The holiday season is fast approaching and if your company uses the calendar to hold certain sales of events, designing a seasonal banner can be very useful. This banner can be used year after year, further maximizing your advertising budget. There are some important considerations when it comes to designing this type of banner.
Design Tip #1 – Matching your colors. Each season has a particular color scheme associated with it. For example, pastels are used in Spring, blues and reds are used in Summer, earth tones are used in Fall and cool colors, such as ice blue and white are used in Winter.
It is important to stick with this color scheme to increase visual recognition. People have been visually trained to associate these colors with the specific season and using these colors can help you get your message noticed more quickly. In addition, these colors with their association tend to evoke emotions in the viewer. For example, the light pastels of Spring tend to make people feel hopeful and ready for the breath of fresh air this season brings.
Design Tip #2 – Supporting your text with seasonal graphics. Using graphics on a seasonal banner is very important. Just as with colors, certain graphics are associated with different seasons. Sun, flowers and birds are associated with Spring. Flags, water and swimming graphics are associated with Summer. Leaves, pumpkins, and harvest graphics are associated with Fall. Snow, and Christmas themed graphics are associated with Winter.
By combining these two elements on the same sign, you are creating a visual theme for your design. This will help more people instantly recognize and associate your message with the time of year.
Design Tip #3 – Using specialty fonts. In many cases, the use of specialty fonts is not recommended. However, using a few accents on your text that are season specific can create an overall picture with your other elements. For example an umbrella hung on the edge of a letter on a Spring themed sign finishes the overall look.
Design Tip #4 – Make it timeless. By creating a design that is timeless, you will get more use out of your sign. Try to avoid designing a sign that can only be used once, or infrequently. If there is a specific celebration that is only going to occur once, or once every few years, it may not be a good idea to design a sign around it. For example, a leap year sign could only be used every four years. If your advertising budget is tight, this method may not be fiscally advisable.
Design Tip #5 – Make it fun. You can have a little more fun with a seasonal sign. These types of signs are used to create a mood with a customer and that mood should not be somber. You have a little more design leeway when you are creating a sign for a seasonal event. Just don’t go overboard!
