Last week’s blurb promoted minimalism, consistency and clarity in all of your library’s signs. This week I’m going to expand on consistency in signage by looking at creating sign templates that help to brand your library. I’ll be looking at designing a template, creating a style guide (fonts) and using appropriate graphics.

 

The key to a good template is to make it simple, easy to reproduce and resize, and consistent.  Once you have a template in place, you only have to change what the text says and the image used. All of you should have Publisher, at least on your staff computer; it’s pretty simple to use. To design a template, try several drafts of where you want headlines, body text and graphics to appear. If you don’t have a colour printer at your library, using lines, borders and shapes in grey tones can be very effective. If you do have a colour printer, I recommend using only one or two colours, and using specific colours for each program (i.e., red for children’s programs, purple for seniors, etc.)

 

Sample Templates:

 

       

Creating a style guide is as simple as deciding what fonts to use and the size of headlines, sub-headings and body text. The headlines in the sample provided are in Elephant font. It’s best to keep your headlines very short; you can expand on them in the sub-heading. The subheading and body text in the sample are both Times New Roman. It’s best to use a simple font, with no extra squiggles or lines and not put it in italics (which can be difficult for some to read). It’s best to keep your body text to at least 14 pt, with your sub-heading two sizes larger and in bold. Your logo could be as simple as your library’s name in a funky font.

 

Graphics can be the most fun to insert. One of my favorite internet sources for free graphics is stock.xchng at  www.sxc.hu/ . If you use images of people, make sure they match your library’s demographic. Images should be kept simple without a distracting background. This is especially important if you are printing your posters in black and white. Clip art is no longer popular, nor will it attract attention. Original photos inserted into your posters will grab attention, especially if the people in the image are recognizable.

 

Templates, once they’ve been designed, should make your life simpler and your signage more effective. The most important thing to keep in mind when designing your templates is the KIS principle: Keep It Simple.