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backlit Houston channel letter signs saying "restaurant"
Help attract customers to your restaurant with well-designed Houston channel letter signs!

Houston channel letter signs are economical, effective, and versatile. Channel letters are great for many different uses in restaurants, whether for indoor or outdoor signage. If your restaurant is looking to upgrade your advertising strategy and help draw customers in, then new signage may be just the trick. 

As you know, H-Town offers a lot of competition for restaurants, from fine-dining spots to holes in the wall and drive-thrus for busy, on-the-go diners. You’re in constant competition against these other restaurants, and you need to do everything you can to set yourself apart. Well-designed signage is one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising. Signs are both affordable and highly effective. In this article, let’s talk about how channel letters can help your restaurant thrive.

Using Houston Channel Letter Signs for Your Restaurant

There are so many benefits channel letters can offer, which is why they are so popular!

Houston channel letter signs offer:

  • High ROI
  • Versatility
  • Low maintenance
  • Low operation costs
  • Enhanced readability
  • Durability

Channel letters are great for both Houston outdoor signs and interior signage. They’re made of long-lasting aluminum and acrylic to provide strong, sturdy signs that will stand up to the test of time. 

In restaurants, channel letter signs can serve many different functions, including as storefront signs, drive-thru signs, and interior branding signs. 

Storefront Signage

Practically every establishment should have a storefront sign. However, restaurants in particular need good, high quality on-premises signage. You likely rely on people visiting your physical location. So, having signs that help attract attention to your location and provide a value proposition to your customers is essential for the restaurant business. 

Storefront signs are some of the most important for attracting new customers. This isn’t just where you put the name of your restaurant and your logo. It’s the most important advertising real estate you possess. 

Houston channel letter signs are a good option for storefront signage, as they offer practically unlimited design options. That means plenty of room to help make people’s stomachs growl and help entice them inside for a quick bite. 

Drive-Thru Signage

Drive-thrus are a go-to for busy professionals, travelers, and families on a time-crunch. However, without proper signage, traffic has no idea where to go. Many drive-thru restaurants also use channel letters to help direct traffic. You might use signage that says “order here,” to help people quickly and effectively follow the correct path. Channel letters are great because they’re easy to see and read. They also typically include illumination, so you can keep traffic moving effectively even in the dark. 

Interior Houston Channel Letter Signs

Channel letters are also great to use as interior signs for your restaurant. You see, advertising doesn’t stop once someone enters your restaurant! A few well-placed signs can go a long way in inspiring loyalty to your restaurant and reinforcing their decision to dine with you. As everyone knows, repeat customers are your bread and butter, so you want to do everything you can to help get people to come back and even bring their friends.

Not only do you want to effectively brand your restaurant with interior signs, a nice “thank you” sign near the exit can be a great touch for many restaurants. It lets people know you appreciate their business. Now, many restaurants do use thank-you signs, but rarely do they use channel letters. Since channel letters are three-dimensional, they’re hard to miss, which can help set you apart from your competition. 

Designing Effective Restaurant Houston Channel Letter Signs

Since signage is so important for your restaurant, you want to make sure the design will be effective at drawing in hungry customers. Now, the words you choose to put on your sign are obviously important, as you likely know. However, did you know that most people only look at signs for an average of six seconds? That means they don’t have time to read a bunch of text about why your food is the best. Instead, you’ll need to convey this in other ways. 

For example, rather than installing a sign that says “Fresh-Made Hot Pizza by the Slice,” consider using a graphic of a slice of pizza with steam coming off it. This helps show what you want to say in a way that is quick and easy for people to process, even if they’re driving at 60 miles per hour down the road. 

As you design your signage, there are many different things to think about. That’s why it’s important to talk to signage experts. However, for every sign, you’ll need to consider colors, negative space, and placement. 

Colors

One of the first things that probably comes to mind when thinking about designing your restaurant signs is color. Color is one of the main design elements that can help attract the eye and convey your message.

Contrast is incredibly important for a couple of reasons. First, contrast can help make the text on your signs legible. Also, our eyes are incredibly sensitive to contrast, so it can draw more attention to your signs. Now, this doesn’t mean all your signs need to be black on white, that might not fit your brand, but it is important to consider how colors will go together in your sign. With channel letters, think about the color of your building’s façade and how the color of the letter faces will look against that color. Of course, it’s still important to maintain brand consistency, so if your colors aren’t contrasting, you can add a contrasting border around the letters to help improve visibility and readability. 

Also, you’ll want to consider how sign color will communicate your message. If you have an upscale restaurant, you might opt for more muted colors, while family restaurants might use brighter colors in their signs. Really sit down and think about the color that best represents your brand and the experience you want people to have at your restaurant. You might even consider using the same colors as your food, like marinara red for your Italian restaurant, or a nice romaine lettuce green for your vegan restaurant. As a small tip, blue may act as an appetite suppressant, so use caution with this color in your restaurant signs. 

Negative Space

In addition, you want to make sure you have plenty of negative space. Now, you might feel like you need to get the most bang for your buck by adding as much as possible in the space of your sign. However, this actually will probably make your signs less effective and negatively affect your bottom line. You see, negative space is incredibly important for legibility. Too much text or too many graphics crammed in one space make it hard to read, as well as just unattractive to look at. This is where many restaurants go wrong with their signage – busy signs confuse people and drive them away. Instead, most experts recommend having about 60% of negative space compared to text, graphics, and other design elements. 

Placement

Of course, where you put the sign is also important. Choosing the wrong spot can completely undermine your other efforts, leaving few people who actually see your Houston channel letter signs. Consider where the traffic is, whether from cars or from foot traffic. This can help you determine where to place your restaurant signage

For outdoor signs, you’ll probably want to place signs that people can see travelling in either direction, unless, of course, you’re located on a one-way street. So, consider adding signs to more than just one side of your building. In many cases, it can pay off big time to place a sign on the front and sides of your building for maximum visibility. Also, don’t forget to consider obstructions like trees and road signs that might block your restaurant signs from view. You may need to adjust to ensure people really can see your signs. 

4D Signworx is Your One-Stop for All Your Signage Needs

Whether you’re looking for storefront signs, banners, Houston marquee signage, or wall graphics, our team at 4D Signworx is here to help. We offer full-service solutions for all your signage needs. Our team helps with sign design, manufacturing, and installation to provide you with the comprehensive services you need. Call us now at (713) 984-2010 to learn more and get a free quote!