AI in Sign Design

AI in Sign Design

Where is it Helpful and What are the Limits?

At Next Day Signs LLC, we’ve seen how AI can be helpful in guiding us to what you’re looking for, but rarely is the artwork good to use off the bat. With AI-generated sign designs, there are some big concerns, such as: resolution, text size, and unexpected design fees. Overall, the pros and cons of using AI to design your sign should be considered as a project gets going. 

 

In What Ways can AI be Useful in Sign Creation?

To understand the benefits of including AI in any signage project, it helps to think of it as a rough draft. 

Co-owner of Next Day Signs LLC: A. Martin explains, “It’s almost in the same vein as someone drawing on a piece of paper and saying, ‘This is kind of the layout we want.’ But let’s say the client wanted to show us a more artistic rough draft; because scribbles are less precise. That’s where AI can help.”

Essentially, AI can help with the brain-storming, rough draft, and planning stages of a sign’s creation.

 

What are Some Limitations of AI in Sign Creation?

Let’s look at a few common limitations when it comes to sign design.

 

Image Resolution

One of the biggest limitations of AI images is they’re not generated with a high enough resolution. On the computer screen, or when printed on a small scale, they look great. But when those images are enlarged for banners, yard signs, or backdrops, the images look pixelated or blurry.

These images need to be recreated in a vector format in order for the design to scale properly. This adds time, and design fees, to your project.

 

Text Size

In addition to not scaling properly, AI images do not take into account the size of text to make sure it’s visible for a given project.

Martin elaborates, “Usually something new has to be recreated. For example, we’ve seen AI art for business cards without consideration for how large the text needs to be in order to read it.

 

The AI “Look”

As A. Martin states, “A lot of AI is starting to follow a trend, which is similar to website designs. And while a customer may use AI as a starting board to communicate with us, they don’t necessarily want it to look AI generated.

“With an idea of theme, colors, and text we can create something original with the guidelines provided.”

 

Does Next Day Signs LLC Utilize AI? Why or Why Not?

“We do not. We are designers, so we prioritize designing signs ourselves. 

“On rare occasions when we need graphics our customer hasn’t provided, we do have access to a directory of non AI generated images to use.”

 

Final Thoughts

In addition to all of the considerations listed above, there are also environmental concerns. There needs to be a balance between technological advances and protection of our environment.

At the end of the day, when it comes to using AI for sign creation, you’re going to come up against design fees if you don’t want your art to look pixelated, your text size to be legible, or your design to have the “AI look” to it. AI may save time at the beginning of a project, but if the sign is larger than a piece of paper, you will have additional design fees for larger signs.

The Tricks to Window Lettering

When it comes to window displays, you might be wondering; should the window lettering be on the interior or exterior side of the glass? What you may forget to consider is that most exterior glass is tinted for the sun. How heavy that tint is depends on each window. But anything placed on the interior side, facing out, will also receive that tint. For best visibility we suggest always placing lettering on the exterior side.

The next concern people have is how long it can last when subjected to the elements. While most of our materials are made to last seven years outside, our own window display has lasted fifteen years thus far. There was been no peeling or cracking around the edges. Most of the lettering is white, which not only provides the best contrast on a tinted window, but doesn’t fade in color.

Occasionally a customer will voice a concern about vandalism. How easy would it be for someone to remove the lettering? If it’s within the first couple hours, it’s not hard to peel something off. Once the adhesion has had time to bake in, it becomes increasingly difficult over the hours without tools and degreaser to remove.

Check out more photos from our Window Applications Gallery Here.

 

Halloween Sign Decor

Halloween will be upon us soon, are you feeling a little competitive with the yard decorations? Is there someone on your block with a twelve foot skeleton? Or maybe you’re looking for just a light touch in decorations and festivities. Something that’s easy to store away for the next year. A yard sign is perfect for little touch, and can be personalized to what you want.

We’ve had funny pun signs made in reference to Ghostbusters. We’ve also had some safety signs made with a little flair to them. One person had a sign made to decorate their baby stroller, for their walk about the neighborhood. Whatever design you have in mind, just reach out to us and let us know at https://www.nextdaysignscols.com/contact-us/ 

The perks of the L-Tension Banner Stand

A floor length banner, or a tabletop display is simply a must for trade shows. They’re extremely useful for local creators and vendors to boost their brand and visibility. The L-Tension is my personal favorite for anyone looking to invest in their first display. The tension on the banner is created by clamp bars at the top and bottom, stretched with a pole and a small stabilizing base. Since the base is not as complicated as a retractable stand it has a very economic price.

Photo depicting a red branded tablecloth for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and two L-Tension banner stands with banners on top.

Having the banner secured by clamp bars also means it’s easy to change the banner. The new banner can also be a different height, as the pole that stretches the banner is adjustable. This versatility is helpful for anyone starting out, who might want to have the ability to update their banner with more information. Or for someone who wants to use the stand for different events.

How to order a sign for first time buyers.

