Tips for Creating Content for Outdoor Digital Signage

Outdoor digital signage differs to indoor out of home applications. Not only are the challenges of the weather, temperature and vandalism need to be countered but also content for digital outdoor signage differs to the conventional content seen on indoor systems.

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, outdoor digital signage is viewed differently to indoor screen. People may be passing by in a vehicle or walking briskly by and so only have a split second to receive the message, information or advertisement.

Secondly, the ambient light is different when viewing outdoor digital signage. Content is viewed at night-time, twilight, and during the day. Because of this, content that looks and works well indoors may not be as effective in daylight or when viewed at night.

Here are some tips to help prepare content for outdoor digital signage:

Don’t jumble the sign with too much information. Establish what the key points and design elements are. Whatever the message that is being promoted you should ensure it can be communicated even with just a brief glance.

Content for outdoor digital signage differs.

Use moving images and graphics sparingly. It’s not a television and people won’t view it as such. Moving images and transitions should draw the eye to a focal point which should be the key message you are trying to promote rather than have too much movement.

Fonts should be used sparingly as well. Try not to use too many, no more than one or two and if don’t mix sans and serif fonts in copy. If you are using multiple fonts – use one for a headline and the other for copy. Never use all caps either. People need to see the shape of a word to read it, especially at a glance so use upper and lower case lettering.

The same can be said for colours; use them sparingly too. Use Brand colours and only colours that work together. Green on blue is not readable, whilst yellow on black is greatly visible, but ugly to look at.

Finally, the secretly to creating good content is testing. Get people to look at the content, take surveys and listen to what people tell you – if something doesn’t work then change it.