Today we're going to show you how to choose the best restaurant sign for your business.
We've been in the custom sign industry in the Durham region including Clarington, Ajax, Pickering, and Bowmanville, for over 10 years and we'd love to share our expertise with you.
In this post we'll talk about the different factors to consider when you are designing your restaurant sign so that it will give you the most impact. Let's get going!
Learn how to choose the best restaurant sign for your business
Tips for Choosing the Best Restaurant Sign
Consider Your Target Market
When designing your restaurant storefront signage, consider your target market and choose a restaurant sign that is going to appeal to them.
Families: If you are targeting families or children, choose bright colours with cute or fun logos. Children are attracted to playful, fun colours and images and if it looks good to them, they are going to convince their parents to take them there.
Sophisticated Adult Market: If you are going after a more grown-up market, then you will want to choose a design that is simple yet elegant. It should be one that provides a more sophisticated, 'adult' feel.
Health Conscious Market: If your restaurant is targeting a market that is very conscious about eating healthy, make sure you choose a design and images that feature fresh, healthy food choices.
Children love brightly coloured signs with cute logos
The Type of Sign You Choose Is Important Too
Monument Signs Can Give a Fancy Feeling: Monument signs are very traditional, and they give a feeling of stateliness and elegance. If your restaurant is upscale, then a monument sign can be an excellent choice for you.
An Illuminated Sign Can Give You Visibility: An illuminated sign is a great choice for the front of your restaurant, especially if your restaurant is open at night and you want potential customers to easily find you. It can also be helpful if you are located in a darker corner or if you want to stand out from the other businesses around you.
Awnings Protect and Add Atmosphere: Your restaurant signage can also serve more than one purpose. Installing awnings/umbrellas with your name or logo on them can:
Provide shelter against the rain over your entrance
Give a quaint atmosphere to outdoor cafes
Provide protection from the sun for outside diners
Be a further means of promoting your brand
Awnings can perform multiple functions for your business
How to Choose the Right Colours for Your Restaurant Sign
Choosing the right colours is an important part of your restaurant sign decision. You will want to choose colours that represent the atmosphere of your establishment and align well with your brand. You also want to pick colours that are very visible.
For example, red is a popular colour for restaurant signage as it grabs people's attention and actually makes them feel hungry. Orange is also a great choice as it combines the effects of red plus the feeling of happiness and warmth that yellow gives into one colour. It also gives the impression of affordability, so it would be a good choice for a family or fast-food style eatery.
Purple is a good choice for a more upscale restaurant
On the other hand, if you have a more upscale restaurant then purple may be a good choice as it evokes sophistication and exclusivity.
If you want to promote your restaurant as being a healthy alternative, then greens will work well as they promote a sense of freshness, renewal, and eco-friendliness.
How to Choose the Right Lettering
You need to make sure that people can read your restaurant sign, especially your storefront one. This may seem like an obvious point, but it is very important to remember. If you want your sign to be noticed by passing traffic, it will need to be read in just a few seconds.
Often businesses choose signs with unusual and extremely fancy fonts that may look beautiful but are almost impossible to read quickly from a distance.
Choose an easy-to-read larger font for great legibility
Here are some important tips to make sure that your sign is legible:
Make sure you choose an easy-to-read font
Stay away from elaborate cursive fonts
Make sure the lettering is well-spaced and not overlapping or too crowded.
Don't overuse capital letters - Sentence or Title case is actually easier to read than ALL CAP
Leave enough space between words and images
While it's great to have a sign that customers will think is beautiful, the sign will be practically useless if they can't understand what it is saying. If you really want fancy lettering, you can use it on your menus or smaller interior signage.
How to Get the Right Amount of Contrast
It is important for your restaurant sign to have the right amount of contrast between your letters and background colours. Dark backgrounds with light coloured text or light coloured backgrounds with dark text stand out the best. Avoid using colours that are close together like white text on a beige background. This combination will be almost impossible to read on a sunny day.
Putting a border around your text or graphic can increase the speed with which you can read it. If you want to have colours that are closer in colour for your background and text, then adding a drop shadow or an outline to your lettering will make it stand out much better.
A dark background with light lettering provides the best contrast
Choose the Best Locations
Placing your restaurant sign in the right location is as important as how it is designed. If your customers can't see it, then it won't help you. If you are placing a sign on your storefront, then put it should be located above your entrance to help customers know where they need to go in.
You can have multiple signs on your storefront but at least one should be directly above your main entrance.
If you have more than one avenue of traffic to your restaurant then you may need multiple signs to cover all possible routes and if you are located back from a main thoroughfare, you may want additional signage to direct drivers from a busier road to your restaurant.
If you have a monument or pylon sign, make sure that its face is properly angled so that motorists can see if as they drive by and make sure that it is at an appropriate height so that it is directly in the eye-line of people passing by.
Placing it too high or too low may mean that people will not see it. Also place it so that it is not obstructed by any natural elements such as large trees.
If you have a restaurant sign near your entrance, make sure that it is placed before the entrance so that motorists won't miss turning into your driveway.
Make sure your restaurant sign is strategically placed to clearly show your entrance
AGC Signs: For the Best Restaurant Signs in Toronto
If you need custom made restaurant signs, contact AGC Signs. AGC Signs can help you design and will manufacture any type of signage you require, for outside and inside your establishment.
We have over 10 years of experience in the signage industry in Ontario, so we can help you design the perfect sign.
We strive to exceed industry standards by providing our clients with superior signage solutions through in-house custom design, fabrication, and installation. We do it all from start to finish - that’s why AGC Signs is your one-stop signage destination.
We can help you consider all factors involved in the creation of your signage, including structural requirements, municipal by-law requirements and permits, as well as the architectural features of the building where it will be located.
All of our technicians are highly skilled and extremely hard-working. We also use only top-of-the-line equipment. You can trust us to do the job right; we do all of the work ourselves and never subcontract it out. Contact us today for a free quote.
"AGC Signs was absolutely professional in all aspects. Their work is exemplary, and their customer service is fantastic. I would highly recommend AGC Signs to anyone looking for quality work and service."
- Mike C
