Layout to Fit A Budget

A new pilates studio opened in Eagle Rock. One of their clients referred them to me and they asked for a bid on a pair of wall signs. They wanted their logo placed above the door, and on the main avenue the words 'FHIT + PILATES'. They had a wide section of wall above the windows and we agreed that a single line of bold gothic lettering would be very effective in attracting their clientele. They also mentioned that their budget was limited. After our initial meeting I downloaded their chosen font and fit the lettering to the space, leaving ample margins on all sides. The letters would be about 24 inches tall and would cover an area about 16 feet wide. But when I added up the time and materials my estimate came to almost double the amount the customer wanted to spend. New business owners often underestimate how much their sign will cost and since the sign is one of the last purchases it is our job to work with their budget and still deliver a sign that will advertise what they do in an attractive way. I needed to arrange the copy in a way that would be readable and interesting while also cutting the time and materials in half.

First I shrank down the size of the lettering and centered it on the wall. At that size it started to look like a postage stamp in the middle of an envelope - not appealing to the eye. I thought what would Doc do? 'Stack the copy'. Once I did that it started to have more appeal because it was no longer a linear layout. But it still looked awkward centered. So then I thought what would Mike Stevens do? I began to move the copy block around and eventually I settled on left-justifying the lines above the left most window. It looked natural and felt serene.  The more I looked at it the more I preferred it over the initial layout. The negative space to the left and right no longer felt like unused sign blank and by aligning it with the window below I had created an attractive vertical layout rather than a linear horizontal layout. The client approved and I was happy that I was able to still sell a job that paid me a proper rate for my time and gave the client an effective sign that worked for their business.