Font for my business sign
 

I'm in the process of having some new signs made for my landscaping business and want the lettering to be retro-style....like mid-century modern meets Tiki meets Las Vegas.


So far I kinda like this one...Cocktail Shaker:

http://www.identifont.com/samples/si...tailShaker.gif


Here's another called Festiva:

http://www.identifont.com/samples/ihof/Festiva.gif


And I like this one (the House Industries part) but don't know what it is named...any idea?

http://www.urbanscarlet.com/photos/house1.jpg


There's a lot of whimsical and crazy fonts but I want it to be legible from a distance yet unique to my personality :cool:

What do you all think?

First two are easier to read. What type of signs are they? Size?

They are going to rectangular in shape so the name of my business (Sandpiper Concepts, LLC) can all be on one line.

I'm also going to have a sandpiper icon at the far right side from top to bottom by itself.

Going to made from aluminum and on a large diameter bamboo stake. They will be left on the site after each project with the owner's consent. Most of my customers want me to put a sign up. But I don't want to come across like a "car salesman". I want my signs to be tasteful :)

The "army" or "home depot" style stencil letters sound like exactly what you're searching for.

There are two facts about fonts.

Generic fonts are boring but easy to read.

Fancy fonts are exciting but hard to read.

If we are talking side of moving truck signage I'd go for easy to read.

EDIT:

Based on the description of your signs I'll go with Cocktail Shaker as choice 2 and House Industries as 1st.

Hint on what it's called, http://www.houseind.com/.

Not really - that font is what you see when a home is for sale by owner don't you think? :rolleyes:

I've always enjoyed the more fancy type fonts when designing something, but inevitably when it's handed over to a pro and they rework it with simpler fonts, it looks better and more professional. So I'd say it's a toss up between displaying your personality and looking professional. And yes, those are often in conflict. At least in my case :)

Here's a thought, post your draft of the sign, even if it's just a drawing on an envelope, and we'll have a go at different fonts. That way you'll get a lot of different perspectives.

Quite a few of my projects are signature properties where people visit on bicycles or walking or in neighborhoods with a 15 MPH speed limit so I don't need a billboard - just something that tells who did the work when people stop and gawk at the masterpieces.. ;)

I agree. But the 3 examples I provided in my OP seem to be very easy to read - I specifically looked for that aspect but also wanted a retro (fancy) look....

I'll be at my sign maker tomorrow and hopefully she will have a draft for me this week sometime...thanks for the comments and info! :D

It's not a question of being easy to read, it's a question of looking clean, sharp and professional.

+1

Photograph signs of the style you like then see a sign maker/graphics place. It's important you get this sorted now, and looking good, because the look will be your logo and will draw clients or scare them away if you get it wrong.

For me it needs to have personality as well. That's a must.

Here's a few retro options.. and free too!

Free retro,1950s fonts - FontSpace

Be sure the check out all 5 pages.. there's some good clear ones that would work well for signage.

A few that you may like, some you won't but they are all distinctive.

Aspire
BirminghamTitling
Brush Script
Buffalo Nickel
Dragonwick
Herald Square
Ironick
New Day
Sidhe

David and Shaun - thanks - going to look hard at these...great input! SmileWavy

A few things to consider when designing a sign.... How close will the viewer be, and what is the window of opportunity or how long will they be able to read it?

The farther away they are, and the shorter the time they can see it, the less complex you want to be.

For what I think you are describing any of the above would work. For a fairly small sign that the viewer can spend some time reading, the last font is great. It reads fairly well but has character. Now if you are expecting them to read it whilst driving by, then get a little simpler.


And remember, don't put a book on there, just the basics.....


Oh, and I grew up in and work in the Sign industry... ;)

i use "tall deco" on my cards. stylish and easy to read.

Don't go with those fonts if you want a professional image. If it's a landscaping business I would go with a clean simple sans serif- Helvetica, Futura or Arial for example. If you want to use a classic font use a real classic, Bodoni, Times New Roman etc. Even then I'd use that for the title of the business and use a sans serif for ancillary information.

