Vehicle Signage That People Can Read at Speed

The reading conditions

A van is seen from another moving vehicle, from across a road, or while somebody walks past, for about two seconds.

The viewer is not looking for you, is doing something else, and will not stop to read.

Which means the design question is not what to include but what to leave out, since anything beyond about three items reduces the chance of any of them being read.

Most vehicle signage fails by being thorough, listing every service and every contact method in a size that requires the van to be stationary.

The three items

• What you do, in one or two plain words.
• The business name.
• One contact method, large.

In that order of size, which is the arrangement people find counterintuitive: the trade should generally be the largest element, because somebody who cannot use a plumber does not need the name and somebody who can needs to know that is what you are.

What to leave off

Because the space saved is what makes the rest readable.

A list of services, which nobody reads and which makes the whole panel look like text.

Multiple phone numbers, an email address, and a social handle, which divide the attention that one number would have received.

Small print about certifications and memberships, which cannot be read at speed and belongs on the website.

Stock illustrations, which take space that should carry the trade.

And a long web address, which is harder to remember than a business name that can be searched for.

Everything removed makes what remains bigger, which is the whole trade being made.

Website or phone number

A decision worth making deliberately rather than including both.

A phone number suits work where somebody calls in an emergency, and it is only useful if they can retain it for the few seconds until they can write it down.

A short web address suits considered purchases, where somebody looks later.

For most local trades, the business name and the trade are sufficient, because somebody who remembers both will find you by searching, and a name is easier to remember than a number.

Where you include a number, make it the largest thing after the trade, and consider whether it is memorable enough to survive two seconds.

Size, contrast and placement

The mechanics, which the signwriter will get right if asked and not if not.

Lettering has to be readable from across a road, which for the main elements means considerably larger than most people specify.

Contrast has to come from lightness rather than hue, since a mid-toned colour on another mid-tone disappears at distance in the same way it does in greyscale.

Put the essentials on both sides and on the back, since the back is what the driver behind you reads at every red light, and it is frequently left blank.

Keep text clear of door seams, handles, and windows, which cut through lettering and are where signwriters have to improvise if the design does not account for them.

And check it against a dirty van, since vehicles are rarely clean and low-contrast designs disappear entirely under road spray.

A worked example

A business had a van carrying eleven services in a list, two phone numbers, a web address, an email address, and three certification logos.

Standing beside it, all of that was legible.

From across a road, none of it was, including the business name, which was smaller than the service list.

They replaced it with the trade in large letters, the business name beneath, and one phone number, on both sides and the back.

Calls mentioning the van increased noticeably, which they only knew because they had started asking.

The new design cost less than the old one, since it involved considerably less vinyl.

Test before it is applied

The step that prevents an expensive mistake, since a wrap is not easily changed.

Ask the signwriter for the design at actual size, print the main elements on paper, and tape them to the van.

Then walk across the road and look, and get somebody to drive past.

That takes twenty minutes and catches the sizing problem, which is the one that matters and the one that is invisible on a screen.

Look at it in low light too, since a van parked outside a job in the evening is doing the same work.

The van is also a trust signal

Worth noting, since legibility is not the only job.

A signed van parked outside a house tells the neighbours that a legitimate business is working there, which is where a proportion of local referrals begin.

It also tells the customer, at the moment of arrival, that the person at the door is who they said they were.

Which is an argument for signage matching the website and the paperwork, since the recognition only works if the elements match.

An unmarked van does the opposite, and for anybody entering homes that is a real cost beyond the lost advertising.

The counter-case

Signage is not always right.

Some trades deliberately use unmarked vehicles, for security where valuable tools are carried, or where customers value discretion.

A leased vehicle may have restrictions, and a personal vehicle used occasionally for work may not warrant it.

Magnetic panels are a reasonable middle position, though they suit lower speeds and need removing regularly to avoid marking the paint.

Where you do sign it, keep it to three items, make them large, put them on the back as well, and test it from across a road first.

The specification

1. Three items only: trade, name, one contact.
2. Make the trade the largest element.
3. Drop the service list and the extra contacts.
4. Get contrast from lightness, not hue.
5. Sign the back as well as the sides.
6. Print it and tape it on before committing.
7. Look from across a road, and in low light.

Step six costs twenty minutes and prevents the only expensive mistake available here, since a wrap that turns out to be too small to read is paid for twice.

Whether it produces work is covered in the job that came from a van sign.

Frequently asked questions

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.