Additional Articles for April 2004 Issue

Signage—more than just a sign over the door

No matter what sort of business you are in, if you have people who walk through your door, customers or employees, you have an opportunity to use signage as a powerful business tool. Good signage directs and informs when you aren’t around to do it yourself.

Signage has evolved since the days of a man in a neat white apron waiting patiently to help inside a store with “Enos A. Ingraham” painted in black block letters on a wooden panel over the storefront. What worked in the days of horse and buggy or the Model T just doesn’t register now that we hurtle by at a much faster pace. Likewise, the need for interior signage has changed dramatically as it has come to replace the people who once asked, “And how may I help you?”

Outdoor signage should be simple and visible

Like many other things in life, with signage, context matters enormously. By this I mean that signage needs are dictated by setting. So go outside and stand away from your business—far enough away that you can see the whole of things your customers and employees will see. Now look carefully and think about the following. Are you in a downtown or a business center or tucked away in a business park or industrial area? Are people traveling by your business at relatively low speed? Or are you out on a high-speed artery or a transitional zone approaching a downtown—a place where drivers’ attention is on the road or torn by competing images flashing by?

Signage at Chase’s Daily in Belfast is so simple, old shingles written on with black felt-tip. What could be more effective at conveying this bakery/restaurant/greengrocer’s message: everything here is fresh and homemade?

The needs of these settings are different one from the other. Let’s take them one at a time.
In general downtown traffic or in a planned development setting like an industrial park, traffic—auto or pedestrian—moves relatively slowly. Signage geared toward cars should be above street level for visibility. Parked cars should not block the name of your business. Delivery trucks are another matter and it is wonderful if you have the luxury of signing up high enough to be seen over these obstructions. In any case, your business name must be readable in less than two seconds; this is car speed. Pedestrian signage can be smaller, should be located at street level and needs to register in under five seconds.

Check signage effectiveness at the busiest times of day. Does normal traffic obscure your message? Do people walk by without a look? If so, it’s time for a signage upgrade. Awnings and building façades are great venues for car-readable signs. Keep these simple; business name only. This is not the place for mission statements. Increase impact with color, both of your sign and of your building façade, if possible; as a general rule yellow gets noticed first. But other colors may be more useful for conveying the mission of your business. Classic whites, grays and dark greens imply stability and class; think MBNA. Pretty pastels attract older females; think all those gift stores with “Victorian Something-or-other” for their name. Hot colors imply those warmer parts of the world, think Dos Amigos Mexican restaurant. Color is so effective that it can overcome nearly any noticeability problem. In a downtown setting these problems may be closed storefronts, just plain dull businesses, adult merchandise retailing—anything that causes people to avert their gaze or go numb. If your business is located beside one of these, you will have to work doubly hard to get noticed. Use strong color in your storefront and try imaginative plantings and window boxes. People will slow down and take notice. Exude welcome by keeping your front door open wide in warm weather. Convey to the world that you are very, very open for business.

Chase’s Daily, an eatery and greengrocer in Belfast, keeps it simple even at the customer service counter. Recycled shipping card-board makes inexpensive and effective signage.

Out on the highway signage challenges are similar but writ larger. At 55 mph nothing small or fussy works. Think simple. Think bold. Think motion. Think theme. At the Gallery at Saturday Cove in Northport, boy, have they had to do this—being located on a curve on an especially high-speed section and visually uninteresting section of Route 1. This business is robed from parking lot to roof peak in strong artsy colors—yellows, turquoise and red shades. These folks also use motion as a tool—made-to-order, coordinating fluttering banners appeal for attention against the odds. And the running dog whirligig on top of their large business sign and the brightly painted furniture and birdhouses (all for sale) confirm the whimsy of this place that sells light-hearted interior decor items and unconventionally fun Maine landscapes. It works, people notice, maybe even slow down, sometimes even stop to browse.

Mission, direction, information—indoor signage plays a different role

Indoors is the place to finally tell your business story. Whatever your mission, let folks know it. A hospital that prides itself on small-town loving care might paint something to that effect on the wall near the reception desk. One Belfast bakery proclaims “Made From Scratch” over the door to the kitchen. Just remember, the farther people are from what they are reading or the faster they must read it, the larger and simpler this message should be.

