6 type tricks that make sign layouts more effective

There’s more to creating an interesting, effective sign layout than grabbing a cool typeface and typing the text into the layout. The spacing, colors and effects that you use all influence the success of the layout. Here are some tips to help you with that task:

Tighten it up. Tighten up the letter spacing to make the copy into a nice readable unit that doesn’t really need an outline or shadow to “pop it out.” Rather than just accepting the letter spacing that the software uses for the text, decreasing the spacing between the letters will usually make it easier to read the word. On Miss Kokomo, I tightened the spacing on the main copy, then increased the spacing on the secondary copy for a little extra contrast.