Are you having trouble deciding on a color scheme for your retail signage? The right choice of colors can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of your signage, with an excellent color scheme often resulting in a measurable increase in sales.

A dull or uninteresting color scheme, on the other hand, can make even the finest of headlines or selling points go ignored or completely unnoticed by the vast majority of your target audience.

Color is one of the most important elements of design. When you’re designing a sign to attract attention and encourage people to come into your retail store, it’s vital to choose colors that create the right type of response.

From high-contrast classics like white and black to more elegant color schemes, in this guide, we’ll discuss three of the most effective color combinations that you can use in your retail signage.

Blue and white

Blue and white are two of the most versatile colors – or, in the case of white, shades – available to designers. Both light and dark blue look fantastic alongside white in a range of settings, from brochures and business cards to retail signage.

Using blue and white in your signage is a great way to attract attention and create a powerful visual contrast without using a high-contrast combination that’s as intense and powerful as white and black.

Blue text on a white background is highly readable, all the while without being too boring or plain. White text on a blue background stands out from its surroundings, setting your business’s signage apart from its competitors.

As well as being a high-contrast color combination, blue and white look fantastic in an incredible range of settings, making the two colors a versatile choice for business branding as well as direct marketing.

White and black

When it comes to getting noticed, the key to success is often contrast. Whether they are used in a retail sign or a brochure, white and black are a powerful combination of shades that can have a powerful impact on prospective customers.

Thanks to the incredible amount of contrast between white and black, signs that use these two shades stand out. Even from a distance, black text on a white background, or white text on a black background, is easy to read and extremely distinctive.

Many web designers also argue that black-on-white text is easier to read on an LCD monitor, although opinions differ. Despite this, it’s undeniable that light-on-dark is an extremely powerful color scheme that commands attention.

While the white and black color scheme is far from subtle and largely unsuitable for many businesses, it’s a powerful combination that can be highly effective for a direct marketing campaign or retail sign that just needs to be noticed.

Yellow and red

An international favorite of fast food chains, yellow and red are a powerful choice of colors that have several advantages. Yellow and red are both warm colors, as well as highly visible colors that can easily be spotted from a distance.

Have you ever noticed that red and yellow are both used extensively by fast food chains? The reason for this is simple: red and yellow are so powerful that they’re easy to spot from roadways and side streets.

They’re also welcoming colors that inspire action. Red is viewed by psychologists as a color that can stimulate the appetite. Likewise, yellow is associated with warmth, happiness and energy, making it an excellent choice for encouraging rapid action.

Although yellow and red may not have the incredible contrast or black and white or blue and white, this color combination’s psychological effect makes it an excellent choice for brands that want to stand out and create a positive impression.