Eastham Primitive Signs Sizing a Sign

Sizing Your Sign

Fitting your phrase on a properly sized sign is slightly complicated. We've kept it as simple as possible by offering only one layout (centered), one font size and limiting the characters per phrase to 100. Still, two characteristics of fonts directly affect a sign's size, the font itself and its case. This page uses three sections to explain the relationship between font choice and sign size. The first shows the idiosincracies of fonts. The second is an important chart showing character sets and how they fit on a one-foot length of wood. The third is an example of the steps required to order a sign. We urge you to take a couple minutes to familiarize yourself with this information.

Fonts and Case Characteristics

We are going to use the phrase "HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL" to show how two different fonts, sized the same, will not fit on the same size sign. We also show you the affect of all cap letters as opposed to upper/lower case and all lower case. Each sign sample below is of a 24x4 inch sign and the fonts we will use are "Andy" and "Copperplate Gothic".

Fonts



Here is an example of how each font has it's unique spacing.  At the same size type, andy fits a 2 foot board but copperplate doesn't come close.   If you really are attached to copperplate you would have to choose a larger sign, either a 36x4 inch or a 24x6 inch sign.  We chose the 24x6 in the sample below.

So the choice of font directly affects the size a sign needs to be. The chart below shows our fonts with their character sets and it gives the maximum number of character per foot of sign.



Case



As you can see, all caps fills the board but the upper/lower and all lower case have extra room. Aesthetically, we feel the space is a good thing but the choice is yours. The chart below shows our fonts with their character sets and it gives the maximum number of characters per foot of sign for each case

Font Samples and Maximum Characters

This chart is the most IMPORTANT tool when you are designing a sign, especially the three red columns to the right. They show the maximum number of characters that will fit per foot of text space depending on font and case. What is a "foot of text space"? It is the amount space on a sign allocated to the phrase. To figure the text space for a particular sign just multiply the length of a sign(in feet) by the number of lines the sign will fit. How many lines fit on a sign? We have sized our fonts to fit one line per increment of height. Our smallest height, 4 inches, fits one line. Next up, 6 inches fits 2 lines, 8 inches fits 3 and 12 inches fits 4. So, using our equation, a 2 foot by 8 inch sign will yield 6 feet of text space (2x3=6). That is enough space to fit a 48 character phrase in upper and lower case Baskerville (using the chart above, 6x8= 48). Below you will find an example of how this works when you are designing a sign.

"Designing a Sign"

This section takes you through the 9 steps required to design a sign.

Step 1: Backround Color

From the chart in design options we'll pick the board color: Cream

Step 2: Font Color

In design options again, we'll pick the font color keeping in mind color combination. We want either light on dark or dark on light so let's choose: Maroon

Step 3: Finishing Options

Yet again in design option, we'll pick the hangers and edging: Sawtooth and Square

These first 3 steps are the base of a sign. Now we need to move on to phrase, font, case and sizing.

Step 4: The Phrase

Now remember, we limit the character and space count in a phrase to 100. We feel this is plenty of room for a sentiment.  For our example we'll use: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!"

Step 5: Character Count

This is required to accurately size a sign. So, all we do is count the characters and spaces in our phrase: 26

Step 6: The Font

Fonts have a direct effect on sign sizing. From the chart above or in design options we'll pick the font: Comic Sans

Step 7: The Case

Case also has a direct effect on sign sizing. For this exercise we'll choose: all lower case.

Step 8: Text Space

Now we are sizing our sign. To determine the text space needed to fit our phrase we divide the character count by the max characters in the chart for all lower case, comic sans: 26/9=2.89 feet of text space.  Since our signs are sized in foot increments, we need to round up and order one with 3 feet of text space to fit what we want to say.

Step 9: The Choice

Three feet of text space leaves us with a choice of 2 sign sizes; 36x4inches (using our equation from the "font sample" section above, 3X1=3 feet of text space) and 24x6(2x2=4 feet of text space) Samples of each appear below. This is a purely aesthetic pick. Will a long, thin sign work or will the shorter, taller one look better?

The choice is yours but we recommend trading length for lines. No only do we feel the shorter sign looks better and will fit better inside or out, it costs $9 less.

That's it. We have successfully designed a 'one of a kind ' gift. If you need more help in designing your sign, click the links below for more information. If you know what you want, click on "Our Signature Signs" to order.

Are You Ready? Just 109 days 'til Christmas!