Indoor signs
2429 East Clairemont Ave.
Eau Claire, WI 54701
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Eau Claire, WI 54701
Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM-3:00 PM
6/12/2025
The power of well-branded signage goes far beyond a name and a logo—beyond what someone simply sees with their eyes. It impacts your audience’s minds and behaviors, too.
How? Specific messaging and color combinations can influence customer behavior. Image360 Eau Claire can help you use these factors to your advantage, leading to more effective signage and more of the behavior you want from your consumers.
Color is perhaps the largest factor in the psychology of sign design. If you want to attract customers to your business, you want your visuals to reflect shades that can help you communicate a specific feeling to your target audience.
Colors wield a lot of influence over customers, usually subconsciously.
Yellow is often an attention-grabber and can help elevate certain messaging.
Green is calming and often paired with other earth tones like browns.
Red often signals immediate savings and an “act now!” attitude that can drive impulse purchases.
Purple gives the impression of a luxurious experience.
Blue often goes hand-in-hand with intelligence and trust.
For instance, if you’re a customer looking for a calming and relaxing spa experience, the atmosphere matters a lot. Are you more likely to feel at ease in an environment with natural blues and greens or in one with bold oranges and reds?
The right colors used consistently can help increase brand recognition for your business, too. Consider the combination of red and white on a soda can, or red and brown on a coffee cup. Even without saying the company names specifically, you probably already know which business these examples refer to.
Studies have shown that color can increase brand recognition by up to 80 percent (1), so a good color strategy for your business can go a long way.
Fonts and varying lettering styles are the other key components of your sign design. They’re the key driver to delivering your message, and they can impact how your audience perceives your message and your branding.
Studies show a natural correlation between certain fonts and how readers feel about them. For instance, many have assigned the adjectives “formal” and “legible” to Times New Roman and Helvetica, both of which are commonly found in business settings (2).
Of course, that doesn’t mean you need to use these as your default, but it is important to know what kind of feeling will be associated with your font choice.
Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman and Garamond, are commonly considered traditional, reliable and sophisticated.
Sans-serif choices like Arial, Helvetica or Calibri are considered as clean, modern and straightforward.
Script fonts like Pacifico or Tangerine are associated with feelings of elegance, creativity and uniqueness.
Decorative choices like Stencil and Phosphate are considered casual, flexible and original.
Hundreds of thousands of choices are available to you, and more are created daily. Consider how your font makes your business and your message look and adjust if necessary.
Choosing the right colors and fonts for your design is just the start – you also have to think about your key message. Using your signs to create a sense of urgency can help encourage immediate purchases.
Phrases such as “Limited Time Offer!” or “Only While Supplies Last!” give the impression to your audience that they may miss out on something good if they don’t act immediately.
Creating a sense of urgency with your signage can drive immediate action. Phrases like “Limited Time Offer!” or “While Supplies Last!” emphasize scarcity, prompting quick decisions. Highlighting exclusivity, such as unique or limited-edition deals reserved for loyalty members, can also encourage customers to act swiftly and build long-term loyalty.
Leveraging social proof is another tactic you can use in your messaging. Including customer testimonials and reviews on your signs can help build trust and confidence in your business. Your audience may be more willing to listen to someone they feel is more like them, such as a fellow customer they recognize from their community, before making a purchasing decision about your business.
Good signage is more than just words and a logo – it’s a representation of your branding, your business and what you’re about. By leveraging the power of design psychology through the smart, creative use of colors, fonts and messaging, you can drive more of the action you want to see from your audience.
At Image360 Eau Claire we have years of expertise in professional design for visual communications of all sorts. Whether you’re looking to add a few new banners to your arsenal or need a full top-down rebrand, we’re here to help you through every step. Contact us today to learn more about how signs can inspire the right customer behaviors!
