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Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts

Seven simple rules to integrate your signage into your store environment

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With Black Friday upon us many people are poised to do some serious power shopping. The increased traffic is a perfect opportunity for retailers to use in-store signs to their advantage.

Signware manufacture, Rose Displays, wrote some great tips on things to consider about your store environment before installing your next campaign. Some of them may sound like common sense, like #1 'Know your space', but each store can hold their own unique set of challenges. They offer some suggestions about areas in your store that can be utilized for signage, like ceilings and floors, that can keep the shoppers engaged at all levels. As well as things you may not have considered, like making sure you large graphic is not placed in front of a door or air conditioning vent where it will blow over. At the end of the article they also provide a check list to help in planning.

Environments and Understanding Your Space

Planning a great signware program starts with understanding the particular demands of your store’s environment — everything from its location, to its size and shape. Use this environment guide and checklist to plan ahead, and ensure your signage works with, and not against, your space.

 Rule #1: Know your space.

The first step in the process is to consider the layout and general environment of your store. For instance, are you dealing with warehouse-like space that will require large, oversized graphics, or is your store an intimate boutique where signage will be much
smaller? If you are working with a chain of stores, are all of the stores similar in size or do they vary? If some stores are much larger than others, you may need to consider more graphics for those stores, and they may need to be larger and/or in bolder colors to increase their visibility.

Designing and effective sign

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We love printing big graphics for customers here at Artisan Colour. We also want to make sure that the graphics we produce are effective. If the letters used for the text are too small, created with a font that is not readable, or a color that is hard to differentiate from the background, then the sign is not going to have the desired impact. This article by Signs & Digital Graphics Magazine offers some helpful tips and things to watch out for when designing your sign so that it is able to be seen and easily read from long distances. The formula for how large your graphic letters should be to be read at a certain distance is particularly helpful.

Designing Award-Winning Signs: View from the Road - by Matt Charboneau

Designing monument signs is a balancing act of blending parameters, colors, objectives and graphics into a monolithic mass of aluminum and electricity whose only function is to be noticed, to inform and to bring in revenues for the one who paid for it.
In discussing the effectiveness of a sign, we must address three factors that dominate the design process: visibility, legibility and readability.


Optimum legibility: Letter style, size, color, spacing
If your sign is 35' tall and you need it to be legible and readable at 300 feet, what formula do you use to calculate letter height? Calculating this is fairly complex and involves the use of a left handed abacus, however an easy shortcut is to simply add a zero to the letter height (in inches) and convert the number to feet.
Example: Start with your letter height of 6", then add a zero to it and change the measurement from inches to feet. That means a 6" tall letter would have an optimum legible distance of 60'. Letter 4"tall are best read at 40' and 12" tall letters are best viewed at 120', and so on.

Magnetic Attraction

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For graphics that need to be swapped out or dismantled frequently magnets are a great option. Ideal for trade show booths that need to travel or retail displays that are changed to advertise sale or new seasonal items, magnets can be easily altered by staff not trained in professional installation. Magnets are also great for car graphics and corporate vehicle identification. They offer a high impact without the long term commitment required with a car wrap.

There a couple of options when it comes to magnetic displays. The first is direct to magnetic printing. This, as it sounds, is where the ink is printed directly on magnetic material. This method is most commonly used when it comes to vehicle magnets. Magnets cling and stay the best on a clean flat surface, like the side panel or vehicle door. However, because of the increased weight of magnetic material in bulk, this method is limited in size to a standard 24" width roll.

For larger applications magnetic receptive materials can be used. Magnetic receptive substrates have a metal layer that attract magnets to the front or back surface, and are available in wider width rolls. This innovative material can be used in two ways; magnets can be attached to the front making it ideal for message, instructional or planning boards; or a panel can be installed in to a display frame with just magnetic strip edging, perfect for menu boards, trade shows, or retail settings. Additional finishing, like dry erase laminates, can also be added making them even more versatile.


Consider magnets for displays that need to be flexible and convertible. Artisan Colour can work with you to bring your design to life.

Image resources: Magnum Magnetics for Wide Format Imaging Magazine & Drytac FerroJet Matt.

