Vehicle signage is read at speed, from an angle, usually from behind, in about three seconds. That limits it to roughly three pieces of information: what you do, the phone number, and the business name. Everything else added competes with those and makes all of them harder to read.

The reading conditions

Design decisions are made looking at a proof on a screen, at rest, from a metre away. The actual viewing conditions are nothing like that.

The reader is driving or walking, at an angle, frequently from behind in traffic, in variable light, for a few seconds. Some of them are stopped at a light and have longer, and most do not.

That means contrast and size do almost all of the work, and anything requiring a second look is not read at all.

The three things

What you do

The most important and the most often missing. A business name alone tells a driver nothing, and a person who does not know what Harrison Group does has no reason to remember it.

The trade, in large plain text. Plumbing. Roofing. Electrical. This is what makes the vehicle an advertisement rather than a label.

The phone number

Large, and the single most useful element, because someone who needs your trade right now can act on it. Digits are also easier to read at speed than words.

Worth being the largest element on the vehicle after the trade itself.

The business name

Necessary for recognition and less useful than the first two for generating a call. It should be present and it does not need to dominate.

The website address problem

Almost nobody types a web address they saw on a moving vehicle. They will remember a name and search it, or they will call the number.

That has two consequences. The address does not need to be large, since it is not being typed. And the business name needs to be searchable, because searching the name is what people actually do.

Where the domain is the business name, the address is doing double duty and is worth including plainly. Where it is a long or different address, it is spending space that the trade or the number would use better.

This is also an argument for a name people can spell after hearing or glimpsing it, since the vehicle produces searches rather than direct visits.

What to leave off

The common failure is treating the vehicle as a business card. A card is held and read; a vehicle is glimpsed, and the two need entirely different amounts of information.

Placement

Most viewing is from behind, in traffic, which is the panel most often left plain.

The rear needs the trade and the number at minimum, since that is the view a stopped driver has for longest. The sides are seen when parked, which is a different and also valuable exposure, particularly outside a job in a residential street.

Bear in mind what is obscured. Door handles, wheel arches, and the join between panels all interrupt text, and a proof that looks right flat does not always survive the actual body shape.

Contrast, which decides legibility

Dark text on a light vehicle, or light text on a dark one. Mid-tone on mid-tone fails, and it is what happens when brand colours are applied without checking.

A colour chosen on a screen can be considerably less legible in daylight on a curved metal surface than it looked in the proof, which is why checking outside before signing off matters, as covered in choosing colours that work on screen and on a van.

What it actually produces

Recognition more than direct calls, in most cases, and both are worth having.

A vehicle parked outside a job in a residential street for three days is seen repeatedly by neighbours, some of whom need the same trade. That is the highest-value exposure vehicle signage produces and it happens without any planning.

Measuring it is difficult and partially possible. Asking every caller how they found you will surface it occasionally, and more often as a supporting factor: they saw the van, then searched the name.

Which is the practical connection to the website. The vehicle generates the search; the site and the listing decide what happens next.

Before signing off a proof

That last one is worth pausing on. Signage outlasts phone numbers and web addresses, so anything printed should be something you are confident will still be right in five years.

Frequently asked questions

What should go on a signwritten vehicle?

Three things: what you do, the phone number, and the business name. Anything else competes with those and makes all of them harder to read.

Should the website address be on the van?

Small, if at all. Almost nobody types an address seen on a moving vehicle. They remember the name and search it, which is why a searchable business name matters more.

What is most often missing from vehicle signage?

The trade. A business name alone tells a driver nothing, and someone who does not know what your company does has no reason to remember it.

Which panel matters most?

The rear, since most viewing is from behind in traffic and a stopped driver has that view for longest. It is also the panel most often left plain.

What should be left off?

Service lists, social handles, small certification logos, slogans, and email addresses. A vehicle is glimpsed rather than held, so it needs far less information than a business card.

What does vehicle signage actually produce?

Recognition more than direct calls. A van parked outside a job for three days is seen repeatedly by neighbours who may need the same trade, which is the highest-value exposure it generates.

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.

Getting a vehicle wrapped?

We check the layout against how it will actually be read, so the trade and the number survive three seconds at speed.

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