It seems that bright, bold colours are the way of the future.

The businesses who came out on top in the 'Self Promotion' category used vibrant orange, green and red paint to great effect.

These shades really grab your attention, which is exactly what you want from a sign that's advertising your company!

If you're not sure what hues to decorate your sign with, a Resene colour chart might be just the tool you need.

The top signs also use interesting fonts. These are easy to read, which is important, but also well designed.

So, the signs look polished and professional. And, by association, your company will appear polished and professional, too.

Another striking feature of the signs in this year's NZSDA is their simplicity.

They exhibit clean lines and very little clutter, which means whoever sees them doesn't have to work hard to figure out what they're advertising.

You don't want to bog your sign down with too much text – just include the most important information, such as the name of your business, what it does and your contact details.

If you have a recognisable logo, make it the star of the show – a picture is worth a thousand words, after all!

It seems that your classic parallel-with-the-ground writing is still prefered by businesses who commission or create their own signs.

However, a few innovative designers have opted to place text and images on strange and exciting angles.

This can work really well, if it's not overdone, and could help your organisation cement itself as a quirky, out-of-the-ordinary business.

If this isn't the image you want to be portraying, it's probably best that you stick to the tried-and-true method of horizontal writing.

September 11, 2013

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