Book Review: A Tech Guide for Signage

The author Mike Burke sent me the e-book version of his latest book A Tech Guide for Signage for this review. It looks useful so I'm going to share it here.

I wondered why he used the word "tech" instead of "technical". Anyway, this is a technical guide, a graphic design approach to making those signages to display company logos in a way that they look good.

This is a detailed guide that covers the design principles, for the 2D and also the 3D. It also talks about specific aspect that you have to note, such as lighting you might want to use if you want the sign to be seen at night, background colours to go with your design, materials to use, and even information on electrical considerations.

Designing logos for print on paper and for outdoor display is different. And this book covers the best practices you can use as well as pitfalls to avoid. How big should the logo be, kerning for the type, where is the signage going to be fixed, indoors, outdoors, who's going to look at them, the materials to use and how they will look in real life, etc.

The book covers the topic exhaustively and there are so many things that I don't even know you should consider. There are also examples from real life signages used to illustrated the design principles behind.

It's a great book for graphic designs who need to design signages or even logos. Logo designers do have to note that their logos should be usable when blown up to large sizes and used outdoors.

This book is currently in e-book format and you can get it at https://www.signdesignbooks.com

A physical copy should be available in a few months time.