In September, Signal Hill Medical Center moved to a new location and became West Springs Medical. A growing residential neighborhood in the southwest of Calgary, West Springs was the perfect spot for the family-centered practice to continue providing great medical care. And, with the new name, came the additional opportunity for West Springs Medical to rebrand. As a result, they also launched a new logo and website design. Using a bold color scheme of bright blues and greens, West Springs Medical’s current look is fresh, modern and welcoming.
However, while West Springs Medical has gone through some exciting changes, their commitment to comprehensive quality patient care remains the same. Dr. Anish Acharya explains, “We are an established practice with a focus on family medicine. We believe in providing quality care, not rushing through it.” Offering a wide range of services, West Springs Medical provides walk-in hours and is currently accepting new patients.
For West Springs Medical’s office, Topmade created two identical LED illuminated signs, of the logo and business name, using channel letters.
Channel letters are 3D letters, usually made from metal or plastic, that are equipped with LEDs or neon light. Each letter has a “face” (the front), a “trim cap” (an embossed outline which holds the face to the return) and a “return” (the sides).
During the day, the embossed white trim and returns help define the individual characters. At night, the sign is front-lit for easy recognition. In fact, channel letters have quickly become a top selection for businesses due to their dynamic visual appeal in any lighting conditions. Unlike a box sign, which is largely a flat surface, channel letters have significant depth. In addition, any color of light can be used with the letters.
Do you have any questions about what signage would work best for your business? We’d love to hear from you! CONTACT US today.
On October 24th, Supplement King had its grand opening at its Beacon Hills location. The day started with a crowd outside the door, excitedly waiting for the store to open. By closing time, 750 customers had visited. A great success. The choice of store location was strategic – not only is it in the middle of a busy shopping area but it is a quick walk to the popular gym, GoodLife Fitness.
The Supplement King brand began in Halifax, Nova Scotia but its founder, Roger King, was quick to grow his empire of health and fitness supplements. Currently, there are 5 stores in Alberta and 19 Canada-wide. The Beacon Hills location holds the exciting position as the first in the city of Calgary. What sets Supplement King apart from its competitors, according to franchise owner Chris Vermeersch, is its one-two punch of unbeatable pricing and excellent customer service. And while they are a major retailer of sports supplements, they are just as focused on promoting general health and fitness for all ages.
But it’s not just about great value or prime location, explains Chris, it’s also important for Supplement King to present a visually appealing store to entice visitors. And part of maintaining that professional look relies on clear signage. As a major Canadian retailer for sports supplements, Supplement King is a brand that, like many of its customers, is going places fast. Topmade Plastics and Neon Signs offered Supplement King the quick and expert service needed to get their signs made and installed on-time for their big debut.
Choosing to go against the status quo in their approach to food, as well as in their design choices, Re:Grub is a bit of a rebel on the burger scene. “We’ve tweaked the classic burger to create something unique,” explains owner Jose Azares, “and we make everything from from scratch.” Not only does Re:Grub grind the grass-fed Alberta beef for the patties, they also bake their own buns and pickle their own vegetables. The future goal is for Re:Grub to be thought of, not just as a burger bar, but as a marketplace where their personal brand of buns and patties can be sold.
It’s been three months since Re:Grub opened its doors on 11th avenue, and the menu is receiving rave reviews from local foodies. But the burger bar has also built a welcoming space for Calgarians to gather thanks to its interactive outdoor mural. The mural faces the outdoor patio and features a friendly monster, named Lucas, painted by local artist Michael Grills.
Never one to follow the herd, Jose wanted his signage to be just as different but there were a few key practical considerations. As Re:Grub is tucked in between two buildings, with an extended wall on one side, Jose knew the sign had to be big and eye-catching in order to be seen from the street.
“Chris, who helped me, was really good. I didn’t have to worry about anything. He gave me options, I picked and he delivered.”
While the standard choice for company signs are back-lit illuminated channel letters, Jose felt side-lit letters were the right fit for the image he wanted to project. During the day, the black letters stand out boldly against the turquoise metal siding and, in the evening, there is an attention-grabbing white halo effect. The result is striking and, most certainly, unique.
There are some best practices when choosing letter height for maximum visibility. The United States Sign Council has published quite a technical study on the subject that we recommend you use as a complete reference guide to signage, as well as a sign legibility guide.
