Branding a local business: from logo to lit sign

A local business identity means people recognize the same name, the same colors and the same mark on your business card, your shop window, your van and the sign above the door. The order matters: first the logo in vector format and its versions, then the colors, and only then the materials. The illuminated sign comes last, because it's the most expensive thing to redo and the only one that needs paperwork.

Step 1: the logo, in vector, in several versions

A vector logo is drawn from mathematical shapes rather than pixels, so it can be scaled to any size without losing quality. Adobe uses this exact example: the same logo has to fit on a business card and on a billboard. A JPG of your logo works on Facebook, but on a letter one meter tall you'll see every pixel. We explained the difference in more detail in our post on vector logos versus image logos.

Besides the main version, you need a few others:

• horizontal, for the sign, letterhead and website;
• compact (just the symbol or initials), for profile icons and small spaces;
• single color, for engraving, stamps or cut vinyl;
• reversed, white on a dark background, the way it shows at night on a light box.

A simple test: print the logo the size of a postage stamp and look at it from three meters away. Thin lines and small text inside the mark disappear first. If they do, the logo needs a simplified version for distance.

Step 2: colors and fonts, on one page

Two or three colors, with their codes for print and for screen, plus one or two fonts. All on a single page you send to anyone who works for you: the print shop, whoever builds the website, the sign workshop. Without it, every supplier "guesses" your red, and a year later you have four shades. We described what that page looks like in our post on the one-page brand guide.

Step 3: what customers see up close

Business cards, flyers, the menu, bags, labels. They're cheap to redo, so this is where you test the identity in the real world. If something doesn't work (a color that prints too dark on paper, a font that's hard to read small), you fix it now, not after you've ordered the sign.

Step 4: the shop window and the illuminated sign

This is where rules come in. Romania's Law 185/2013 defines a business sign as any inscription, shape or image attached to a building that refers to the activity inside that building. The general rule for signs is a building permit. The exception is lettering on shop windows and entrance doors: those don't need a building permit, only an approval from the local authorities, plus the advertising tax. The law also covers placement: on apartment blocks, the sign for a ground-floor unit goes only on the part of the facade that belongs to that unit. Your city's local advertising regulation may add conditions, so ask at the town hall before you order.

On materials:

For light boxes, film manufacturers make separate products for backlit use. ORAFOL, for example, describes ORACAL 8500 as a translucent film with even color in both direct and transmitted light, rated for 7 years of vertical outdoor exposure in standard colors. This is why step 1 matters: the color on the light box has to be picked from that film's range, and the reversed logo is the one people see at night.

There's more on letters, light boxes and vinyl in our post on business signage.

What affects the cost

We can't give you a number without seeing the site, but we know what moves it: the size of the sign, whether it's lit, the type of lighting, the number of colors, how high it's mounted and whether scaffolding is needed, plus the permits. A simple logo with clean shapes costs less to build as channel letters than one with fine detail.

We handle all of it in one place, from business cards to signs and signage.