Visibility/Conspicuity

Passing traffic, trees, foliage, power lines, and street signs can limit  visibility of your sign. Before deciding on placing your sign, look at your store from the same angles as your future customers would. Signs placed amidst many visible objects may blend into the background to the point that they become invisible. Conspicuity helps someone distinguish your sign from its surroundings. Proper color, typeface, and lighting are ways a sign can distinguish itself from busy surroundings. You have just a few seconds to grab the attention of passing drivers. Even large signs, if not designed and placed with care, can be overlooked.

Legibility

Legibility gives drivers or pedestrians with normal vision the ability to understand symbols and letters on your sign. Legibility depends on many things, including the size of letters, the amount of white space, and others. While it’s tempting to include as much information as possible when designing your sign, it’s more effective to keep the message very simple. Prioritize what you need to communicate. If you offer a unique service in the area, your address may be the most important element. If you’re competing against many other similar businesses, highlighting distinctive features may be a priority.

This table determines the distance at which a sign first becomes legible, based on how fast a car is moving.

Cone of Vision and Angle

While driving, a motorist has a 20° range, or "cone of vision." If your business has a sign whose setback(i.e., its distance) from the road is outside of this cone, then your sign is in danger of being missed. The angle at which someone sees your sign influences how much time a driver needs to react to the sign. A sign at a 90° angle to the road would be the best option, while those parallel to the road are the hardest for drivers to see. In this table, Type I refers to signs that are at a 90° to the road, while Type II signs are those that are parallel to the road. See the difference in square footage?

Contrast/Luminance

Contrast is the difference between the light and dark areas on your sign. Positive contrast (light border or text on a dark background) is easier to read than negative contrast (dark border or text on a light background).

Luminance is the intensity of light emitted from the surface of your sign. Sign text is considered to be optimally contrasted when its measured brightness is between four to ten times the brightness of its background material.

Be aware that certain sign codes limit the light output allowable in on-premise signage. This philosophy (known increasingly as the "Dark Skies" movement) is often used by communities concerned with energy conservation. You and your sign professional should be aware of whether your code has such restrictions.

Keep in mind that luminance and contrast are critical to meeting visibility needs of drivers. Excessive contrast created by "too bright" backgrounds will reduce visibility.

Graphic Considerations 
(Color, Contrast & White Space)

• Even within your budget confines, or the legal limits of your sign code, an experienced sign design professional can help you create an attractive and effective sign. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
• Choose a typeface that is easily legible and one that fits the type of business. San serif fonts and open styles such as Verdana tend to be more legible. Make your message clear. Not every image can be translated onto a sign, so keep it simple. Because motorists have only seconds to read your sign, some sign experts suggest that text should only be three to five words in length. Abbreviations should not be used unless they are popularly known. Whenever possible, text should be arranged horizontally rather than vertically.
• Maintain white space. An industry guideline is 30%-40% of the sign area should be blank space. Too much clutter distracts potential customers.
• There are certain color combinations that are more legible than others. However, the shade of the color is important, too. The most easily read combinations are black, dark blue or red text on a yellow or white background. However, keep in mind that it is not unusual for a community sign code to state that at least one color match that of your building.
• Also, know that 8% of U.S. males are color-blind. It’s important to use color combinations that retain contrast when viewed by color-blind people. Blue and yellow, for example, are a good combination, but blue-green or aqua on white or gray are difficult combinations for a color blind person to read.
• A simple effect like adding a border around the viewing area is an economical way to dramatically improve your sign’s effectiveness. One study shows that viewers can read and comprehend a sign that has a border around its message 26% faster than a sign without one.

Letter Style and Capitalization

As a general rule, capital letters are most easily recognized, but tend to be read individually. Lower case letters, on the other hand, are generally read as whole words or phrases.

Sign design research designates six type styles as the most basic:

For the most part, reliance on the last four of these can be a problem. People are not used to reading these fonts for extended periods of time. Use them sparingly, if at all.

Capital and lower case letters, with the exception of script styles, are generally equally legible. As a general rule, the width of a letter's horizontal stroke should be approximately 1/5 of its height.

In choosing numerals, it is generally accepted that Roman numerals slow readers down, because they are more complex and less familiar to the viewer than Arabic numerals.

Letter Heights

If a sign is to be effective, then it must be legible at enough of a distance to help a driver respond. Generally, letters with a taller and wider “stroke” can be read from further away. These are the recommended letter heights to enable legibility at various speeds of highway traffic:

Letters of this height at these speeds should be legible to a driver for six seconds. However, if your business appeals mostly to tourists, they might need more reaction time because of unfamiliarity with your area. The longer the reaction time required, the greater the recommended letter height.

Lighting

If you're open for business at night, your sign needs lighting. On-premise signs can be lit either internally or externally. The type of lighting used depends on your sign's location, the architecture of your building, the materials used to make the sign, and any limitations imposed by your local sign code. You will want to be sure that your potential customers can see your sign during the nighttime hours and/or inclement weather.

Here are just a few of the many lighting options:

• light fixtures mounted above a flat wall sign
• a cabinet-style plastic case lit from within with fluorescent or neon bulbs
• channel letters lit from within by neon tubing or lighting
• light behind the sign face, illuminating the main message or symbol, or the sign background, or both, through a translucent material
  
  Ultimately you would want to choose something that looks nice, is suitable for your business area, and yet is still distinct. Ease of maintenance should also be a factor.
  
  As a business owner, you should realize how important the location of light fixtures on your signage can be for their readability. Certain light fixtures above or beside a sign face can cast a shadow over the sign, obscuring the message. Keep that in mind, as your sign works 24 hours a day.

Letter and Background Color Combinations
Ranked in Order of Optimum Legibility

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