Can your customers read it from the street? The letter-height rule most signs fail

Can they read it from the street? The letter-height rule most signs fail A sign only works if the right person can read the right words at the distance, they actually see it. Beautiful fabrication will not save a message that is too small, too thin, or too low-contrast. A 12-inch letter in medium grey on a pale wall can lose to a smaller letter in black on white. The industry starting point is simple: about 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of viewing distance, when you want the words readable at a glance in ordinary light. That is a briefing rule, not a building code. Use it to size the artwork, then check local sign codes, landlord rules, and accessibility requirements before fabrication. Size the words for the real viewing distance. If the primary name has to be read by a driver, size that name for the driver. Phone numbers, slogans, and social handles almost never belong at that same size. Give each line the distance it is meant for. Contrast does as much work as size, High-contrast pairs stay readable in sun, shade, and night lighting: black on white, white on black, yellow on black, dark navy on white. Avoid mid-tone on mid-tone, thin gold on cream, and white lettering on a busy photograph. Pale gold on a cream fascia often looks premium on a screen and fails on the street. Fonts that survive distance. Use a bold or semi-bold sans serif for the main name. Keep letter spacing open. Condensed faces collapse at distance. Save scripts and ultra-thin type for a short brand mark, not the message people must read while moving. Mixed case is usually faster to read than long lines of all caps. A 60-second check before you approve art: Stand at the real viewing point or scale a printout and step back. Cover the sign with one hand. Can you still name the business from the primary line alone? Read it at dusk as well as midday. Unlit faces often disappear. Ask someone who was not in the design meeting to read the name aloud. If you have to walk closer to read the name, the sign is decorating the building, not working for it.