We at "Situation Be Silly" have seen some "pitiful and pathetic" signs for the guys over the last few years. So, in our never ending quest to create the perfect and respectble fan, we have decided to share our knowledge of successful signage. Successful? What's successful you ask? Successful Signage = THE GUYS BEING ABLE TO FREAKING READ IT!
Welcome to Sign Making 101....your first assignment is to read the following tips...
Tip 1: DO NOT USE MARKER! Just to clarify, we don't care if you use permanent marker or not. Why you ask? Holding up the signs get marker (yes, even "permanent" marker) all over your hands. It rubs off. Rainbow colored hands are NOT cool! Use letters cut out of contruction paper and glue them on. If you know a teacher (Cristin's one!) use the letter cut out machine at the school to get perfect letters every time! Or, at the very least buy some stencils to make letters...you can get them at Staples!
Tip 2: Short Phrases! We can't and we're sure as hell LFO can't read 5 thousand word sentences from the stage that say "HI RICH, BRAD, AND DEVIN! I'M KIM FROM OHIO! I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH! GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO ME! I'M IN ROW 35, SEAT 4! WOOHOO! LFO ROCKS!" Laughing yet at that sign? We are...we've seen it at shows! Worst of all was that the person was really sitting 30 rows back and all those words ended up in 1 inch letters on the poster board. We could hardly read it standing next to the girl! LFO would need super-vision to read that from the stage! Here's a hint: Keep the phrase short and limit it to about 5 words...so they can quickly read it, give you a thumbs up, and move on! They can't spend 12 years squinting at your sign, people!
Tip 3: Size of Letters! If you keep the phrase short, your letters can be bigger...get it? Say it with us, class-"FEWER WORDS = BIGGER LETTERS!" BTW, 5 inch letters work really well especially if your 10 or less rows from the stage.
Tip 4: Spelling! You should've all seen this one coming. We've got one thing to say: SPELL ALL WORDS CORRECTLY! There's nothing worse than seeing their names (and words in general) misspelled on signs! Use a dictionary!
Tip 5: Capital Block Letters! They are just easier to see, enough said!
Tip 6: No Cursive! It's too thin and hard to read especially when you have bad penmenship!
Tip 7: No Pics on the Signs! For 2 reasons....
A: It takes up too much room. Hence, more room for bigger letters.
B: They know what they look like by now! Signs are not mirrors! Do you really want them looking at your sign and thinking "Dayum, did I have a bad hair day when that pic was taken!"
Tip 8: Go For a Contrast! White poster board sucks, people! The light reflects off of it and you can't read it. Go for a dark board (like blue) with bright letters (like yellow) or a light board (like yellow) with dark letters (like red). Stick with white if you like, but we haven't had a sign missed yet using the colored letters on colored board technique!
Tip 9: Overused Phrases! Examples: I <3 You! You're Hot!
Come up with something original, it will get noticed! For the record, if we have to see "I'm LFO's SUMMER GIRL!" or some variation on the Summer Girls theme ever again (like "RICH, REMEMBER ME? I'M WAS A SUMMER GIRL IN VERMONT ON JUNE 3rd, 2000!), we think we will vomit!
Tip 10: Squeezing in letters! Nothing's worse than making a sign, writing out the letters in marker, than realizing "DAYUM! IT'S NOT GONNA FIT!" and having to squeeze a big word into a tiny space. Hint: Plan out your letters ahead of time IN PENCIL!
Tip 11: Tastefulness! Let's take a few moments to talk about being tasteful and classy with our signs. It's a family event. Yes, a little pervy is allllll good. We totally agree there...you're talking to experts in that field. But, we say NO to just downright vulgar nastiness. In case you're unclear, an example of vulgarness would be "F*CK ME, BRAD!" Hey, we are all about some pervyness, but let's not get graphic on the signage!
In conclusion, follow these simple tips and you too can hold up your sign loud and proud!
© 2002 Additional tips? Email us here!
