After 30 years in the sign industry it still amazes me that when starting a business some people do not
realize that their cool new logo is not as recognizable as the McDonald’s logo. I have had customers with
a very long name and a really cool logo, but it says nothing about what they do! I have found in the past
that the most successful signage I have made is sometimes the simplest. The only other option is if you
aren’t willing to create a million-dollar marketing budget to create awareness of your new brand then
this is a moot point, but most small business owners do not have that resource or the knowledge.
Let me give you a fictional example that might relate to what I am talking about here. 2 new barber
shops open, both have great names for their barber shops, one being HEADQUARTERS and the other
being THE CHOP SHOP, both being cool names but let’s look at the logos and see what works for signs.
Both logos are great, but one being just text and has nothing that says “I AM A BARBER AND CUT HAIR”
while the other is simple yet strong, having flame scissors and gets the point across. Now for their new
location signs what makes sense here? Yes, HeadQuarters looks good but would need more to get the
point across being a new business, while Chop Shop is plain yet strong but still really doesn’t say barber
shop. Both logos could have it added below and solve this issue. I guess my point is most people need to
realize no matter how cool a logo, maybe signs like below do a better job than a fancy logo signs
because in the end, as a sign person we want our customers to succeed even though it is fun to make
awesome looking signs, if the sign doesn’t help business, then we failed!
