Related Search: design signs, sign colors, highly contrasting colors, custom sign design, custom signs, custom signage

design signs, sign colors, highly contrasting colors, custom sign design, custom signs, custom signage

Why Opposites Attract On Your Custom Sign

Custom signs with a high contrast in brightness are the easiest to read. Signs with little contrast, such as gray on black, are much harder to read from a distance.

This may seem fairly obvious, but when you design a sign up close it's easy to forget that your sign will most often be seen from far away and in a very limited amount of time. What may look good up close may be nearly illegible when seen from a distance:

When seen from a distance, the darker green may disappear in the lighter shade of green. Contrasting shade only is usually better on custom signs your customers will be looking at close–up, such as signs inside your shop.

Light vs Dark:

Here's a handy fact: light colors on a dark background appear larger because light colors advance and dark colors recede.

But in general, white is the most flexible background color for your customized sign. More colors contrast with a neutral white background than with any other color. If you're planning to choose a different background color, that's fine – but keep in mind that your choices for colors that both stand out and match with the background will be limited.

And The Winners Are

We'll take the guessing out of it for you. Effective color combinations have been ranked by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

Top four:

1. Black on yellow
2. Black on white
3. Yellow on black
4. White on black

Combinations of white and purple, yellow and purple, green and white, red and white, and red and yellow are also highly rated. Alternatively, combinations such as green on red create a disagreeable and hard to read vibrating effect.

You can easily read the words on this page because of the contrast in color between the letters and the background. But you want your sign to look more unique than simple black text on a white background. You can achieve a more eye–catching sign by using decidedly contrasting colors. The secret is to use these colors properly.

The bottom line is that when you're picking colors for your custom sign – with assistance from our sign experts if you choose – remember that you're looking for colors with high contrast that are easily readable. Give your potential customers something they want to look at.

Easy, huh?