The most common sign mistake isn’t a bad colour or an ugly font. It’s letters that are simply too small to read from where customers actually are. Before you choose materials or lighting, work out how far away your sign will be read from.

Start with the viewing distance

Stand where your customers will be: across the street, in the parking lot, in a car on the main road. Estimate how far that is from the sign. That distance drives everything else.

A widely used sign-industry rule of thumb is about 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of distance for comfortable reading. For example:

Viewing distance	Letter height (approx.)
30 ft (9 m), across a small street	3 in (7.5 cm)
100 ft (30 m), across a parking lot	10 in (25 cm)
200 ft (60 m), from a busy road	20 in (50 cm)

These are starting points. People in cars have only a few seconds to read, so signs aimed at drivers often go bigger.

Letter height isn’t the only thing that matters

Contrast. Dark letters on a light background (or the reverse) read from much further away than two similar colours.
Font. Simple, bold fonts beat thin scripts and condensed fonts at a distance. Keep decorative fonts for short words.
Spacing. Letters that touch blur together. Leave space between letters and around the whole message.
Word count. Every extra word makes each letter smaller on the same sign. Say less, bigger.
Lighting. If you trade after dark, the sign has to be lit, either from inside (lightbox, channel letters) or from outside (spotlights).

Check it at real size before you commit

Our free Sign Builder & Calculator takes the guesswork out. Choose the type of sign, type your business name or upload your logo, and you’ll see it drawn to scale with every dimension, in a day and night view and in 3D. It works out letter size, materials, LED lighting and power, and gives you a spec sheet. On a phone, you can place the sign on your real wall at its true size with augmented reality (iPhone Quick Look and Android).

Seeing a sign on your actual building is the fastest way to catch “that’s too small” before it’s made.

Remember local rules

Many municipalities and landlords limit sign size, placement and illumination, and some require a permit. Check with your city and your property manager before ordering.

Get a quote

We make channel letters, lobby and dimensional signs, outdoor LED and backlit signs, neon and LED neon flex, and vehicle graphics. Every sign is priced individually, and quotes are free on our Signs & Fabrication page. For feather flags, retractable banners and A-frame sidewalk signs, see Signs & Banners.