5 Steps to Banner Printing Success
What you can put on vinyl banners has changed greatly now that you have access to digital banner printing. Gone are the days of text only phrases. If you can envision it, it can be printed on a banner.
What you can put on vinyl banners has changed greatly now that you have access to digital banner printing. Gone are the days of text only phrases. If you can envision it, it can be printed on a banner.
Just what makes a good banner? There are five key elements that go into the overall design of a banner.
1.Substrate
2.Material size
3.Fonts
4.Color contrast
5.Graphics
Part 1 -- Substrate
There are three(3) categories of banner material; lightweight, standard and heavyweight. Lightweight material is normally around 10 ounces in weight and are preferred for indoor use. This type of banner is great for parties and one-time events. A lightweight banner will not last outdoors for any length of time.
Standard weight banners are generally around 13 ounces and are perfect for outdoors. They also work really well indoors if you want to reuse them from season to season. For example, if you have an annual spring sale, this weight of banner can be used for many years and will look as good for your 5th annual sale as it did during the first one.
Anything 17 ounces and above is considered heavyweight material. It is really only needed in extreme weather conditions.
Part 2 -- Banner size
Larger is not always the best option when sizing a banner. You need to keep the size in scale with where you are installing it. Everyone has seen a really small banner mounted on the side of a large wall. That banner is not readable except if you are standing right in front of it. The opposite is just as bad. You want your banner to stand out from the background, not blend into it.
To maximize the readablity of your banner, you should have letters that are 1 inch in height for every 10 feet of viewing distance. You also need about the same amount of spacing for each line so that it is easily viewed. For example, if your banner will be 200 feet from the viewers, you must have letter that are no less than 20 inches high.
Part 3 -- Characters
The fonts that you use are critically important. Your font should be readable yet consistent with your brand image. The absolute worst thing you can do is to use a script font and use all capital letters. This is unreadable at any distance. If you want to employ all caps, be sure to use a sans serif font that is clean and readable. Other than that, feel free to be as creative as you want with fonts. There are some amazing ones out there that can greatly enhance your designs.
Part 4 -- Contrasting color
The first is font contrast and the second is the contrast of the banner and its background. These are the two contrasts that you need to be aware of.
blue on white white on blue blue on yellow yellow on blue
These combinations are just some of the many great color that you can use to create that contrast you are looking for. This is not a step that should be taken lightly as it is just about the most important design element.
Why would you place a tan banner against a tan wall in your retail establishment? The banner is lost in a sea of tan, when what you want is for the banner to pop against its background.
Part 5 -- Digital graphics
Digital graphics are where modern banner design earns its money. No longer do you have to limit yourself to lines of simple text, not when you can design them with full color digital images. Banner printers have so many resources open to them for images that there is no reason not to have a visually stunning banner. ***Important*** If you plan on using your own images, be sure they are taken with enough resolution to blow up to the size you want to use.
Conclusion
It is a piece of cake for a banner printing firm to create a fantastic looking banner for you. Now that you know what to ask for, you have just made the job much easier.
What you can put on vinyl banners has changed greatly now that you have access to digital banner printing. Gone are the days of text only phrases. If you can envision it, it can be printed on a banner.
Just what makes a good banner? There are five key elements that go into the overall design of a banner.
1.Substrate
2.Material size
3.Fonts
4.Color contrast
5.Graphics
Part 1 -- Substrate
There are three(3) categories of banner material; lightweight, standard and heavyweight. Lightweight material is normally around 10 ounces in weight and are preferred for indoor use. This type of banner is great for parties and one-time events. A lightweight banner will not last outdoors for any length of time.
Standard weight banners are generally around 13 ounces and are perfect for outdoors. They also work really well indoors if you want to reuse them from season to season. For example, if you have an annual spring sale, this weight of banner can be used for many years and will look as good for your 5th annual sale as it did during the first one.
Anything 17 ounces and above is considered heavyweight material. It is really only needed in extreme weather conditions.
Part 2 -- Banner size
Larger is not always the best option when sizing a banner. You need to keep the size in scale with where you are installing it. Everyone has seen a really small banner mounted on the side of a large wall. That banner is not readable except if you are standing right in front of it. The opposite is just as bad. You want your banner to stand out from the background, not blend into it.
To maximize the readablity of your banner, you should have letters that are 1 inch in height for every 10 feet of viewing distance. You also need about the same amount of spacing for each line so that it is easily viewed. For example, if your banner will be 200 feet from the viewers, you must have letter that are no less than 20 inches high.
Part 3 -- Characters
The fonts that you use are critically important. Your font should be readable yet consistent with your brand image. The absolute worst thing you can do is to use a script font and use all capital letters. This is unreadable at any distance. If you want to employ all caps, be sure to use a sans serif font that is clean and readable. Other than that, feel free to be as creative as you want with fonts. There are some amazing ones out there that can greatly enhance your designs.
Part 4 -- Contrasting color
The first is font contrast and the second is the contrast of the banner and its background. These are the two contrasts that you need to be aware of.
blue on white white on blue blue on yellow yellow on blue
These combinations are just some of the many great color that you can use to create that contrast you are looking for. This is not a step that should be taken lightly as it is just about the most important design element.
Why would you place a tan banner against a tan wall in your retail establishment? The banner is lost in a sea of tan, when what you want is for the banner to pop against its background.
Part 5 -- Digital graphics
Digital graphics are where modern banner design earns its money. No longer do you have to limit yourself to lines of simple text, not when you can design them with full color digital images. Banner printers have so many resources open to them for images that there is no reason not to have a visually stunning banner. ***Important*** If you plan on using your own images, be sure they are taken with enough resolution to blow up to the size you want to use.
Conclusion
It is a piece of cake for a banner printing firm to create a fantastic looking banner for you. Now that you know what to ask for, you have just made the job much easier.
Author:
The Author: Michael Pingree has been in the sign industry for more than 16 years.. His website at oregonbannerprinting.comoffers a simple online banner design tool to create professional looking full color vinyl banners quickly and easily from the convenience of your computer. Be sure to check out our options for banner printingand our wide selection of banner displays.