Easy-to-read signage is essential to business success. That’s a fact.
Because most business people are not artists though, it’s difficult to understand how the colours you choose can make or break your corporate logo and signage efficacy.
We’re taking a closer look at the contrast factor and how it plays into stunning, readable, memorable signage.
Contrast Factor Is The X-Factor In Signage
You know about contrast because you have likely adjusted it often enough on your TV screen. But that just means pushing the controls up or down on a sliding scale till it looks right. While you may think the contrast is more about light than colour, it’s precisely the way colours engage and contrast with each other that increases clarity, including that which you seek on your TV screen.
Spelling Out the Contrast Factor
Road signs are a good example of capitalising on effective colour contrasts. Think of the white and yellow paint used on black tar roads or the black and yellow hazard signs, as a case in point.
In the world of colours, there are high contrast and low contrasting colours. (Interestingly, neither black nor white are considered ‘colours’ but they both affect contrast.)
A quick art lesson on the colour wheel is a good place to start getting the idea.
- Primary colours – Blue, Red, Yellow
- Secondary colours – Green, Orange, Violet
- Contrast colours – are made up of one primary colour paired with a suitable secondary colour
So, if you have a yellow background, then violet will show up best as the lettering bounces off it. That would constitute high contrast. Green and orange together though, would be called low contrast colours and there is room for using those in close-up signage applications.
The KISS Principle And Contrast Factors
Now that you have the basics, restraint will be your next best strategy. Too many contrasting letters and images on a sign will boggle most people’s ability to read let alone understand what you’re trying to convey.
Think of how your eyes struggle sometimes just looking at too many stripes in contrast colours – everything seems to move. Keeping it simple will always be the safe route visually.
Size matters too. Lots of small white letters on a black background, although fitting the contrast factor, will still be too much for the reader. Because there are shades of both primary and secondary colours, expert help remains the more sure-fire way to achieve the best colour contrast factors for your signage.
Call on Signkor to help guide you in the best colour contrasts for your corporate signage. Visit their website www.signkor.co.za to find out more.