They provide an interesting 10-step calculation method as follows, that accounts for speed of travel, viewing distance, and viewer reaction time. There is also a lookup table to estimate viewer reaction time based on speed of travel and size of sign.
For more on this calculation method, CLICK HERE to view the whole study.
With this in mind, we have one final thought – we recommend to always get the largest sign you can afford or that your landlord will allow. Prominent signs always maximize your brand awareness and walk-in traffic.
Contact Us today to assist you in ordering your sign.
There are no hard and fast rules about positioning your sign, but we’ve put our heads together to give you a few insights:
Are customers walking or driving? If customers are walking in a mall or an outdoor shopping area, you will need signs at eye level, on any doors/ windows (avoid the “which is the right door?” problem), and if the sidewalk is narrow, perpendicular to oncoming foot traffic. You can also try sandwich boards if they do not block foot traffic, and if allowed in your community shopping area. If your location will be viewable by driving traffic, ensure it is viewable (preferably perpendicular) to traffic in both directions and is within eye-lines of both trucks and cars (up to height of traffic lights generally best).
Where will customers likely have to park? If customers are likely to park far away from your store, consider signs that lead them to you and encourage them to visit you. These might be in an elevator, or walkway, or food court near you. Ensure you appear correctly in any directory panels or electronic directory board categories in which you qualify. Consult your landlords to see what is appropriate and allowable.
How will they navigate in-store? Once in your store, customers must easily be able to get a “lay of the land.” Include a directory at the entrance if you have lots of departments/features, or easily visible signage categorizing your merchandise for ease of location. If you expect people to shop for longer periods of time, include directional signage for washrooms. If you expect line-ups, ensure you have signs to direct people. Of course, ensure exits are marked for safety, and doors for direction of opening.
Here are a few examples:
Driving customers need to see signs from access roads.
Washroom signs need to be overhead, and perpendicular to walking traffic.
Remember – visibility is the key – and it may take years until you perfect it within your location. Do your best, keep optimizing, and we’ll be there to assist you every step of the way.
Any more thoughts on where to position signs? CONTACT US – we’d love to assist you.
Signage generally serves one or more functions: to attract, direct or inform. Great signage does enough of all three functions, making your customers feel interested and secure enough to be comfortable buying from you.
Attract – Without considering what the sign says – the sign should be appealing and eye catching. Lighting, colour, size and position height should maximize visibility. Remember, the image or graphic will set the personality of the business. Consider these example signs:
Direct – The sign should show people how to access your business. If you have a shop around the back of a building, tell people how to get at it. Include further directional signs for any elements the customers may be seeking – the washrooms, the exit door, the nursing room, the parking lot, the elevators, the stairs, and of course, signs that help to segment your product lines into intuitive groupings. The following are some ways to do this:
By Brand – only use this is the brand is actively known and sought by customers. Sign should carry the Brand’s logo to enhance recognizability.
By Purpose – for example, all cooking utensils together. Sign should describe the category “Cooking Utensils”
By Customer Type – for example, kids toys together. Sign should describe customer “For Kids”
Inform – Signs should help the customers make decisions, and be clear in their usage. The offer a great opportunity to sell when salespeople are not present. For example:
Discounts: “All winter merchandise – 40% off”
Products: “100% wool, made in Canada.”
Add-ons: “Inquire about our catering services.”
Cross-Promotion: “Visit us online at www.topmade.com or on twitter @topmade”
There is a balance between proper signage use and looking too “salesy” – and it truly depends on the kind of brand you desire.
We strongly recommend working with a professional graphic designer to develop your logo and brand guidelines prior to developing your signage. This will help to keep your brand consistent and meaningful to your audience, and help your signs to attract, inform and direct the right customers to your door.
Have any further questions about signage? CONTACT US today.
Some businesses are littered with too much signage, while others lack it, frustrating the customer. Signage is a part of a customer’s “good service” experience, and needs to be in balance. Here are 3 ways to figure out how much signage your location requires:
Can it be found by driving or walking by in any direction? Produce signs that will catch the attention of all passing cars in either direction. This could be one, two or more signs.
Are people asking for directions? If so, you may need more signs. Pay attention to what directions people ask for — for example seeking to find the washrooms, escalators, or the ballet slippers. Any such questions mean that another sign, or a more descriptive sign, should be placed in another location. Master, searchable directory boards are another option for stores with great numbers of products.
