Sign Designer

A Sign Designer is a Graphic Designer who specializes in signs. As a Sign Designer, you use your artistic, marketing, and design-software skills to develop signs for businesses, community functions, or other customers. To do this effectively, you know and understand local zoning laws and have a comprehensive knowledge of the countless signage material options.

The first step for a Sign Designer is to interview the company or Advertising Representative. You need to get a sense for the business. Say, for example, the client runs a doggy day-care. That image of a floppy-eared puppy might be perfect for the business offering a fun-for-your-pet atmosphere, while being a poor choice for a business promoting a more professional demeanor. In other words, you use your design to enhance the marketing efforts of the business.

In addition to style, you need to know the size, location and colors you are working with. Look at the building that the sign will adorn. Are cars racing by? Can you see it from the school down the street? Is the building listed in a historic registry? This information will help you develop a sign that matches the overall look and feel of the business site.

Once you have the desired material and specifications hammered out, you use your computer software and notebook to sketch out articulate prototypes for the customer’s approval. This part of the job uses your toolbox of creative, artistic, and imaginative skills to design original signs that advertise the perfect message.