And Wayfinding Signs

Somebody Give Me A Sign

Remember the U2 song I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For ?  Or how about when the lead character in a movie throws his/her hands up in the air and yells Won’t You Show Me A Sign ? How many times have you heard the line Where Do We Go From Here?  Although these might be a bit dramatic we see these statements as FINDABILITY issues.

How To Improve Your Findability

Website Search

Findability is usually reserved when speaking about Search Engine Optimization but we think it goes beyond your online search engine ranking.  While we agree that your Google search status is very important, we know that people are searching for your info elsewhere too.

Yellow Pages

You may have heard that Yellow Pages puts you in with your competition, but it is also an opportunity to out-shine your competitors.  We had a client call and tell us that she chose to work with us because our Yellow Pages ad was well designed and she preferred it over the other sign shops listed on the page.

Sign Depot - Contact

As you can see it is a black and white ad.  It consists of the important info and how best to contact us.  Along with our tag line that we have branded ourselves around.

Business Signage

As mentioned in the post You Want To Go Where Everyone Knows Your Name your outdoor business signage is very important.  To see if others felt this way as well we did a POLL on our Facebook page.

25 people took part in our quick survey.

They were asked

How important is a visible sign when you arrive at a place you have never been before?

Their choices were

  1. Very important I don’t want to drive past the destination
  2. Somewhat important I try to know the closest landmark/look for the address number
  3. Not important
 
All but one participant chose answer number one.
The participant that didn’t choose number one, picked answer number two.
 
When you think about the statement for answer number two, it also relates to signage.
 
Landmark Signs - The Sign Depot

Landmarks increase your visibility which helps with the Findability of your business.  Address numbers are also part of signage.  How you scale their size to their placement is something a professional sign maker knows all about.

Did I mention no one picked answer number three?

So the next time you hear that someone has Lost Their Way, you’ll have some great suggestions for them.

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Custom Business Signs – You Want To Go Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Or At Least Your Business Name

So many businesses don’t realize they are missing out on the advertising opportunities that are right outside their door.  You need to really assess the area surrounding your location to figure out the best way to draw attention to your store front.  This is where you custom business sign can make a big impact.

Down On The Corner, Out In The Streets

If you call in for directions to The Sign Depot, we’ll tell you we’re at the corner of Borden Ave. & Charles St., but really we’re not.  That is the closest intersection to our locale & as you can see it’s a very busy place to be.

Borden Ave & Charles St Kitchener Ontario - The Sign Depot

We take into account that many will see that corner because they are either waiting at the stop light or in line at the drive thru.  Which is why we are featured here

Business Tenant Signs - The Sign Depot

& chose this wayfinding text and image to describe where we truly are located on the street

Wayfinding Signs For Business - The Sign Depot

From there it only takes a quick glance to notice our custom sandblasted wood sign from that corner as it’s protruding off the wall.

Company Entrance Sign - The Sign Depot

As you can see we also have a flush-mount sign to attract walk by traffic as well as window graphics for a welcoming entrance.

Sometimes you only have seconds to make an impression.  Make sure to use that opportunity to it’s full extent by choosing your signage accordingly. Visibility is the key to getting your company noticed, and custom business signs are what makes the biggest impact on passers-by.  Grab their attention and you may see some new customers walk through your door!

Need suggestions on how you can improve your business visibility? Make sure to contact us via twitter, facebook or email & We’ll make sure EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR NAME

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Visibility Is KEY When It Comes To Custom Business Signs

 

Notice The Signs

If you check out President Peter’s Sign Tips in our latest newsletter you’ll know how to measure your Letter Height vs. Viewing Distance.  The first pic shows just how large the dimensional letters are in comparison to the installer’s height. 

Custom Business Signs - The Sign Depot

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The second pic shows how your business name looks in proportion to your building and the view from the public eye.

 

Elements Of Sign Design

The key to your business being visible is creating custom business signs that reflect what your company is all about.  Choosing letter styles that suit the business name and logo are important parts of the branding process.  Always make sure to consult a professional sign designer when it comes to your company’s sign needs.  They know all about design as well as sign requirements and quite often can take care of the sign permit process for you. Sign designers take many factors into consideration when it come professional sign design.  Some elements in sign design include
  • textures and materials that compliment your company’s building
  • positive and negative space and how it works together
  • colours and graphics that bring out the best of your brand
  • size matters, as you can see from the examples above

Visibility and Findabilty Go Hand In Hand When It Comes To Signs

Once a custom business sign’s initial design has been approved, it is then in the hands of the sign production department to ensure that the sign design will work well in the space provided.  Producing a custom sign that is visible to both vehicle traffice and those walking past your business is always what we strive for here at The Sign Depot. Making it easy for your potential clients to find you is very important and standing out from your competitors gives you and edge in the marketplace.  In this instance bold lettering with a gold finish gives the Langford Canoe sign clean look with a clear message of the proud Canadian company provided by the logo of a beaver. In addition the Gold coloured letters were attached to black backers to provide an outline in order to make the letters stand out against the white siding on the building. What changes are you making to your exterior this Spring?

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