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Signage Lettering: Choose Carefully for Biggest Impact

The ability to create more compelling and more interesting screens is an important factor in many businesses’ decision to make the switch from standard to digital displays. Digital signage opens up not only the type of graphic images that they can include in their signs but also a whole new range of signage lettering.

As they’re choosing the signage letters for their media, sign makers would do well to remember—and learn from—the early days of computer-generated newsletters. Some designers, enthralled by the number of fonts that were available to them, seemed to cram as many different typestyles as possible onto every page of their publications. Readers were so distracted by the constantly changing fonts that they couldn’t pay attention or remember the information contained in the article.

To make boards both readable and memorable, creators should do some basic research about the best fonts and signage lettering sizes for their particular purpose.

Recommendations on Signage Lettering

The United States Sign Council (USSC) has funded several studies on legibility as it relates to on-premise posts read by passing motorists. In its publication, "Sign Legibility Rules of Thumb", the USSC notes that the legibility of a notice is dependent up on the height, color and font characteristics. The USSC publication provides a formula and a legibility index that can be used for determining what characteristics letters should have for maximum readability.

The legibility also changes with the interaction between background color and font color. The USSC legibility index shows, for example, that notices featuring black typeface on a white background are more legible than ones that feature white typeface on a black background. In addition, displays that use Helvetica-style signage letters (a non-serif typeface) are more legible at a distance than ones that employ Clarendon-style letters (a serif typeface).

For interior signage, designers should familiarize themselves with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which dictates the size and style of the fonts required as well as the requirements for contrasts between background and type.

Get Help with Signage Lettering and Signage Software

Digital display professionals understand the importance of a business’ choice of letters and graphics—and the importance of selecting the right software and vendor.

Four Winds Interactive is the name to remember if you’re a business looking to begin an electronic display program or to upgrade your current program to make it more effective. FWi provides powerful software that can help ensure that you get the most out of your investment. Plus it provides the experience and the knowledge your organization needs to help ensure that your posts are easily read and easily understood.

Visit our Gallery and see dozens of examples of the powerful digital programs that we’ve created for other organizations. Then Contact Us and arrange for a free demo to show how FWi can put its knowledge and experience to work for you.