Find out what your target market is
Does your shopping center offer in-store services or goods? Do you have a food court that has seats right outside them? If you don’t, then it’s time to think about investing in signage!
There are many different ways to go around signing people inside your shoppable area. You can hire professional sign designers to do it for you, or you can take a more DIY approach and invest in some signs themselves.
Either way, there are a lot of things you can do with signs today that were not possible before. With digital downloads and apps becoming more popular, signs can help consumers make purchases by directing them to their preferred method of payment.
For example, one may prefer paying via credit card while another prefers doing so through debit. Signs can aid both by allowing customers to pay either way.
Design a logo
When you look at old signage or pictures from the past, one thing that stands out is the lack of color1. Back in the day, all signs were either black or white with no color at all.
Today, companies know how important it is to have great logos – not only for their name, but also for the messaging power of words combined with images.
Color helps create mood and sets expectations about what kind of message people should get when they visit a business. The use of color can help attract customers and inspire them to do things such as buy products or go to a specific place.
In the shopping mall industry, there are several ways to appeal to potential shoppers. One way is to use color to mark special events or timesales at your location.
Another option is to use large, bright posters to advertise sales and specials. You can also make flyers using colorful advertisements so people can more easily find out the dates and times of these promotions.
The best way to see how color can be used in marketing is by looking at how many businesses use color to signify a location’s brand. For example, most locations have a red sign to denote their name; this way, consumers will immediately associate that color with the store.
Colors serve another purpose besides design. They can be used to convey information. For instance, colors could indicate whether a product is safe or not, or if it is healthy
Choose a font
Most shopping malls offer easy ways to find their location. Fonts can help make your signage more consistent, so choose a style that’s readable.
Try using a few fonts with similar styles in order to make choosing one easier. You also want to consider how many characters each letter contains.
The longer they take to read, the higher the likelihood of people looking for something else while they wait. Short letters are harder to see and match with larger sizes.
Finally, try going for a hand-drawn feel by including small hints of color or adding in extra details. People love to draw inspiration from nature, so this approach may work well for you.
Choose colors
Most shopping malls' signage offers visual stimuli to their customers. This can be seen with the use of lights, fonts, and signs. These signs either attract or repel visitors depending on the color scheme and message they send.
Colors are important in branding and signage because we perceive them differently. The way professionals design stores and offices depends on which color is used for what purpose.
For example, red is a powerful emotion signal that people respond to instinctively. It’s how emergency vehicles appeal to our fears (red being the most common color for emergency vehicles).
But blue is calming to humans. We see it every day in the sky (oxygen) and in water (hydrogen & helium). It is the color of heaven.
Therefore, when creating a brand or a logo, you should always consider using blue as one of your primary colors.
It could be that putting yourself in someone else’s shoes will help you understand their needs better. When buying anything, whether it is a cup of coffee or a new smartphone, you would be wise to remember that everyone has different needs.
You would be surprised by the number of people who buy smartphones without considering its impact on their life. A large part of this comes from ignorance -- they don't know why anyone would want one.
Consider purchasing a smartphone with an unknown user experience to test out if you like it or not. You can also try looking
Use space well
When people think of signage, they usually imagine visual information for visitors to absorb in one way or another.
But good sign design is not about having big signs that attract attention, instead it’s about using large spaces with a variety of materials to inform customers within a store and outside.
This helps shoppers who are already in the store feel comfortable and relaxed while out in public, which makes them easier to find your products and services.
The key elements of great sign design include :
Using light colors
Shades of white can work really well when you have long words and simple shapes. But if you have short phrases or the word “hello” has an unusual shape, go for something more distinctive like dark blue or red.
It also depends on the environment you’re designing for. In a retail setting, go for something soft and easy on the eyes. At night, use hard lights. During the day, rely on ambient lighting.
Colors also help differentiate one brand from the other. While green is always a popular choice, there are many different hues of each color.
Consider pink when looking at female consumers, though it may seem too childish for adults. There are few things that say ‘childproof’ than a bright pink label.
Use of motion graphics
Motion graphics are graphic animations made with different animation tools. They can be used to create many effects for your signage materials.
When creating motion graphics, you will need to consider how the movement would look in real time versus still images. The latter is what makes video signs so effective; it gives the illusion of moving pictures when viewed from a distance.
However, if you want the motion graphics to be effective at close range, you’ll have to make do without the advantage of depth perception. This is why most motion graphics use flat colors rather than realistic textures or 3D objects.
The type of motion graphics you should use depends entirely on your audience and their individual attention spans. If your message is going to be short, like a slogan, you can probably get by with fewer frames and more text.
If you are planning on showing longer messages, such as brand names or slogans, then you’ll need to choose between scrolling credits, sliding screens, revealing buttons, or animating headlines. All offer similar benefits though – the ability to add drama using color schemes and/or fonts.
Aligning your logo with your brand
Most shopping malls have an overall design that is aligned with their message. The signage is designed to get people walking in the direction of the mall entrance.
If you look at most cities, you’ll see that the downtown area has a very similar layout. This is because they all want new customers to walk into the store instead of going to a department store.
The same concept applies to shopping centers. Their branding is consistent throughout the center. Customers will be drawn towards it and they will spend more money once inside.
In addition to having a recognizable logo or sign, the center offers amenities such as restaurants, stores, and entertainment options. People are likely to go outside of the center after eating or browsing for information.
Shopping centers try to attract consumers by offering parking spaces and easy access. If there are services related to buying goods (such as grocery stores), then they will also offer them.
Consider the way you signage is put into place
The type of signs that are used in malls to guide customers are also placed in areas they can easily see. These include looking up or down at the floor as well as walking around the area.
More noticeable, however, are the directional arrows found near each register and store. By having these clearly marked paths, it helps make going through the shopping experience easier.
These path markings were first implemented in 1962, when they were called “channels”. Channels took away some of the confusion by providing clear destinations for shoppers.
Over time, though, the directionality of the channels became less apparent. More stores were added, making it even harder to follow the channel traffic pattern.
In response, the destination markers were changed to indicate more directions instead of signals. Shoppers now have the choice between moving forward or turning back.
Today, channels continue to be an option for mall navigation, but are not the primary route users look down to find their next move. Directional arrows remain the most-used method worldwide due to its simplicity.
Arrows lead consumers directly to where they want to go, so developers create routes based on this information. This way, people do not have to worry about whether there are enough customers or not. Routes will automatically expand if needed, or contracts will be modified to match the current demand.
Encourage customer engagement
The first generation of signage used in shopping malls was simple arrays of lights. While these signs were adequate for their purpose, they offered little else to attract customers’ attention.
In the 1990s, another evolution took place with the use of dynamic messaging systems. No longer would shoppers be faced with a bland array of text that failed to engage them. Dynamic messages became an integral part of any marketing campaign designed to draw in potential buyers.
Messaging campaigns focused on personalized content such as “Hot New Items” or “% Off Until Midnight” helped emphasize how much money people could save by making purchases at the mall.
It is no surprise that digital billboards play such a crucial role in this type of advertising. They are recognized worldwide for their unique ability to convey information through visual imagery.
Many modern malls feature scrolling message boards where groups of advertisers can advertise their products.
These tactics often work better than relying solely on signage to promote sales events. People become aware of the messaging when it is directed towards them, via one of the many methods (such as walking past a storefront window) so that they can read it.
When planning a messaging design strategy, keep in mind that most consumers respond positively to frequent and consistent messaging throughout the day. The goal is to catch visitors before they walk away and make them feel comfortable enough to stay.
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