By signcraft
Posted on Monday, June 12th, 2023
When you flip through the online portfolio of the work of RT Signs [Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada], you can’t help but be struck by the clean, legible layouts that use strong contrasts. Each design delivers the intended message—with little extra baggage for the viewer to deal with. Even though there is a lot of variety in the designs, the common thread they all share is simplicity.
“It’s hard to keep a design simple,” says Travis Toews. “It takes effort, but it pays off with a more effective design. I think that doing more dimensional work the past few years has impressed on me that much of the effects and the bling are superficial. They don’t really add to the appeal and effectiveness. Unless you are very careful, they distract from the message.”
Travis handles most of the design work at RT Signs these days, having learned the business with his brothers Randy and Jason from their father, Ralph, who is now semi-retired—still involved with the shop but also has other pursuits. Though Travis has his own style, it’s built on Ralph’s approach to design.
He uses few effects, if any, and the goal is to create a clean, easy to read design. He often uses an illustration that connects to the company’s name or image.
“I like to use an illustration as a visual hook,” he says, “when that’s appropriate. ‘Hook’ is a term we picked up from Ray Kuik, who has QPower Communications in Winnipeg. Ideally, a hook is an illustration with a double meaning. It may be the letter P with a house graphic in the bowl. Performance Ag or Double R Locks used that type of hook. But sometimes it’s just a graphic or illustration that connects to the company name. Either way, it’s a way to catch the viewer’s eye.”
The trend in graphic design over the past few years has been towards simplicity. You see that in everything from web design to TV graphics to print media.
“Effects are not a trend anymore,” says Travis. “Over the past few years, you’re seeing them less and less. A convex letter still looks good, but you don’t see as much chrome or other effects. For one thing, effects are hard to use on all applications of a logo, say on a hat. When we do a logo, we want it to look clean and consistent no matter where it is used.
“If there’s any secret to this look, it is simplicity. Sometimes I wonder if I overdo that. I try to eliminate whatever is unnecessary and still have a strong design.
“Not long ago I read on SignCraft.com that the late Ken Millar [who taught at Chicago’s union trade school for years] said to eliminate things in your design to the point that if you took one more thing away, the design would fall apart. It wouldn’t really be a design anymore. I try to take that same approach.”
