Houston, TX: One of the worst mistakes businesses can do when having signs and graphics designed for them is having lettering that is hard to read or see, whether its because of undersized letters for the distance and height or exotic lettering that can not be deciphered quickly by intended, passing traffic. When having signage and graphics designed make sure that the designer has the experience needed to advise and produce effective signage and graphics. The bottom line is that if your graphics and signage are not performing effectively, you have wasted your money.

First of all when designing business logos, this is different than designing signage because a logo you use on your cards or letterheads can be artistic and the letters that go with it if there are some can be whimsical and artistic. However if this logo is used on a truck or store front graphic, signage, or billboard you want them as legible as possible so that they can be read easily and quickly from a distance.

When designing a business logo, they can be effective if they are designed to convey a message with just an icon. For example, major retailers, like K Mart, to Jack in the Box do this very successfully. All one has to do is see the image and color scheme and, even from a distance one can determine what the business is at a glance. In their case, there is no need for exotic lettering or interrupting graphics. You want passers-by to read and understand what your business or service is at a quick glance.

Graphic artist Ray Gatica’s advice when planning and designing graphics for your business is KISS – ‘Keep it Simple Sonny’.

Things to keep in mind when designing a storefront sign: The most important is that the sign is visible and easily read from the street. Keep the letters simple, Helvetica, which is the most easily read font or similar font works best. Deviating from this is OK, except do not go too much into the old English letters which are not easily read in traffic. Better yet, one or two words that convey your business is all that is needed to bring customers in. Also make sure that there is enough contrast between the background and letters so that they can be read easily too. Black letters on white background or, vice versa, is the best scenario.

Now if you are designing a business flier or advertisement you can get a little loser with the design but still it is important to keep as simple as possible with our too many extraneous graphics or different letter styles. This is where you can put in your fancy logo, in a variety of fonts. However, here again make it easily legible, keep it simple.

Keep in mind your demographics. Young people are more in tune with the loose graffiti type letters art and graphics. But if you are an office supply store, Laundromat, or dry cleaners stick to the easily legible font like the old standbys like Helvetica, Ariel,or New Times Roman.

A small business can start that same recognition capability by designing a logo, which is simple yet, attractive. Of course it will take years to achieve the same instant recognition that the big stores do. But if you have something unique and effective you can make it work for you immediately. For example, a big whimsical tooth will work well for a dentist’s office, a big bug for a pest control biz.

One of the worst things Gatica notices while on the streets, is lettering on trucks that are to o small, or too complicated of a design to be read from thirty feet away while moving at a speed of 55 MPH. When something attracts my attention, I get annoyed when I am not able to decipher what is being advertised. I would like to call the truck’s owner and tell them that I cannot read their sign on their trucks and inform them that they have invested badly in their illegible truck graphics.

Appropriate letter and font size also applies to Billboards, it exasperates me when I am not able to read what is being advertised because the letters advertising the services or products can not be read of due to their smaller than necessary size or font style. Again, remember to keep it simple, do not crowd the space you have to work with. Take in to consideration, how far the sign or billboard will be from the street where the public will see it. Some billboard letter sizes need to be around 24 inches. For most of this, the designer or sign painter should tell the customer, he should be the one to advise on this.

Gatica consults on graphics with clients before doing anything. He also has the input to what the size should be and recommends letter style, fonts and size of the overall advertising space. Usually, once after the fist consultation with the client, Gatica takes it from there. He has over twenty years of graphic design and sign painting experience.

As a graphic designer in Houston, Gatica has done a variety of logos, graphics, art and illustrations for a variety of businesses. Gatica also has also hand paints large architectural graphics and gym graphics and other large hand painted signage. He does this for schools and is contracted by painting companies, architects, and interior designers. You can see samples of these works at muralsandbigart.com; or at gaticaart.com.

Author Bio: A graphic designer in Houston, Gatica designs logos, graphics, a variety of businesses; Hand paints large architectural graphics,gym graphics, signage. He does this for schools and is contracted by painting companies and architects, interior designers. http://www.muralsandbigart.com, http://www.airbrushmagic.net

Category: Business
Keywords: graphics desginer, Houston, Big Signs and Graphics, Business graphics signage, Gym graphics painter