Both Cocktail Shaker and Festiva are cartoonish and unprofessional looking. Legibility IS important for a name as long as yours. People need to be able to read your name while driving by the house, or while you're driving by with it on the side of your truck. The House Industries font works because the words are relatively long and the first letters are huge. It is recognizable even when it isn't completely legible. With the long name of your company I would go with that concept whatever font you use.
Sandpiper Concepts

What do you currently use on your business cards, trucks and letterhead? You want consistency across all your advertising, especially since your signage (truck or on site signs) are seen when the customer is moving, the truck is moving or both.

If you don't have one already, it is worth having a conversation with a graphic designer that can develop a graphics package that works for all your advertising needs.

Sandpiper Concepts doesn't immediately convey landscaping so you'll have to spell that out main services in simple easy to read text on the signs.

I will add to the majority thought that simple is better. Use Word Art to tweak the shape and give it some dimension. Keep the color on the dark side. The logo's job is to catch the eye. There is none better than the Rolling Stones lips but they say Apple's apple with the bite is the world's most recognizable.

Here's someone else who has your name. Found it one Google Images if you want to investigate.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...j6mafV3N5cI2_c

Love Tiki/Beach stuff of the 40s, 50s and 60s...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329241202.jpg

Foxy - that is AMAZINGLY awesome! :eek: Thank you! You may have just designed my new logo...I'm serious! PM me where to send your compensation. ;)

Seriously - you definitely have a succinct grasp of graphic design....I'm totally impressed!

Wanted to also mention that I don't advertise - no yellow pages - and don't have a sign on my truck nor do I want one. My business plan includes word of mouth referrals and this will be my 10th year in business in a small town and I have never run out of work, although new construction obviously has slowed down considerably. I have a ton of properties to place a creative tasteful unique sign on which will help identify who did the work. I look for these signs to be a signature of my personality and therefore they need to be different from anyone else's signs. Thus the bamboo posts and "fun" retro fonts that we all grew up with harkening us back to a time where the world was a bit more sane I think.

I'm pretty busy with some other stuff the rest of the day (including picking up my little girl Billabong from ACL surgery she had yesterday) but will get back to this thread later on. I'm meeting with my sign maker tomorrow to finalize our design concept and get into production so your input has been very helpful. I will share what we come up with later on this same thread.

Once again PPOT rules! :D

Have you considered changing your business model? or are you married to landscaping?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329243580.jpg

I'd say "Papyrus" would be a contender for that design theme:

Sandpiper Concepts

Eric: Thanks I have used Papyrus before but want something different this time.

OK here's the latest.....after several more meetings and communications I think my sign maker finally understands what I want and is going to try to get a final draft to me over the weekend. Upon my approval of that - she will have the signs ready for me by end of next week.

I'm only going to have 15 signs made for now. They will be 12" x 18". 10 will be PVC and 5 will be aluminum. The graphics will be vinyl transfers. Then as I said before I will make some posts from large diameter Bamboo that I already have in stock. I may frame some of them with smaller diameter Bamboo but will cross that road when I get there.

I will post an image when I get one showing the final design. I will also probably work on an updated (& improved) design for additional signs down the road...but in the meantime these will get the job done for me.

BTW - we're using the Cocktail Shaker font with your concept Foxpaws, but a different sandpiper...a fatter one with more moxie [in my opinion]. Foxpaws: your sandpiper and design is way more artistic and stylish than mine and I really like it but I really wanted to use this other bird.....he's strutting his stuff...my kinda bird! :p

So that's the lowdown for now...I really appreciate all the feedback and comments and hope you are pleased with the result. :D

Got the signs Friday and put a few on posts yesterday. Here's one of them to give you an idea how they turned out. I'm supposed to cut off the right corner as it follows the green curve but was in a hurry to get a few out there so that will have to wait.

Thanks a bunch to all who provided input - especially Foxpaws....SmileWavy


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1330282768.jpg

Looks good baz!

Thanks Sid...coming from you that means a LOT! :)

Next version the bird will be a LOT bigger and the contact info a LOT smaller I think. At least I have something to use in the meantime....

Personally, I would lose the green box thing, up the bird and name, leave the contact info the same.

I like Foxpaws' bird better. :D

Yeah I know....well her's is a female and mine a male.....females are always going to look better ya know... :p