When Pulling Paint completed the signage for Eccentric Optical in Pasadena, the challenge was clear: the optician sits on a busy street, competing for attention with other storefronts. Drivers have maybe five seconds—if that—before they've passed. The sign needed to work instantly or not at all.
It's a concern most business owners share, whether they realize it or not. Your storefront signage isn't just identification. It's a split-second pitch. Research shows it takes as little as a tenth of a second to form an impression, and you have roughly 7 seconds to make a first impression before someone's already decided how they feel about your business.
Here's what your sign needs to get right.
1. Be Readable From a Distance
83.2% of consumers say clear and readable text is essential for signage. Yet walk down any commercial street and you'll see fonts too decorative to read, colors that blend into buildings, and important info buried under flourishes.
For the Santa Monica Brew Works taproom, legibility was key.
The rule: If you can't read it while walking at a normal pace near or far, it's not working.
2. Communicate Quality
79% of consumers believe a business's signage reflects the quality of its products or services. And 66% admit to forming a negative opinion of a business because of its signage.
The Flamingo logo needed to reflect craft and care before customers even walked through the door. That meant hand painted lettering, not vinyl.
3. Keep It Stupid Simple
Most business owners cram everything onto their custom signage—phone numbers, websites, taglines, hours, services. Nobody on a sidewalk is reading all that.
The signs that work are almost stupidly simple: A name. Maybe a visual. One word that tells people what you are.
The signage for Flowin Cafe followed this principle. Clean, clear, memorable. The details come after someone steps inside.
4. Outperform Your Social Media
Your Instagram post reaches followers for seconds. Your professional business signs reach every person who passes your location, every day, for years.
The Giving Keys wall and the Parks Project mural in aren't decorations—they're visibility investments that outlast any social campaign.
5. Drive People Through the Door
Over 76% of consumers have walked into an unfamiliar business solely because its signage caught their eye. Quality storefront signage can increase foot traffic by around 17%.
The Kerymen retail center mural in Hawthorne transformed a previously overlooked area into a destination. That's what effective signage does—it attracts people who weren't already planning to visit.
The Point
Five seconds isn't much. But it's enough—if your sign is communicating readability, quality, and simplicity.
From Rivian's service centers to small cafes like Flowin in Melrose, from the LA CADA LGBTQ+ Community Center in Whittier to the Dr. Dre mural at Compton High School—the principle holds.
Looking for signage that works? Pulling Paint specializes in hand painted signs and custom business signage throughout Southern California. View our portfolio or get in touch.