Using photography to help you sell more

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Our photography studio is often employed to aid in product shots that are used in catalog or online sales. The perfect image that highlights the product attributes and represents the product accurately is imperative, and part of our specialty at Artisan Colour. How the resulting images are ultimately used in print or website placement can be equally as important. A picture can literally be worth a thousand words. The way that photos are utilized to promote a product or brand can express much more than lines of copy when used properly.

This article by Smashing Magazine offers several suggestions on how to use photography effectively and in turn enhance the consumer experience driving more sales online. Concepts like promoting company brand through imagery, telling a story, evoking an emotional response, and good old fashion demonstrating the attributes of your product in a stylish way are discussed. One topic that maybe can not be stated enough, is to avoid using static stock photography. Investing in quality images that perfectly communicate your product or company image will be duly rewarded with larger sales. Although this article focuses on web commerce, the same concepts apply to traditional print campaigns as well.

How To Use Photos to Sell More Online - James Chudley for Smashing Magazine

This article pulls together principles from psychology, marketing, UX design and photographic theory. It provides a set of principles to follow when commissioning and editing photography and when planning and designing profitable e-commerce user experiences.

Show Off Product Benefits

The best way to sell products is to let them sell themselves. Consider the Gorilla Pod shown below. The photo demonstrates brilliantly the benefits of the product. The copy is supplementary; the image does the heavy lifting. Let photography do the selling for you as much as possible.

4-show-the-benefits in How To Use Photos To Sell More Online


Using vinyl banners as a sign

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If you’ve ever priced out a commercial channel letter sign, then you know how expensive they can be. There are a couple main factors that drive up the price. First there are local zoning and permit laws that are required to install one. Second they are also made to last for up to 20 years.

However, the average customer often does not need their sign to last for that long. By using a vinyl banner instead, you are investing in a sign that can last up to 3 years outside. With our great digital printing technologies, you can still get a very attractive product. Banners can be hung from the side of a building, or wrapped around a sheet of plywood for a more finished look. Either way, for a fraction of the cost you get a sign that will last for years.

Signs for construction, buildings for sale or rent, and grand opening of a business are all candidates. Perhaps you have promotion you would like to advertise that would be visible from the street. It is also a great option to advertise your business while waiting for your permanent sign to be completed. Another advantage for using a banner is that many zoning ordinances allow them to be used on a temporary basis, whereas you need to go through the permitting process to install a commercial sign.

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Building brand visibility

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You have your mission statement written, and the perfect tag line all picked out. Most people's first step to building your company's visual identity and brand is the selection of your company logo. This important visual image projects to the world what your company represents, and needs to function well in different contexts; website, letterhead, business cards, signage & advertising. A well designed logo can establish the first crucial impression of your business and even build customer loyalty.

The colors chosen for your logo can convey more than you may think. Certain colors have an instant recognition in people, and can even evoke an emotional response. Alina Wheeler author of Designing Brand Identity offers this advise "Color is used to evoke emotion, express personality, and stimulate brand association....The ultimate goal is to own a color, a color that facilitates recognition and builds brand equity." Think of the big brands that are immediately recognizable by their brand color. Coca Cola owns the color red, McDonald's golden arches, Home Depot hangs their tool belt off the color orange, UPS even replaced their company name with the logo color in their ad campaign 'What can brown do for you?'. The colors you choose do matter, because colors have meaning. There are many sources on the web that specialize in color theory, here are a few that are specific to logo color selection - A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand & Brand Identity: The Importance of Color.

While your logo is the building block of your brand, your brand is not just your logo. Your brand is the culmination of the sum of things your business represents. Including your logo, your corporate colors, your office space, employees, company values and associations, your marketing material and much more.

Lets focus on marketing material. Vision dominates all other senses. People are 65% more likely to remember your brand if you show it to them visually than through any other method. A unified look to your logo and company colors that are used as building blocks in all of your marketing material can help identify you in a competitive market. The imagery used for your marketing is also key. If you are in the food business it is important that the food represented on your menu board, window graphics, and print ads look scrumptious and good enough to eat. It is worth it to hire a professional photographer that is experienced in composition, lighting, and product styling. Of course, accurate color representation in the printing of your marketing material and signage is critical.