This storefront’s lush sidewalk garden just begs pedestrians to slow down and explore. These are the first steps to a sale.

Directional signage should be overhead so a lost or wandering soul has a prayer of seeing it. Directional signage is the stuff that tells you where the mystery section is in the bookstore, the tuna is at the market. Again, use only simple messages here. And use easily read colors—black letters on a white ground are wonderful, fuchsia on spring green probably aren’t. And above all, make the words large enough to read easily from anywhere they are visible.

At the Gallery at Saturday Cove colorful computer generated signage matches the whimsy and motion of this colorful pottery. Homemade doesn’t have to mean second-best.

This signage in front of the Saturday Cove Galley works even on high-speed Route 1 in Northport. Bright colors, simple text and a custom-designed banner attract attention. And then the friendly retriever weathervane begs us to stop to see this fun and friendly gallery.

 

 

Informational signage—shelf signage in retailing or point-of-contact signage like the name of the teller at the bank—can be smaller but shouldn’t be too small for easy legibility. Remember that the majority of us are using reading glasses these days! Use simple typefaces, well-sized and in high-contrast colors. The closer folks will be to the sign or the longer they will be near it—remember this rule!—the more it can say. Don’t be tempted to stint on informational signage. This is the stuff that works for you when your staff is absent or busy. In a retail setting, signage right beside a product can be used to set this item apart from the crowd. “This is the original Estwing Hammer. You’ll recognize it by its trademark stripes…” If you believe your product is the best, don’t be afraid to put a sign beside it saying it is and why it is. We’re accustomed to thinking of this kind of thing as bragging but in this setting it actually inspires customer confidence. L.L. Bean has been doing this kind of thing for about a century. Folks crave information; give it to them and they will reward you with business more often than not.

 

 

Every detail has been carefully considered in this streetfront at Stonewall Kitchen in Camden. Window signage advertises other Stonewall locations, massing of multiple similar items, even in the framed prints beyond, lends abundance and order to this vignette.

 

 

Finally, remember that your whole customer service area should act as one big, coherent sign. Your customer service area should represent in small scale what your business is about as a whole. If you have an image to convey whether country, avant garde, or old-money conservative, use it here in the furnishings, the dress code of your help, the magazines in the waiting area, the look of your brochures and business cards. An especially striking example of this consistency is found at the Belfast bakery/diner/green grocer Chase’s Daily. Here a simple, orderly service counter is presided over by an equally no-nonsense and thoroughly approachable salesperson. Chase’s Daily, with its handmade signs written on shingles or pieces of brown cardboard with black marker reminds me of yet another consideration: homemade signage must still be professional.

They have given something homemade professional finish by using the same materials throughout the business. Chase’s uses shingles or brown cardboard and black pen and one style of writing. Even their “open” and “closed” sign is homemade. Chase’s minimal approach works because it obeys the rules—it’s consistent with their mission, presents a singular image and is legible. If you are going to use homemade signage consider these guidelines.

In Belfast’s The Gothic Café and Coffee House a recommendation by Down East magazine appears as signage on this ice cream freezer.
Who could resist “some of the finest ice cream in New England let alone Maine”?

Learn from others—take a field trip

If all this talk of color, context, sign sizing and consistency is confusing to you or if you just want some inspiration, I suggest you take a trip to some of the local retail businesses that do it all so very right—Chase’s Daily and Stonewall Kitchen. Whether you are a retail business or not or share their clientele or not, you can learn a lot about the power of appropriate signage by examining either of these shops. Locally you can admire Stonewall Kitchen’s professionally produced, mission-consistent work in downtown Camden at 13 Elm Street. Home-grown Chase’s Daily is at 96 Main Street in Belfast. Take a road trip to see the power of the tools I’ve discussed above. Both also employ exemplary packaging, marketing and display techniques; look these over while you are there.

Kristina King is a market grower of authentically raised fruits, vegetables and heirloom plants and is the leader of Slow Food International in Maine. She consults on a range of seemingly unrelated issues, such as visual merchandising, space planning, landscaping and market development. You may reach her by email at <onemorninginmaine@yahoo.com>, or by calling 596.0248.

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