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Here at Sign Language, we’ve been adapting to the unfortunate recent circumstances as best as we can. We’re aware of how much of a disruption the outbreak of Coronavirus has caused and we’ve been working our hardest to make life easier for everyone during this difficult time.

The most important thing we can all do to prevent the spread of the virus is to practice social distancing. Although many people will survive the virus even if they contract it, there is still a significant number who would be seriously affected if the virus was passed onto them. That’s why we must all make an effort to keep our distance from each other at all times.

The steps we can take

Although it’s important to physically stay away from each other, there are other steps that can be taken too. For example, parcels and deliveries should be left at the door to avoid unnecessary interaction. Shops should only allow in a certain number of people and small confined spaces in public should be avoided. 

We have produced some products for some clients to help remind everyone to adhere to these rules at all times. Our social distancing signs send a clear message to enforce coronavirus precautions, all of which will contribute to this lockdown period ending as quickly as possible. 

As well as our larger signs we’ve also designed some small, bright stickers which can be easily distributed around frequently-visited areas. They’d also be brilliant on public display boards or outside essential shopping centres and would act as a strong reminder to anyone passing by.

Thank you to the NHS 

One of the three main messages imposed by the Government is to protect the NHS. This message is so crucial because the NHS is the key to us surviving this global pandemic. We need to suppress the spread of the disease in order to prevent too many people from becoming sick at one time, as this would overwhelm our hospitals, doctors, and nurses.

On Thursday 26th March, most of the UK took part in an emotional tribute which saw us standing outside our houses clapping for the carers. Supporting the NHS is a great way to raise morale and keep people’s hopes up.

With this in mind, we’ve been working on some custom-made signs for one client to show thanks to NHS staff and all of their hard work. Not only are they working around-the-clock to protect us and our loved ones, but they’re also placing themselves at increased risk of catching the virus.

We all make mistakes, they can happen to people at the best of times. But when it comes to putting pen to paper and printing something permanently, it’s vital to double-check everything. Marketing and advertising are what helps us stay in business. It’s vital for us to make sure that we’re not publishing any bad graphic printing. You’d think people or even large companies would have the sense to double-check before they give things the go-ahead, but that isn’t always the case.

We’ve compiled 5 examples of bad graphic printing to show you that when this kind of thing goes wrong, it can go really wrong.

1. Formatting

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A classic mistake seen all too frequently on vehicles with graphic printing is a lack of attention paid to text formatting. Even wealthy and global companies with as many resources as Starbucks are prone to bad graphic printing errors.

It’s important to be careful with any messages that could inadvertently be displayed to the public. While this is an amusing blunder, it’s not offensive and the overall ramifications won’t be damaging for the company.

However, if a rude or offensive word had been accidentally put on view then they could have faced more serious consequences. In this occasion though, they’ll just have to deal with a healthy dose of embarrassment.

2. Misleading Information 

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Here we have what appears to be a fairly standard sign, the type you’d typically see in a supermarket car park. At first glance, all seems to be well. But when you take a closer look, you suddenly realise that someone’s made a serious mistake with the design. The directions change when reading horizontally or vertically, which we’d like to assume was in no way the intended result. 

This shows the importance of placing yourself in the shoes of the customer and looking at things objectively. It could help you to avoid wasting money and resources on producing something like this, which seems like it was created for the sole purpose of confusing people. Can you figure out this example of bad graphics printing?

3. Nonsensical

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If you’ve ever needed any motivation to double-check your work, then this should be more than sufficient. 

There’s not much to be said about this one really, but it does teach an important lesson. While it’s important to consider the more complex aspects of designs, it’s equally as essential to pay attention to the basics. 

The only thing worse than a poorly designed sign that’s difficult to understand is a sign which doesn’t make sense at all. Not only is this sign such nonsense that it’s comical, but in busy areas, it could cause unnecessary mass confusion. 

If a sign has a spelling mistake or a confusing image, at least people can still figure out the general message. However, in this scenario, it’s just a complete contradiction. People will have no idea what to do and could end up putting themselves and others in danger. 