Are there traffic issues? Check tills and parkades – if people are lining up to block the flow of traffic, signage can be used to redirect the problem more appropriately.
Are people asking other product-related questions frequently? Signs could be used to answer these questions in strategic locations. For example – “Products Do Not Contain Nuts” or “Imported from USA”
Are cars driving up to your door to stop and try to read your posted hours? A lit “Open” sign may do the trick.
It is impossible to say an exact number needed in your retail store, but most retail businesses need at least 10 signs for every 2000 sq.ft. Be sure to do your planning and homework carefully to get all you need! And keep your ears open to the above indicators of when you need a few more.
At Topmade, there are 5 keys we consider to make your signage solution successful:
1. Graphic Design – Never “skip” getting a professional logo designed. Professional graphic designers know that logos need to be readable from afar, use striking colour combinations, and interesting and memorable icons that reflect what you do or stand for. It takes years of training to become a graphic designer, so unless you have that yourself, go to a pro – it’s well worth it.
2. Visibility- Size of your sign matters, and if it’s an outdoor sign, we always recommend illumination. We also recommend you get the biggest your landlord (and city permitting authority) will allow. Signs are such a powerful marketing tool, you might as well get the biggest you can afford.
3. Positioning – Always examine the walking and driving traffic patterns to ensure you get the most “eyeball” attention. Take photos and create mockups of where and how you could position your sign.
4. Amount – Make sure you’ve ordered enough signs to direct traffic from as many directions as possible. This will always maximize your walk-in and drive-in traffic.
5. Quality – Carefully consider the how long you need your sign to last. At Topmade, we almost never need to return to fix or repair signs — we already know how windy and snowy (not to mention hail) Alberta can be! Beware of cheap materials and lighting solutions that do not last….give us a call to learn more.
Are you ready to order your sign? Click here to give us your order information.
A market research firm in Calgary recently told us about an interesting signage study they conducted.
The survey involved visiting businesses in a specific part of the city to determine the approximate amount of walk-by traffic each day, and compare it to each business’ storefront signage.
SIGNAGE SURVEY: FINDINGS
Based on averages in surrounding cafes and other businesses, it was determined that indeed, signage – its size and prominence had a lot to do with attracting people into various shops. It generally appeared that the larger the signs, the greater the walk-in traffic on a store-by-store basis, even though there were variations between various kinds of businesses. Those with the largest signs often considered 100% of their client base to be “walk in” and those with smaller/non-existent signs were largely selling to internet audiences with little walk-in.
CONCLUSION
In short, there is no reason not to have the biggest signs you can get to represent your business, especially if you see benefit in getting walk-in traffic. It’s a personal billboard that says, “Hey we exist” – and you might as well use it to your maximum advantage.
When it comes to signs, colour and lighting choices have great impact on visibility. How can you achieve maximum visibility both day and night?
Lighting – Depending on where your sign is located, we can recommend lighting and colour choices that are lit externally or from within.
Timers – We are surprised at how often we see stores forget to ensure timers are controlling their lighting. People assume lit signs are a signal for “we’re open” – so if the sign is off or on by mistake, you’ve created an inconvenient assumption for people who park or walk up. If you want your signs on even when you’re not open, be sure to display your hours prominently so people don’t have to get out of their cars and knock on your doorstep.
Reflective Lettering – In addition to lit signs, reflective lettering can give you decent visibility in low light. Ask us about your best colour choices to suit your artwork.
Letter Size – To figure out the letter size based on viewing distance, you can work backwards. Letter height in inches= 10 times the ideal viewing distance in feet. This means a 5″ letter height is ideally viewed at 50 feet. About 3 times this viewing distance give you the maximum distance it would still be readable, but we don’t recommend you assume it will be readable to everyone.
Colours – According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, the following colours are the most easily readable combinations:
BLACK on YELLOW BLACK on WHITE YELLOW on BLACK WHITE on BLUE GREEN on WHITE BLUE on YELLOW WHITE on GREEN WHITE on BROWN BROWN on YELLOW BROWN on WHITE YELLOW on BROWN RED on WHITE YELLOW on RED RED on YELLOW WHITE on RED
Please give us a call to assist you in figuring out the best colour combinations for your artwork.
