My First Banner

[tintshopplus]

I know its been said there's some problems with red on black. I just wanted to confirm that and get some feedback. This one's for me so anything goes. Also, I'll be hanging this at a truck-pull/demo derby i'm sponsoring. Probably 150 feet to the back row of the stands. What's my best letter and banner size? Thanks in advance.

 

[TheSnowman]

Not bad for your first one I guess. First thing I notice is how crammed to the edges everything is. Leave room top, bottom, and sides. Doesn't seem as packed in there, and it makes it easier to read.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

way too close to the edges...personally, i'd get rid of the listings...no one's going to read them....if you have a website, i'd drop that in there instead of the phone number...if not...make the number smaller and put it in white....

i'm not liking the red and yellow on the black...the yellow and white will work great, but the red..i don't know..it doesn't look right....

 

[anotherdog]

I agree, brand headline and contact information. lose the lists.
A good guide is to look at the thumbnail image on your posting, the red is getting lost on the black.

 

[Sign_Boy]

I'll start with letter height. The secondary copy should probably be no less than 6" - but that's just me.
http://www.apcosigns.com/techpdf/distance.pdf

Now onto the design.
Give yourself some breathing room around the edges - 1/2" - 1" or more depending on the size of the banner.
You are running off the edges.

I'd adjust the tracking in your copy, it will help to make it more legible from a distance.

I'm not crazy about the yellow copy with the red outline on a black background and I would think that from a distance it's going to be hard to read. Check out your thumbnail - it's hard to make out

Try to give your tag line a bit more personality maybe use a script or a friendlier more unique font.

I'd ditch the bullet points but if you are going to keep them you may want to run them horizontally on the bottom under the phone number. As for the phone number ditch the red and make it bold.

Like the others said add a website if you have one.
Other than that it's a good start

Well enough of my rambling.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

just a quick toss together of what i'd do....

 

[SignManiac]

What you have designed is a large business card. Not at all effective as a legible sign from a large distance and viewing point.

 

[bob]

OK, first get rid of most if not all the supporting text, no one cares.

Lose the Copperplate Gothic, it's a sure indicator of an amateur working at full capacity. Use something from the same family as your business name or at least something a bit more harmonious with it.

Now move your business name and the flaming doorknob behind it down so that the decoration starts behind the 'Window Tinting'. Right now it looks like it's balanced on top of it. Or move the 'Window Tinting' up. Either way, just get them closer together.

I assume that there actual margins on all sides of this and you didn't put some sort of frame around it to preserve the margins when you exported it into a bit map for show and tell. If not, the leave some.

 

[signmeup]

Do what bob said.

 

[SignManiac]

My take on it. I would suggest a 6' x 18' banner. 150' is a pretty good distance.

 

[Fatboy]

My take on it. I would suggest a 6' x 18' banner. 150' is a pretty good distance.

I would go with this one! Nice work!

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

Since your gonna get a bunch of how to's on this ...I going to suggest you get Mike Steven's Mastering Layout book and read before your 2nd banner

 

[tintshopplus]

yeah, there was a border. it just didn't export. i hate the copperplate as well. i just need some fonts. i'm only allowed up to 8' banner. i got the book on the way from amazon. will the red in my logo still work since its outlined? or should i do something different? should i even do a black banner? just trying to stand out. thanks so much for all the responses. this kind of feedback is priceless... and why i posted. i'll get a redo up later. have a great weekend for now.

 

[SlightlyChilled]

Since your gonna get a bunch of how to's on this ...I going to suggest you get Mike Steven's Mastering Layout book and read before your 2nd banner

The first time you read it JUST read do not try to under stand a thing. Then let it set for like 2 weeks and read it again.Then you will get it. Its a little hard first go around. well for me it was

 

[OldPaint]

do this, put on a banner WHO, WHAT & HOW TO CONTACT YOU!!!!!!!!!
NOTHING MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i would make your name small, windowtinting & signs large, graphics is a waste of space.
you do signs, graphics sorta is in that aint it? next biggest is the phone number, then a wab page if ya got one. rest of that crap you got on there.......is wasted text.
now at 150 feet.........your banner will need to be at least a 3x10 minimum!!!!! windowtinting and signs, at least 10-12" tall. same for the phone number. theres 24" used up..........the 2 most important lines of text.

 

[BALLPARK]

My take on it. I would suggest a 6' x 18' banner. 150' is a pretty good distance.

I would suggest to make sure your banner is the largest or at least as large as the next biggest one. Try to get a slot selection from the event. I would go with an 8' x 20' banner. I have done plenty of 8' x 20' billboards and they can be seen from 200-300' away.

The above is a very good layout for a billboard. Chances are most billboards are viewed for a quick impression nothing more. But a design like that will get you a few extra impressions.

The only thing I would change would be the size of the Company Name. I would make it a little bit bigger and space out the space between each character a bit more...

The phone number could use a bolder font and changed to white. But chances are not many viewers will read down that far anyways.

In the end that design by SignManiac will get you noticed! I have designed and printed a couple hundred billboards. That is a good design for the most part, good enough to get your name out there.

In the end billboards are primarily for branding campaigns. Although they can work for smaller companies looking to launch a new product or sale.

If you are advertising with the at a track. You need to find a way to bundle up your marketing strategies. Don't just take a billboard and hope it gets their attention. Target your potential clients with multiple attacks...lol. Create some Roll Fold brochures or flyer and work out a deal to have someone hand them out to fans and/or drivers in the drivers meetings.

GL with your Ad.

 

[tintshopplus]

Here's another go at it. Sorry, forgot to take the graphics out before the export and the bottom looks a little crazy. But you get the idea. I do more vehicle graphics than signs. That's why I had it there. Let me know what you think.

Thanks again for the response.

 

[Fatboy]

I think it is much better!

 

[Marlene]

the last one look a lot better. if you are going to use red, you might want to pick a red that is bright, lighter and has some orange in it like PMS 485C, a tomato red instead of the ruby red shades. also make the yellow rays of your sun a darker shade than the yellow band so they satnd out and don't melt into the band

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

if you are going to use red, you might want to pick a red that is bright, lighter and has some orange in it like PMS 485C, a tomato red instead of the ruby red shades.

i was thinking the same thing.....with a chrome yellow for the rays....