There’s a billboard I regularly drive by that is virtually unreadable.  There are a few reasons, including the fact that there is too much text for a billboard you’re passing at… well let’s just say a bit over 70.  But beyond that, an even larger problem is that you literally can’t see some of the text.  The reason – the color.  It’s got a tanish background, with a bunch of pale yellow or cream text on it.  Were this a print piece, you might be able to work at it and read it, but in this large-scale, it’s not realistically doable.  And in any case, who wants to have to work to read your message?

The moral… pay attention to the color of your text in relation to the background.  If you’re using a light color for your text, make sure there’s enough contrast between it and your background.  If there’s not, change the color.  Or add an effect such as drop shadow (in moderation) or an outline.  The same applies to dark text.  If your text is dark, don’t put it on a dark background without some sort of highlight or outline.

While most of the ads or print pieces you put out won’t have the ability to cause car accidents as speeding motorists squint to try to decipher your text, you still don’t want to make it any harder for your potential customers to read your message.

What are some problems you’ve seen with billboards or other materials making them hard to read?

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