The Complete Guide to Planning and Branding Banners and Signs for Big Events

Are you a small business looking to establish your name at the local farmers’ market? Is your medium-sized company introducing new services to more customers? Is your startup looking for profitable partnerships at a trade show? While the personal interactions in these events will assure these opportunities, banners, and signs are the most prominent means to showcase your brand. We assume more people are glued to their screens, but Canon’s Print for Action Survey discovered that 7 in 10 Americans read a mix of print and digital media. They turn to print to tune out the noise and constant barrage of information online. They are more likely to scroll past a digital ad but have a higher chance of noticing a printed ad.


With the mix of both in-person and digital noise at an event, custom banners and signs can lead your target customer to your booth or stall. Each event has a specific goal and target audience, so you’ll also have to keep the audience and what you need from them in mind. For example, a farmer’s market has more personalized services and a chance for you to reconnect with regular customers. The competition is fiercer at bigger events but grabs the right person’s attention and you’ll establish foundations for partnerships with long-term customers or suppliers. Thus, your vinyl banner or poster should distinguish itself with the color combinations and copy unique to your business’s image.



So how does one brand a collection of banners and signs without overwhelming event attendees, while sending a convincing and impactful message?

Align Your Main Goal and Branding Strategy

Define a branding strategy based on the goal your company has for attending the event. A brand strategy details how the customer perceives and experiences your business, whatever the action or medium. Since events offer the most experience your customer can get face to face, it needs to center around the goal. Smaller, community-based events like a farmer’s market or an outdoor pop-up bazaar are focused on sales. Are you introducing a new product line through a showcase to expand your market? This is usually the goal for trade shows. Is your business looking to expand partnerships or educate your staff? Conferences are usually held for this level of interaction. See how your branding strategy can effectively execute this main goal.

Choose the Best Signs and Banners for the Event

Make a list of the best signs or banners to use based on your brand strategy and event goals. Below are some staples and suggestions for the general goal of events like a trade show or farmers’ market:

A complete trade show setup: 



Welcome attendees to your conference: 



Personalize your booth at the Farmer’s Market: 

Apply Your Brand Guidelines Across Your Banners and Signs

 Brand guidelines ensure consistency across your print and digital marketing. Refer to these guidelines every time your company needs visual advertisements or defining specific messaging. Use the list below as a checklist of the common fonts, symbols, colors, and the like the banners and signs will share: 

• Typography – This refers to how headlines, sub-headlines, and paragraphs are arranged for your brand. Banners and signs have large text that needs to be read clearly, so this detail is crucial to ensuring the copy is legible for attendees to see.  
• Brand colors – Your brand guidelines probably have primary and secondary palettes. Web colors are in RGB, while print requires the hues to be in CMYK. If you only have RGB colors, prepare a palette that is unique to CMYK as it comes out differently on your banner or sign. 
• Imagery such as the illustrative or photographic style – A consistent imagery style ensures your product is showcased properly or that abstract concepts about your service are executed clearly. Apply the appropriate imagery style to a vinyl banner that focuses on one visual element. A retractable banner or poster will apply several images or graphics but should have the same consistency. 

• Personas – The fictional profiles of your target audience are always kept in mind whether you’re designing a feather flag, poster, or Google ad. See which persona is likely to attend the event and focus your messaging on them. 
• Positioning – This specifies how your brand will be positioned in the customer’s mind. One statement should summarize how your product or service benefits them.   
• Messaging and tone of voice – Messaging defines what exactly your brand will communicate and how it will be communicated to the persona. It is the foundation for all your communications, whether visual or textual. The tone of voice specifies messaging with how you communicate with the target audience. Keep these in mind while crafting the copy on your custom signs or banners. 

Keep the Design Simple and Focused 

No matter how small or large the sign, the text on display needs to be as short and concise as possible. Keep the text minimal and focus on the visual or imagery elements. To learn more, check out the tips and tricks for banners and signs design in this article.  

Ready to explore custom banner printing or signs? Check out the options available at UPrinting, where you can customize every detail. Complete your branded displays with these marketing event staples: 

Vinyl Banners	Retractable Banners	Step and Repeat Banners
Poster Signs	Mounted Posters	Floor Graphics