02 Apr Modern Storefront Signage
If you want to refresh your storefront with a new look, your signs are a great place to start. Designing new signs in a modern style is a great way to attract customers and keep your business relevant in the 21st century. Here’s how to choose the right materials and design elements for modern storefront signage.
How to Choose the Right Type of Sign
When you’re updating signage, you don’t always have to stick with the same types of signs you had before. Modern types of outdoor signs include: metal and aluminum wall signs, free-standing signs, vehicle graphics, flags, vinyl banners, A-frame sidewalk signs, window graphics, and light post wraps.
The type of sign you choose should be based on your brand identity as well as your location. For example, projecting signs that extend above the street work perfectly for downtown storefronts, strip malls, or any part of the city with a lot of pedestrians, like Mill Avenue or College Avenue.
How to Design a Modern Storefront Sign
What makes a sign look modern? How can you lean into a modern appeal, yet retain a quality look that lasts for decades? Here’s how to use different design elements to achieve a modern yet timeless effect.
Color Combinations
Color psychology plays a big part in customer’s perceptions, behaviors, and decisions. If you use a trending color palette in your signs it will subconsciously read to your audience as being modern and up-to-date. Warm, earthy, muted shades are popular for 2025 – like clay, cream, mustard, and deep rust red.
But it’s not only about choosing the right colors—it’s also about finding the right combinations, balance, and tone. Cohesive themes read as upscale and refined. For example, a logo of bright green surrounded by a pale blue can read as structured yet exciting. If you’re renting water sports equipment and need a new sign to grab attention, a paddleboard on the sign in bright green and water lines running across the bottom will convey the pleasure and serenity of paddling on Tempe Town Lake.
Modern Effects
Many other design elements can play a part in how your signage reads to the public. Asymmetry, for example, has a playful appeal that conveys spontaneity and excitement. And selecting a modern font will automatically make your signs feel more current.
Here are some other design trends in modern storefront signage:
- High contrast
- Fewer words or no text at all
- Monochromatic color combinations
- Geometric shapes
- Asymmetrical balance
- Simplistic typography
Materials
If your brand has an industrial vibe, a minimalistic style, or contemporary feel, a metal sign can be a good option. They can feature sharp lines, clean edges, and come in matte, gloss, or brushed finishes. They’re sturdy, reliable, and low maintenance. They have a long life, too, and are resistant to UV rays, making sure they stay looking fresh even in the desert sun.
Acrylic is another extremely durable and attractive option. It can be customized into virtually any shape to provide a sophisticated, modern look for your storefront.
Textures
Texture adds depth as well as visual interest. For example, soft textures like wood or plastic convey warmth and comfort. If your business provides water sports equipment for rent, your storefront sign could be designed to look like a paddleboard gliding across lines of water. This lets shoppers on the sidewalk know immediately what your business is about—even from a distance.
Storefront Sign Printer in Tempe
The print specialists at Mousegraphics in Tempe have been crafting high-quality storefront signs for over 30 years. Our ICC color-managed workflow uses custom output profiles to match your colors perfectly, whether they’re printed on acrylic, metal, vinyl, fabric, or any other type of substrate.
If you have design questions and would like to chat with us, give us a call at 480-470-7438 to see how we can help!
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (03.04.2025). Photo by Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash. Edits made: photo cropped on right side and bottom.