Here's a Good Sign

The most essential purpose of a sign is to deliver a message. It takes much more than throwing a bunch of letters on a panel and hoping folks will see it. A completed sign is really a composition. Whether it’s reasonable depends on four critical factors: Balance, Rhythm, Oneness, and Harmony.

A good sign must be “pleasing” to the eye for Balance. It is the weight distribution that is considered first. It’s not necessarily done symmetrically; instead, a well-balanced sign composition is optically effective and has stability of sorts in the arrangement of the copy concerning each of the other elements. A lot is involved in this judgment for the competent sign writer – the amount of copy, any illustrations or supporting images, letter styles, and what the sign is supposed to do; advertise, sell, welcome, etc. 

Also, how far will the sign be viewed from, and how fast will the viewer travel, if at all. When the customer brings the sign writer copy that looks like a newspaper ad and doesn’t allow any freedom for the professional to edit, believing every word is essential, there is often no hope for achieving a balance in the sign’s layout. Rhythm is what many signs lack due to the sign writer’s judgment in selecting too many letter styles in the same work. Aesthetically speaking, most signs look best when only one or two fonts are incorporated. Modest font variations can often be introduced to reduce rhythm interference when bringing impact and interest; however, too many lettering styles on one sign are visually distressing. 

Oneness is when signs have several groups of copies or messages, and the viewer’s eye smoothly follows the flow of the message from the primary message to the secondary and finally onto the most subordinate. It can be achieved or enhanced by dividing the three messages and creating emphasis using reverse panels, bolding, and other emphasis techniques. 

Harmony is nothing more than incorporating the first three elements with discipline – balance, rhythm, and oneness. Without being sensitive to copy grouping, letter styles, and things like coloring, no harmonious layout will be achieved. A perfect example of this is the use of borders. Often, borders on signs are entirely unnecessary and only distract the eye instead of supporting a particular letter style. This is especially true when the border is excessively strong or of solid color. In the case of borderless signs, the flow of the graphics, shapes, and lettering styles provides design and unity, balanced with uninterrupted harmony.

In my work with customers at Cedar Sign Company, a retailer of personalized welcome signs carved from Western Red Cedar red, I often see them deliver copy and design expectations that are far from the proof we render for their approval. When folks let us exercise our signed in wood expertise by interpreting balance, rhythm, unity, and harmony with professionalism and style, their welcome signs and family name plaques deliver attractive and compelling compositions.