Before you order a sign: four questions to answer

New business owners arrive full of energy. The lease is signed, the stock is ordered and, in the words of Del Boy, this time next year they will be millionaires. What they often have not done yet is think through what the sign above the door is actually for. Before you order a sign, a few minutes of clear thinking will save you money and give you a far better result.

At Sign Rite Grafix we ask every customer the same four questions before we design anything for their shop signs and exterior signs. Here they are, with examples, followed by a checklist of everything else worth having ready when you get in touch.

Question 1: What are your objectives and core purpose?

This sounds like a question for a business plan rather than a sign, but it shapes everything. A sign is a promise about what is inside. If you do not know what you stand for, your sign cannot tell anyone.

Try to finish this sentence in one line: we exist to help who, do what, and why it matters. A family bakery could say it makes proper bread for the neighbourhood every morning. A specialist physiotherapy clinic could say it gets active people back to their sport. Those two answers lead to completely different signs, in tone, colour and wording.

A quick test

If you had to describe your business to a stranger in the time it takes to walk past your shop, what would you say? Write it down. That sentence is the seed of your sign.

Question 2: Who are you trying to attract?

Every sign speaks to someone, and the best ones speak to someone specific. A sign aimed at everyone usually connects with no one. These are the audiences we hear about most often:

• The general public walking past
• Passing motorists
• Shoppers already on the high street
• Commercial customers and trade buyers
• Domestic customers looking for a local service
• Existing clients who need to find you again
• Staff arriving for work
• Visitors coming to a meeting
• Students on a campus
• Patients arriving at a clinic or surgery

Notice how differently each group behaves. A motorist gets a glimpse at speed, so the sign needs to be big, bold and brief. A patient arriving for an appointment is anxious and looking for the right door, so clarity and reassurance matter more than salesmanship. Pick your main audience and design for them first.

Question 3: What is the main purpose of your new sign?

Signs do different jobs, and one sign trying to do all of them usually does none well. Choose the main purpose, then let the others follow if there is room.

Purpose	What it looks like in practice
Advertise	Tells people you exist and what you offer
Sell	Pushes a product, a deal or a season
Direct	Points people to an entrance, car park or reception
Inform	Opening hours, services, contact details
Inspire	Sets a mood or shares what you believe in
Impress	Shows quality and confidence through materials and finish
Warn	Safety messages, hazards, restricted areas
Identify	Marks the building, unit or room as yours

A new café on a busy street mainly needs to advertise and identify. For a business park unit, the main jobs are to identify and direct. A showroom selling high value products needs to impress, so the materials and lighting carry as much weight as the words.

Question 4: What do you want your sign to do for you?

This is the results question. Once the sign is up, what should be different? More walk in customers? Fewer lost delivery drivers? Phone calls from people who saw your van parked outside? A front of house that makes clients feel they have come to the right place?

Being specific here helps us design something that earns its keep. If you want phone calls, the number needs to be readable from the road. If you want people to look you up online, a short web address beats a long one. For a business that wants to look established, quality materials and restraint in the design will do more than a long list of services. Our guide on how to design a shop sign people actually read covers how those choices play out on the building.

What else to have ready before you order a sign

Once you have answers to the four questions, a few practical details turn a good conversation into an accurate design and quote. You do not need all of them on day one, but the more you have, the quicker things move.

Photos and measurements of the site

Take photos square on to the building from across the street, plus a few from the angles customers approach from. Include the whole shopfront, not only the fascia, so we can see the windows, doors and neighbours. Rough measurements of the area for the sign are useful at this stage, even if they are only paced out.

Logo files and brand colours

The best logo file is a vector file, usually ending in .ai, .eps, .svg or a vector .pdf. These scale to any size without going fuzzy. A small JPEG taken from a website will not stretch to a fascia. If you have brand colour references or a set of brand guidelines, send them as well.

Budget, deadline and the building

• Budget range: a rough figure lets us suggest materials and lighting that fit, rather than designing something you cannot use.
• Deadline: an opening day, a launch or a lease date. Tell us early.
• Rented or owned: if you rent, check what your lease says about signage and whether the landlord needs to approve it.
• Listed building or conservation area: signs on a listed building normally need listed building consent, and many illuminated signs need advertisement consent. Speak to your local planning authority about what applies to you.

Why the four questions matter

Customers sometimes want to skip straight to colours and fonts. We understand why, it is the fun part. But a sign designed without answers to these four questions is a guess, and guesses are expensive when they are made in aluminium and acrylic and fixed to a wall.

Since 1985, Phil and the team have seen that the best signs come from customers who know what they want the sign to achieve, even if they have no idea what it should look like. That second part is our job.

Ready to brief your new sign?

Jot down your answers to the four questions, gather your photos and logo files, and get in touch. Browse our shop signs and exterior signs, call us on 01296 399202, or send your details through our contact page.