Magnetic Signs

  Magnetic Sign Design: What Should My Sign Say?  

Before trying to design your own magnetic signs, you should consider the following questions.   

• What is the most important element of your magnetic sign? 
• What is it that you want to convey to those who view your car sign? 
• What is it that you want those people to do? Call the phone number or go to your website? 
• How long do you think people will be able to see and read your magnetic vehicle sign?  

One of the first things you need to incorporate into your design thinking is "KISS" (Keep it Simple Sweetheart, that sounds so much better than Stupid). This will help you immensely in your endeavor.

If you are using your magnetic signs (car signs, car magnets) for advertising, how long do you think your potential customers have to view your sign as you are going down the road? They will not bother to try to interpret an overcrowded sign. Six to eight words should be the maximum for a sign that is only 12"x24". So in this case, less will always be more, as the old saying goes. So, try to keep your design simple and easy to understand. With fewer words, the letters can be larger and more legible.

And what about the fonts? One or two different fonts is the norm for signs. And these should be readable fonts, not ones that, once again, you have to interpret what they say. These are signs, not art that is hanging on a wall for people to admire, they need to be able to get a message across in 3-4 seconds.

Upper and lower case is another element to take into consideration. There are some fonts, like Old English or any script, that should NEVER be used in all caps. People do it. You can't read it, especially not going down the road. If that is your sign, you already know what the word is, and your brain interprets it immediately. But if it is not, there will not be time to figure it out. So, if you don't care that you are the only one who knows what it says, then it is OK. But, for advertising purposes, absolutely not. 

There are places that ALL CAPS are used effectively, but their use should be limited. Even though all capitals are larger, they are not more easily read from a distance compared to upper and lower case. Scientific testing has determined that our brains distinguish the shapes and therefore we can interpret the words faster in upper and lower case, which is what is necessary when people only have very few seconds to read the sign.

Contrasts and color combinations are choices where people often make mistakes. Either of the examples below, being black and white, have the greatest amount of contrast possible.

But which of them look larger. Obviously, the white letter on a dark background makes it appear larger than dark on light. This can give a hint of something that can be done when designing signs.   

Using a strip or patch of dark colors with much lighter lettering is a good way, not only to make a break in the text, but it will stand out as well.

These are just a few design rules that should be taken into consideration when designing your magnetic signs (car signs, car magnets).