The design of signs and other visual displays allows organizations to deliver messages more complex than words themselves. You can take the same text, put it on signs with different design schemes, and produce completely different feelings in customers. It's important to be sure your interior graphics are giving the message you want.

What Do Colors Say?

Colors attach powerful emotions to your interior graphics. Reds project feelings of energy while blues are more calming. Dark colors can be unwelcoming while bright colors attract attention. The saturation of a color has a direct correlation to the strength of its effect on people. While the psychology of colors is not an exact science, it is a technique used extensively by marketing professionals.

One of the most common examples comes from the fast food industry. Most fast food interior graphics use shades of red and orange. Why? Because studies have shown these colors both increase appetite and make people fidgety and want to leave. This embodies the fast food industry - eat and run. These color schemes have contributed to greater food sales and to faster customer turnover.

Setting the Mood

What message are you trying to send to your customers with your interior graphics? You can't choose an effective decor until you pin down what mood you are trying to create.

In the fast food example, restaurants of this kind don't want to be too welcoming. They want a steady stream of customers moving in and out of the establishment. However a health spa would prefer creating a more relaxed atmosphere. They would use a cooler palette to have a calming effect on people. A dentist's office might use the same tactic to reduce anxiety in nervous patients.

Color isn't the only tool to create mood. What images appear in interior graphics are powerful influencing forces as well. Stylistic choices can strongly influence the type of customer who frequents the establishment.

Design to Your Demographic

Business owners should consider the type of clientele they want to attract as well as the population mix of the area when planning interior graphics. Consider the decor options for a small coffee shop. A business located in a downtown area would use a traditional decor aimed at young professionals on the job. A coffee shop located in an area of the city with an older, retired population might choose displays more reminiscent of a 1950s restaurant.

The wrong design choices can reduce customer flow. Hip modern design in an area with older customers is likely to fail as locals head to businesses with more familiar decors. Similarly, a design which works with older people could be seen as stodgy and old fashioned to younger clients.

Age, income, profession and more can influence what kind of graphics makes a given customer feel comfortable. All of these should be considered when designing interior graphics.