RM Online - Now let's give your signs some life

In past issues of Rental Management you have been introduced to the ins-and-outs of basic signage needs and how to use signs. Now let's take your signage package to another level by introducing personality and maybe some humor into your store.

If you look around in your community, you will see businesses that use a mascot or recognizable figure in their signs. This image is typically used in reference to service or informational signage - for example, a lumberjack associated with Hill Behan Lumberyards, or cats and dogs to signify veterinarians' offices. McDon-ald's restaurants have made Ronald McDonald famous worldwide. Smokey the Bear supports fire safety. Examples are all around us.

It is important to understand that humor or even a small suggestion of it gets attention. Everyone responds positively to humor, whether they will admit it or not.

Humor comes packaged and presented in many different ways, bothobvious and the subliminal.

Make humor work for you. Incorporate graphics into a sign package. Prioritize the exact locations where you will use humor or humorous characters. Determine the main and secondary focal points within a store, the area limitations and requirements; then design your presentation to meet specific needs. It is very likely that within a 1,000-square-foot floor area, you may use three major graphics on the back and side walls and four to six smaller statements on endcaps or freestanding floor display fixtures.

To get started, the designer of the graphics needs to define the desired direction. The final decision should support the image of the basic business, the products available for rent and possibly even the personality of the place - the employees and the management.

A great place to also start is to look at other stores' signs, magazine or newspaper advertisements. When you find several that appeal to you, review them and pick the best direction or combination of ideas.

To secure the actual artwork, several reference books are available. You can also visit a local art supply or architectural book store - there's a wide variety of clip-art books, topical and seasonal spot illustrations and even cartoon clips. Many of the books available will allow use and reprinting on a smaller scale. You cannot mass-produce and distribute without written permission or paying usage fees. At your computer store, you can buy clip art and images on a computer disk or CD-ROM that may be used without penalty, but be sure you know what you can use and what you can't before you get too far with it.

What you do really depends on how much you want to customize your signs to fit your specific needs and make them yours.

Talk to some graphic artists or commercial graphics firms - interview several to determine the best alignment to your needs. Another source is college or high school art departments.

Regardless of the avenue you take, you will want to look at different examples of their work and imagine how they might answer your needs. It is also important for both parties to like the same design direction. You will find when it comes to the creation of graphics that there are many different routes you can take.

There are two basic ways to start laying out your sign presentation. The first is to cut and paste images and type together. The second is to scan images and input text into a computer and arrange things as you like electronically. This may be a little beyond the capabilities of most rental store computer systems, which are not designed to be used for graphic arts, but any professional graphics person will have this capability.

The next step is to produce a copy of the sign/graphic artwork for printing purposes. Depending on the final print-production process, the signs can start with an actual-size original or they may be taken directly from a computer disk. When working from computer disk, the best approach is to coordinate efforts with a local vinyl sign shop. For small quantities, say one or two signs, applied colored vinyl is the way to go. A standard board material is either Sintra or polystyrene. These two materials are very durable. Smaller to medium-sized signs can be produced on one-eighth-inch to three-sixteenths-inch materials.

When you're thinking of signs, don't underestimate the power of color. It can have great impact. When going to the extent to create your own graphic design package, take the extra step and use three to four colors.

The final step of production before installation is to determine what's going to be necessary to apply the artwork to walls and/or display fixtures. Signage can be mounted directly to surfaces with Velcro or double-sided foam tape. Signholders fabricated from metal channels, slotted wood or bent acrylic offer a higher quality of presentation and better protect the printed inert sign materials. Suspension from the ceiling is yet another option.

If you really want to think outside the box, consider cut-out signage that is not a standard size or material. A perfect example is to create a freestanding, full-size figure of a person mounted on wood or other durable material. Once fabricated, it can be used as an endcap or placed on a rolling base. And consider this: you can incorporate a pocket into the design and put printed handouts or flyers in it.

Don't limit your sign usage to fixtures and walls inside the store. There is a perfect opportunity waiting to happen on the floor: you can apply vinyl graphics with inexpensive adhesive directly to tile or concrete. This medium is very durable and a definite attention-getter. It's different and that's what works to differentiate you from the competition. Typically the vinyl stickers last three to six months, depending on the material used.

Finally, once you have created a character that adds a note of humor to your business or an image based on unique signage and graphics, add strength to it - keep it running so it becomes recognized and familiar to people. Include your character or image in your ads, flyers, billboards, handouts, brochures and newsletters.

Embroider the artwork on shirts and caps. Have buttons made and give to customers to wear and advertise for you.

Think big. Remember that Mickey Mouse started as a simple little idea.