One of the most important aspects of business signage is letter sizing. A sign can have the most creative and interesting design in the world, but if the letters aren’t sized right, it simply won’t be readable. That’s why it’s important to determine the appropriate letter size to ensure your sign’s message is clear and easy for prospective customers to read.
However, it can be difficult to choose the perfect letter size for your signs without a strategy or formula. To help you out, we at Impression Signs and Graphics have created this quick guide — including a helpful formula — to help you determine the perfect letter size for your business’s signage.
The Impact of Signage on Your Business
If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’ll know that we firmly believe in the power of effective signage to help businesses boost their bottom lines. Great signage can help achieve this by:
- Creating a strong first impression
- Reinforcing a brand’s identity
- Conveying key messages
- Increasing foot traffic and ultimately sales
If effective signage can do all of this, then you can see why it’s important that your sign be as clear and readable as possible — and that clarity must also extend to proper letter sizing.
The Role of Letter Sizing in Signage
The size of your lettering can determine whether your message is delivered to your target audience or ignored entirely, so it’s important to get it right.
The major factor that’s going to determine the size of your letters is going to be the distance between your sign and the reader. In general, the further the distance, the larger your letters should be; the shorter the distance, the smaller your letters should be.
While the reasoning behind avoiding letters that are too small are obvious, you don’t want to go too large, either — overly-large letter sizing in business signage can look awkward at best, and at worst, obnoxious. Finding the appropriate letter size will attract the right attention to your business in a way that looks both professional and appropriate.
Formula to Determine Letter Size
Here’s a good rule of thumb to follow when deciding the size of your lettering for a sign that’s in-store or meant to target foot-traffic:
For every 10 feet between the reader and your sign, add 1” of height to the total height of your letters.
For example, most people can easily read 1” tall letters from a 10 ft distance. However, for a 40 ft distance, you’ll need letters that are at least 4” for optimal readability.
However, if your sign is by the roadside and meant to target people traveling in vehicles, here’s a more in-depth formula that can help you determine the perfect letter size for your sign:
Letter Height (in inches) = (Traffic Lanes x 10 + Sign Distance in ft) / 5
Here’s a quick example to help you understand the formula better.
4 lane roadway
Sign distance is 40 feet from the curb
LH = (4 x 10 + 40) / 5 = 16
In this example, the letter height should be around 16 inches.
Readability and Visibility: Additional Considerations
Font Type
If your goal is maximum readability and visibility for your sign’s message, Serif or Sans Serif fonts are going to be your safest bet. They’re the most traditional and straightforward fonts and very easy to read. If you do choose to use more decorative or script fonts on your sign, make sure that the letter height is adjusted to increase visibility.
Font Color
For greatest visibility of letters, use colors that contrast with the background color of your sign. For example, a darker letter on a light-colored background and vice versa. If you need help figuring out which colors will contrast the most with your chosen background color, consult a color wheel and choose the color directly opposite from it.
Reading Time
When determining the size of your letters, consider the average time a reader will take to read your sign. For example, a person driving down a highway will have less time to read therefore, your sign’s lettering should be larger. A person browsing your store however, has more time to read and therefore smaller lettering would be fine.
Sign Placement
Wherever you choose to place your sign make sure that it’s easily visible. That means that it’s well lit, at an appropriate height and free of any obstructions, including products and displays if your sign is in-store, and trees and vegetation if your sign is outside or by the road.
Need Help Designing The Perfect Sign For Your Business?
Choosing the perfect letter size for your business sign is an important decision that can make or break the effectiveness of your signage. By using the above formula and considering factors such as viewing distance, reading time and placement, you can make sure your signage gets the message across. If you’d like professional help designing your dream sign, give Impression Signs and Graphics a call at 651.328.6600 or email us today. We’d be happy to help.
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