Using creative promotional products can be like a silent salesperson for your business. Company refrigerator magnets, coasters, and bumper stickers are easily passed out, mailed and distributed. If you are throwing an event, hand out gifts that have your company logo on them. Adding a car magnet or vinyl logo to your vehicle is an affordable moving billboard that can reach thousands of people. The more areas you drive to around town, the more eyes that will see your message. Whatever you pick, all should bear your logo and contact information.

Remember your brand will develop over time as your company grows. A strong brand connects with your prospective clients and solidify relationships with your existing clients. The avenues you take to promote your company are integral with how your brand will ultimately be perceived.

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Maximize your ad space with floor graphics

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Looking for alternate signage ideas for your product? The floor is often the perfect place to add to your message and literally stop consumers in their tracks. Every retail space has a floor, and each floor is a potential advertising canvas.

By utilizing floor space, these graphics can be used as a directional tool to guide customers to the desired location in an interactive way. Strategically placed in point of purchase locations through the store they can increase sales of your product up to 30%. With a low cost per square foot to produce, and a durability to withstand high foot traffic for several months, they offer a high return making them one of the most inexpensive advertising mediums.

Floor graphics are made up using a base vinyl and a specially formulated over-laminate for the floor. This over-laminate has a rough texture to prevent slipping and protects the print from foot traffic. The vinyl is easily removable and leaves no residue on the floor. Making it also easy to change out for future campaigns.

Most commonly seen in grocery stores, floor graphics can be used in many ways beyond the frozen food section. They are perfect for trade shows and special events. A logo placed at the entrance of your lobby can promote company pride and help build your corporate brand. Or create three dimensional illusions like this image of a 'hole' in the ground that Publicis, an advertising agency in Brazil, created for an anti-drug campaign at Mackenzie University.

Contact an Artisan Colour representative to learn how to create your own floor graphics.

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Point of Purchase displays that POP

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The successful promotion of a company’s product line depends on effective marketing and presentation. It is vital for a product to be advertised in such a way that grabs the audience’s attention and also creates brand recall among customers. Most companies are looking for an approach that will give them the best return on their investment.

While there are many methods of advertising, Point of Purchase (or POP) displays are an effective and low cost method that can be used as one component of an overall marketing strategy. POP displays can be found at many different retail applications. They have been in utilized in a basic way ever since man started selling their wears. Used in the simplest form, merchants would hang samples of their product in shop windows to inform potential buyers of what they sold. Nowadays, with technological advancements, samples have been replaced with picturesque depictions of the products.

Point of purchase displays come in variety of forms. They may be backlit signboards, an entire showcase, or a counter top display right at the cash register. An effective piece will have the brand name predominately mentioned. POP fixtures and displays should be colorful and attractive to consumers. The goal is to draw the customer’s attention to the display to entice them to buy your product. They need to be targeted to the demographic you are trying to reach. They should also make a statement about your company and be consistent with your brand image, as it may be the only impression the customer gets of your company.

The machine we recently purchased to create the Artisan Colour Display Graphics Division is ideal to produce this type of marketing. It was recently recognized for its superior print quality at the Euro-Reklama Outdoor Expo. The Océ Arizona® 350 GT won the 2009 Poznan International Fair (PIF) Gold Medal. The first generation of this machine (the 250 GT) was awarded the PIF Gold Medal in 2008.

Océ Wins Double Gold at Euro-Reklama Outdoor Expo 2009

The PIF Gold Medal is awarded to a product that meets a number of criteria, including quality and innovation, and that has been produced using the best technology available. A panel of specialists in each industry judges the entries. The PIF Gold Medal competition jury has a 30-year tradition of recognizing outstanding products in various fields.

The Océ Arizona 350 GT UV curable flatbed printer uses Océ VariaDot™ imaging technology to deliver near-photographic image quality for nearly any application. Designed as a true flatbed system, it can print on a wide variety of rigid substrates and features a Roll Media Option for printing onto flexible media. A White Ink Option is available to enable under-printing on colored media or objects, over-printing for backlit applications on transparent media, and printing white as a spot color. The Océ Arizona 350 GT printer is ideal for producing a wide variety of applications such as event graphics, point-of-purchase displays, limited-term signage, banners, backlit and reflective rigid displays, transit advertising, and directional signage.