If you’ve never ordered a sign before it can be a daunting task. There are different materials to consider, sizes, and if needed stands. We can help you navigate through this process, but if you want to do some ‘prep work’ before ordering, here’s two things you can do:

 

  1. Sample Photos / Naming the event.

The best thing to know right away is what the sign is for. A celebration? A trade show event? Outdoor advertisement or permanent building signage? This will help us hone down the possibilities as well as know how sturdy you need your signage. If you find any sample photos, please share them with us! You might even find something similar to what you’re looking for in our sample galleries here: https://www.nextdaysignscols.com/products-photos/

 

  1. Colors and Fonts

Once we’ve squared away the size of your sign and material, we’ll ask what goes on it. We can print a large variety of colors known as Pantone colors. If you have a specific number, great! If not, it helps to have a general idea of two colors you like. When it comes to font you can describe the style as: ‘I want something blocky/script/old style’

 

And that’s it! From there we can help you figure out if you need a foamcore sign with an easel stand for display, a sidewalk A-frame with interchangeable panels, or a trade show wall display.

 

Winter is the best time to get that vehicle wrapped

For most businesses, winter is the time when things slow down a little. The months grow cold and the daylight short. However, there’s still plenty of traveling going on outside. People are visiting their friends and families for the holidays or festive parties. There’s shopping to be done and gift exchanging.

Regardless of the time of year, graphics or lettering on your vehicle is the best way to advertise locally. Winter is the best time of year to get that work done, when demand for the vehicle isn’t as high. At Next Day Signs we can do as simple as the business name and number on the doors, or a larger wrap. One of our customers, Dave Fox, has slowly been getting their name across their vehicles. Now it seems hard to drive around Dublin, or Worthington, without seeing them.

Personal Banners & Yard Signs

Festive banners can be a wonderful gesture for someone to share their celebration with the community. Or an extra flare for social distancing, yard gatherings, or congratulatory drive-by’s.

We can work with you to design a banner to match the theme of any celebration, OR you can do-it-yourself through our intuitive banner design templates online. You can personalize your banner with a variety of colors, fonts, graphics, or your very own photos. The banners are waterproof against and come with reinforced grommets. Allowing you to hang your banner anywhere, or you can purchase our pole kit to skip the hassle.

Our turn-around time for custom banners or yard signs is only 1-2 business days. We are a locally owned business here in Columbus, OH, with staff available to help you through any questions. Feel free to reach out to us!

Wall Wraps Sprucing-Up Offices

Whenever we receive new print materials at Next Day Signs we test the material personally before recommending it to other customers. After one year of testing Phototex, we took the leap and decorated our entire lobby wall with it. It has been four years since then and I have to say I’m still pleased with how our wall looks. The color hasn’t faded, nor have the panels pealed at all, and I love the reaction we get from new customers who see it for the first time.

Even more so, I love some of the creations our customers have thought up as they’ve purchased it for their own businesses. It brings a real pizazz versus a blank painted wall, and the plus side is how hassle-free it is to work with the material. I have personally applied a panel to a painted wall and five years later went to remove it; it left no adhesive residue, it didn’t remove the paint and I was able to reapply it with no issue. Making the material perfect for rented offices or even personal decorations such as an apartment.

New York in the Lobby

 

Had the notion last week to change one of the walls in our lobby and cover it with a material called Phototex.

Lobby BeforeLobby1

We started carrying this material last year, it has a tacky adhesive backing similar to paint tape. Which means it can go on painted walls and also be removed without damaging the under lying paint or wall. Also makes it really easy to install, because if you don’t get it on just right you can easily pick it up and apply it again.

Of course when we first received the material we tested out its durability. We printed a few samples for our own wall to see if the adhesion would wear off at all, we removed prints from where we first applied them to other locations, we ‘mistakenly’ applied them to see how easy they would be to fix. So far we’ve had prints up for a year that have never peeled on the edges or shown any decrease in value. We moved one print that had been in the same location for 11 months to another spot without any problems. Any wrinkles or bubbles we’ve purposefully caused were easy enough to fix, and there has been no damage to the walls or adhesive residue.

Being confident in Phototex, and wanting to make a few changes, we decided to cover one of our lobby walls with the material. I purchased a nice photograph from istockphoto.com and we applied the print in less than 2 hours. I love having the vibrant imagery over another dull gray wall, especially with winter coming, it really gives the lobby a more friendly and artistic atmosphere.
Lobby3

 

Magical Spring

Spring has a lot of magical things going for it. The sunlight starts coming back for longer portions of the day. It brings warm weather after months inside, which most people celebrate (aside from us winter folks). It makes a lot of colors we haven’t seen in a while, most importantly, green. It brings rain that washes off all the salt on our cars and makes them look three years newer.

It also really makes us notice the dust we’ve let settled in because we were too cold to brush it away or unable to crack a window to let fresh air in. I’m not normally a cleaning type of person, that’s not to say that I’m a slob. I clean enough to keep things decent, but should a see a little bit of dust I’ll still be able to sleep at night if I don’t get it.

However, not in spring, that’s how magical it is. The hardest part about cleaning around the office is that I want to start making new signs, because I love the finished clean cut it has. Its new appearance is pleasing to my eye because it’s not the same sign I’ve been staring at for months already. It’s fresh, it keeps me creative and my mind motivated. What magical things does spring do to you?