4. Inconsistency

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For any perfectionists out there, this sign will be particularly difficult to look at. The designer of this sign clearly showed creative flair by incorporating the first ‘H’ into the weights above the person’s head. So far so good. 

But for some reason, they decided to not include the second ‘H’ in the logo. This missed opportunity results in a highly unsatisfying overall image which gets more aggravating the longer you look at it. Either they didn’t realise they could use the logo for the second ‘H’, or they did realise but they forgot to actually do it. Either way, it’s unforgivable.

Assuming the second ‘H’ in the logo still counts as a letter, then the sign now reads ‘Shapes Healthh Club’. This is a real shame as the logo would have looked really good had it not been for this elementary mistake.

5. Readability

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When printing a sign, overlooking the font is something which really never should happen. Seeing as the vast majority of signs will have some kind of text on them, you’d think extra care would be taken to make sure the message is easy to read.

As shown in the image above, the poor font choice here has resulted in the message appearing to read ‘NEW STOCK ARRMNG DAILY!’ It’s not just the font choice though, it’s the size of the text and the closeness of the individual letters which has resulted in this catastrophic error. 

This example, perhaps more than any of the others, highlights the importance of seeking professional help from an expert. There’s simply no way that someone with years of experience could allow for something as easily avoidable as this to make it to the printing stage.

If global companies with multi-billion dollar net worths such as Starbucks are capable of bad graphic printing, then it must be easier to make these errors than you’d think. We hope that you’ve seen enough examples of shoddy (and humourous) printing mistakes by now to never want to join the ranks of these poor designers. 

If you’re ever in doubt, feel free contact us for professional consultation.

Vehicle wrapping is highly popular as a useful marketing tool. It’s also popular for those who look for something exciting to make their vehicle stand out from all the others. Vehicle graphics can have many advantages other than just a unique look. It can also protect your original layer of paint and hide small marks and scratches. This, in turn, adds to the resell value of your car. Vinyl car wraps are also considerably cheaper than paint jobs, coming in at nearly half the price. We’ll be taking a look at the best vinyl car wraps of 2019 and finding out what’s going on beneath the surface. 

Carbon Fibre

The particular style people choose to wrap their cars in is of course down to personal taste. However, there is one car wrap which seems to objectively sit at the top of the list: carbon fibre.  Known for being expertly produced by the esteemed VViViD, carbon fibre car wrap is long-lasting and brings its own unique style as it defies reality with its genuine 3D appearance. Due to its intrinsic flexible qualities, carbon fibre can stretch to fit any shape. It can also be used to modify both the interior and exterior of your car to an extremely high standard.

Matte Black 

Matte black comes in not far behind carbon fibre in terms of popularity. Its mysterious pitch-dark shade is a highly sought after aesthetic. This wrap can prove slightly tricky to apply, however, its lack of malleability is more than made up for by its impressive durability. Notably designed by 3M, matte black vinyl wrap is dual-layered. This allows it to be incredibly scratch resistant and maintain that impressive deep black look. 

Chameleon

If you’re looking for a more colourful option, then Vinyl Frog’s Chameleon car wrap might be the choice for you. Vinyl Frog provides their Chameleon wrap in both gloss and matte finishes. They also manufactured it to be highly stretchable and have a long lifespan. It can also be easily removed at any time. The subtle but striking blending of colour allows for an eye-catching car with a high-quality appearance.

Black High Gloss Vinyl Wrap

Finally, let’s allow the specialists at VViViD to supply us with a true classic which is ever-popular in the car wrapping world. So much so that this particular aesthetic is considered a leading competitor to the car painting industry. What makes it so popular is the affordability and extremely high-calibre look that comes with it. It also comes with the exciting added bonus of allowing passers-by to see themselves in the reflection. ViVViD’s reputation is well-deserved, as their products allow for a clean application with a dry adhesive which won’t damage your cars original paint in the slightest. It may not be as outlandish as Chameleon or vastly popular as carbon fibre, but if you want your car to stand out in a quietly impressive manner, then black high gloss vinyl wrap is your best bet.