17 Jul Talking to Vendors About: Signage
What Makes Great Vendor Booth Signage
Written By MTP LACDAC Intern Tory Tensen
This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jennis from Melrose Mixology and Stephanie from OooLaLa Toffee about the signage they use to grab customers’ attention and inform them about their products. Signs are a great way to draw customers in with a use of fun colors, fonts, and graphics. Not only do signs elevate the visual impact of your booth, but they also give customers valuable information about your products for sale, pricing, and online presence.
Before you think that you need to be a graphic designer to create an amazing banner or a unique pricing list, I’ve gathered some information on ways that anyone can make it happen.
Melrose Mixology: Jennis & Fareed
Jennis from Melrose Mixology just created all new signage for his booth and has experienced some of his best and busiest sales days in a while! Jennis has been here at MTP for almost a decade and continues to grow his business with each and every Sunday. His background in graphic design and his consistency with updating and elevating his signs on a yearly basis made him someone I just had to talk to.
He told me that he views signs as more than just labels and that there are two main things that signs accomplish: educating a customer and creating a vibe within your booth. For those of you who have yet to visit Melrose Mixology, it is a coffee stand in the food court that boasts having “The Best Fckn Cold Brew.” They proudly display this slogan right across the top of their tent in big bold letters that you can’t miss!
They tie in the color scheme of their banner with the rest of their booth, displaying light-hearted cotton candy colors, and have added pictures of various delicious menu items that are must-haves!
While this top banner is definitely eye-catching, they know that the average sight line of patrons is shoulder height or lower, so they didn’t stop with just one banner. Melrose Mixology also has two fold out signs in front of their booth, advertising mouth-watering lemonades, iced teas, matcha, donuts, and of course their unbeatable cold brew. Having multiple signs is a very strategic move on their behalf, because they’re getting the attention of more people walking from different directions and people of different heights. Not only does this food vendor offer hand held menus, they also have a large scale menu hanging to the right of the booth that is easy to read and matches the aesthetics of the rest of their signs – very cohesive and informative if you ask me!
But what does it take to create signs of this caliber? Jennis recommends using VistaPrint to have all his signs printed. When it comes to designing the signs, the talented Jennis does it all on his own having been a graphic designer in the past.
While we might not all have that skill in our back pockets, there are many online platforms that can help you out. Personally, I recommend Canva. They have tons of premade flyers and banners that you can alter and put your own twist on, and the platform is very beginner user friendly. I’ve also dabbled with Adobe Illustrator in the past and know that there are many tools on there to create a rockin’ sign, but it is a little more advanced. For those that feel overwhelmed by the task of creating their own signs (because yes, it can be overwhelming!) Jennis recommended to me a website called Fiverr. On Fiverr.com you can connect with freelance artist and, for a fee, have them create signs, banners, or even logos for you! Life can be very busy, so sometimes outsourcing someone to help with your workload can be a great option.
Ooo La La Toffee: Stephanie
After an enlightening conversation with the amazing Jennis, I headed over to another beloved booth of mine, OooLaLa Toffee from the talented Stephanie. Stephanie recently appeared on Good Day LA to talk about all things baked with love and recently had a fully sold out Sunday here at MTP! Her delicious homemade baked goods make the perfect sweet treat, and she has created an elegant booth to get the word out about her product. When I asked Stephanie about her process creating signs, she told me, “anyone can do it!”
Some of her signage is as simple as printing out papers with products labels and putting them in decorative frames to add some flare and personalization to her booth. Stephanie also recommends VistaPrint for having signs made, but did also mention she likes to get them done through local print houses when she has the resources to do so. Something I love about Stephanie’s booth is the consistency throughout her signs: she clearly displays her iconic logo, catchy slogan, and her website throughout her booth. Another great feature is she also has a stand alone sign on the corner of her booth that is the perfect eye level height advertising her fresh baked zucchini bread.
Good signage is just one of the many factors that go into having a successful booth. We see many vendors every Sunday with great signs, so I wanted to highlight a few this week and share what has been working for them.
Here are a few key takeaways:
- Keep switching things up with your signs so they aren’t too stagnant; maybe they’re themed around a holiday or a season!
- Signs are more than just labels – they are a way to draw in a customer, inform them about your business, and accessorize your booth.
- Canva and Adobe Illustrator are great for designing signs, but Fiverr could be the way to go if you want to hire a designer.
- For printing signs, VistaPrint seems to be the go-to.
- Cute frames are a great way to add personalization.
There’s a million different ways to go about signage and we continue to see new, creative signs every Sunday. We hope this inspires you to boost the visibility of your unique brand and amazing products. •