Witty, weird, and hilarious signs—aside from being entertaining to look at—have the added benefit of improving your physical and mental health. Well… so long as you laugh!
Laughter boosts your immune system, improves depression, reduces the risk of cardiovascular and other diseases, strengthens your core muscles (yay, abs!), eases pain, and generally increases your longevity.
Meanwhile, humor is also a wonderful way to connect with others and improve your relationships.
For example, laughing at bizarre and hilarious signs from around the world with your family, friends, and coworkers is a great excuse to be social and have some fun together—wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
No matter where you’re from, what your business goal is, or who your target audience is, good signage needs to be clear, simple, visually consistent with your brand, and mindful of its immediate environment.
Research shows that businesses with attractive signs draw people in. Meanwhile, poor signage pushes potential customers away and harms the brand’s reputation.
So, if you’re going to put a sign (and you should!), you’d better make sure that it’s good!
Overdesigned, messy, cluttered signs with too many clashing colors and hard-to-read fonts deliver poor results.
That’s because your target audience wastes valuable time trying to figure out what they’re looking at.
On the flip side, simplicity and clarity allow your signs to immediately convey the most important information.
In the meantime, your signage should match—and strengthen!—your brand’s overall identity. It should be an extension of your brand, not something that undermines it.
Where you place your sign matters, too. Obviously, if your sign isn’t visible, it doesn’t fulfill its function.
So, look at your immediate environment and make sure that passers-by can actually see it.
Think about potential obstacles, the (lack of) lighting, and what other signs are in the immediate vicinity.
If your competitors are all going for a certain look and aesthetic, you may stand out if you think a bit outside the box. However, keep your brand identity in mind at all times.
