Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/707472
S I G N & D I G I T A L G R A P H I C S • August 2016 • 55 If your customer has a long, compli- cated website address you may suggest that they try to purchase a domain name with simplified, descriptive text that they can use to direct customers to their exist- ing site. For example, our domain name is very simple, but let's pretend we had www.visualhorizonscustomsignsmodesto.com instead of the www.vhsigns.com that we actually use. The long name would take up a lot of space and would be difficult to grasp on a moving vehicle. Over the years we've added additional domain names that might help customers find us when doing general searches. For example if you type in www.modestowraps. com it will direct you to our www.vhsigns. com site. As will www.modestocustomsigns. com. So multiple simple, descriptive domain names can direct you to one main website. If the customer wants to include a con- tact phone number, advise them to stay at one number. Some customers will request both an office number and a cell number, but this makes the layout more confusing and less likely to be remembered. The company address is another piece of information that should be carefully considered. If the company is not on a commonly recognized street, I would suggest leaving it off. Catch the con- sumer's eye with the other design ele- ments and get them to visit the website or call the company as they'll probably need additional directions anyway. If the address is on a major road then consider adding another common cross street to make a clear picture in the consumer's head about the location. For example "At Kansas and 8th Streets" would be a simple way to direct custom- ers to our shop location. Both streets are well known and by saying we're on Kansas at 8th, our audience would figure out which end of Kansas we are on. Extras So now that you've included the who, what and where of your design, you need to assess if any additional information will add or detract from the effectiveness of the design. If your coverage is a partial wrap then there may not be enough space within your square footage for additional information. If it's a full wrap or a partial wrap with more coverage then you may be able to add in these extras without crowding out the most important elements of the design. Some of these "extras" might be a bullet list of services, social media logos, the logos of products the company sells or additional information like "24 Hour Service" or "Free Estimates." It's important to note that branding is a process of building a positive image and experience for the consumer.