By signcraft
Posted on Monday, September 25th, 2023
The customer who just walked in your shop may have only bought one or two signs in their life—or quite possibly has never purchased a sign. They may have a drawing in their hand that they put together on the computer or maybe just an idea in their head. Though they may have seen and liked your work, they don’t know if you can create something that they will like and be effective for them.
What’s the fastest way to turn this scenario into a closed sale? For many sign designers, it is the quick rough sketch.
If you have basic drawing skills and have developed your ability to come up with layouts on the fly, doing a rough drawing in front of the customer can jump you past teasing their idea out of them or explaining why their drawing needs some work. It can give you a big edge in the sales process.
Like many proficient sign designers, Lane Walker [Solo Signs, Reno, Nevada] has used the quick rough sketch as a sales tool for years. He finds most customers are amazed to see him “thinking on paper” as he roughs out a concept or two for their sign.
“Customers often are unsure whether you’re going to be able to do something they like,” says Lane, “or if you understand what they want. My solution is to grab my Sharpie felt-tipped pens—a fine and extra-fine—and start sketching their design on a pad of paper.
“It’s just a very rough sketch but they’ve probably never seen anyone do that. They often say something like ‘Well, it looks like you know what you’re doing…’ and then they can relax. I explain that it’s really rough, but they usually say how great it looks. Sometimes I need to go on to a more finished drawing, but often the Sharpie version does the trick.”
It’s about creative skills, not fonts or colors
A quick rough sketch helps gain the customer’s confidence in your ability to create a successful layout for them. You’re showing them—not just telling them—that you understand what they want and that you’ve got some ideas on how to make that happen.
“I think it’s something about seeing it being done by hand,” Lane says. “I’m not putting down someone who does their designs on a computer, but watching you do a quick sketch seems to impress most people more than seeing something done on the computer. People seem to think that computers make design easy—that it’s just a matter of clicking here and there.”
Even if a customer has already decided to have Lane do their truck, Lane often does a quick sketch, photographs it and sends it to them via text. He wants them to have an idea of what they are getting rather than surprise them when they see the finished truck.
Another benefit is that you have much more flexibility when you sell from a quick sketch instead of a finished drawing. You don’t have to choose specific fonts yet. You can throw out a few color ideas but you’re not committed to the exact colors you would use—as you would be if you showed them a color rendering on the computer.
Sketches will improve your skills
Doing roughs like these will also help you ramp up your layout skills. Lane says this approach originated years ago, after taking Mike Stevens’s classes on sign layout. Mike [author of Mastering Layout] would provide copy for a sign project, then everyone in the whole class would draw a refined sketch. Then these layouts were reviewed and discussed.
“After that,” Lane says, “I started doing them as part of my day-to-day design process. I find that I need to visualize and ‘see’ what I’m going to design and paint before I can do it. These sketches serve to organize and define those visions into scale layouts, which can then finally be done in full size color.”
It works for any sign project
Most of Lane’s work is trucks, from owner/operators to large fleets. Though the graphics on these trucks become the company’s brand, they aren’t really used for other marketing purposes. But the quick sketch can be just as effective when selling other signage to small business owners: it shows that you’re a competent pro who can create the design they need.
“I’m not a big rebranding guy,” Lane says, “because, for most of these trucks, the design isn’t a logo they are going to use in their marketing. They don’t do much by way of marketing. They want their name on this big new truck and they want it to look good. The appearance really matters to them. They often want striping or other graphics on there, too, so it’s sort of a design package specifically for their truck.”
Sometimes those roughs are refined as a scale drawings like some of the drawings seen here. But often the job is sold from the rough sketch done with Sharpie pens, as was the case in the ’41 Willies display panel and the MAGA truck.
Whether it’s for truck lettering or a storefront sign, the point of the quick rough sketch is to get past the customer’s imagined layout or their lack of an idea. It works for almost any sign because it cuts to the chase. Once you have the basic details from the customer, you move to showing what you would suggest—without spending a lot of time discussing (or debating) the customer’s design ideas.
You don’t have to be an artist to do this, but you do have to develop your drawing skills. That comes easier for some, but anyone can learn. They really pay off in the time the quick sketch shaves off the sales process. And there’s a bonus: eye/hand work like this is proven to encourage creative thinking, too. It can help you become a better designer.
