You’ve invested in digital signage. Now, it’s time for the digital screens to drive traffic to your brick-and-mortar store and boost your in-store sales.

However, for the technology to give you these outcomes, your screens have to be eye-catching enough to grab the attention of your target audience. This is where digital signage design comes in.

To create eye-catching displays, you need to pay attention to digital signage design, from the background and layout to colour schemes and fonts.

This article explores the best practices for creating eye-catching digital signage designs.

15 best practices for designing eye-catching digital signage content are:

1. Use interesting colour schemes

Colours make people pay attention. So, one way to design digital signage displays that catch the eye is to use attention-grabbing colours. 

Know that colour is not a tiny detail. Not only does colour grab attention, but it also affects our mood. 

For example, bright colours (like red and yellow) stimulate energy and happiness, while subdued colours (like blue and green) create feelings of comfort.

Bright, warm colours are some of the best for digital signage displays. But you need to choose a colour scheme that aligns with your branding and evokes the desired emotions in your target audience. 

Know that using too many colours in one space can be overwhelming for viewers. Thus, it’s important to follow the 60-30-10 rule when using colours in digital signage designs.

The simple rule states that 60% of the colour palette should be base (neutral colour), 30% should be secondary colour (in between neutral and bright), and 10% should be bright accent colour.

This lets the accent colour pop out of the design. And when used for important details like Call-To-Action (CTAs), it makes them easily identifiable.

2. Ensure proper contrast 

Contrast is the difference in brightness between the light and dark areas of an image or between the text and the background. Proper contrast is essential when designing digital signage displays because it affects the visibility and readability of the message, which then affects the overall effectiveness of the digital signs.

Imagine having a white-coloured text on a whitish background! Your audience will struggle to read the text. And if they can’t grasp the meaning of your content because it isn’t visible enough, don’t expect them to follow through on it.

Thus, when selecting a colour palette for your design, be sure to use contrasting colours so your digital signage content is legible even in bright environments. 

Use dark colours on a light background, and vice versa. Use dark-coloured text on a light background, and vice versa. 

3. Opt for easy-to-read fonts

A simple digital signage strategy for designing eye-catching displays is using easy-to-read fonts. Your text should be legible from the distance your audience would view it from. Thus, you should pay attention to the font and font size when designing your digital signage content.

True, you should get creative with your digital signage designs. However, avoid getting overcreative with the fonts. A strange font may reduce readability. 

So, go with a clear and easy-to-read font (sans-serifs is one of the most commonly used fonts in digital signage content). Also, avoid using too many fonts, as that may clutter your digital signage display. Instead, stick to one or two fonts.

Ensure the text is large enough to be seen clearly from where the viewer will be.

Another trick to making your content eye-catching is letting your main message appear in the largest font size or bolded text. This highlights the main message and makes it stand out.

4. Utilise a visually pleasing layout

The layout is how the different elements of your digital signage content are arranged. When designing digital signage content, you partition the screen into different zones and dedicate each one to show a specific design element. 

For example, one part can play a media file, while the part below it shows text.

Digital signage best practices include using visually appealing layouts. This is because the layout influences how effectively information is conveyed and how engaging the content appears to the audience.

Place images, text, and other elements thoughtfully. This enhances the visual impact of your content, making it more appealing and memorable. 

Also, arrange elements in a way that guides viewers’ attention to the most important information, ensuring a clear flow of information. 

5. Make content accessible

The more people that get to see and interact with your digital displays, the greater the impact they’re likely to have. Thus, another important strategy for creating effective digital signage content designs is ensuring all individuals, including those with disabilities, can perceive, understand, and interact with the information presented.

Popular ways to make content accessible to people with disabilities include:

• Implementing text-to-speech capability to assist people with visual impairments who cannot consume textual content. If your digital signage software does not have built-in TTS support, you may integrate an external TTS API into your system to generate audio from the provided text. You can then embed the audio file into your digital signage content for playback.

• Providing closed captions for videos to make such content accessible to individuals with hearing impairments.

6. Use high-quality images

One way to make digital signage displays eye-catching is to use high-resolution images. It’s true when they say, “A picture speaks a thousand words.”  

But images are not made equal. High-quality images are visually appealing and capture people’s attention more effectively than low-resolution or pixelated images.

High-quality images also give your digital displays a professional look. And this can positively impact how your brand is perceived by your audience.

7. Incorporate motion

One huge advantage digital signage has over traditional static signs is the ability to show moving pictures or videos.

Our eyes are naturally attracted to movement. It’s why social videos generate 1,200% more shares than images and text combined. 

Motion has the potential to capture attention and create a more engaging and memorable viewer experience. So, to create eye-catching designs that capture your audience’s attention, incorporate motion.

That said, use interesting animation and video content to attract viewers’ attention to your digital signage screens and encourage them to focus on the message. 

8. Integrate dynamic content

Dynamic content is any digital content that changes over time based on user behaviour, preference, or other factors. The dynamic nature of this content opens up a range of opportunities for creating more attention-grabbing and engaging digital signs.

Remember that humans are drawn to motion. Dynamic content leverages this. As the content changes, viewers’ eyes are drawn to it quickly. 

Also, the constantly changing content can make information seem interactive, making viewers focus more on the content.

Therefore, one of the best digital signage best practices for designing eye-catching content is incorporating dynamic content. 

A popular application of dynamic content in digital signage is using digital screens to show real-time updates, like news, weather updates, etc.

Also read: Top 15 Tips for Engaging Customers Through Interactive Signage.

9. Consider screen sizing

Digital signage screens come in different sizes. However, the different screens affect how content is displayed. For example, while small screens have a lower pixel ratio, larger screens require a higher pixel ratio to ensure image clarity and detail.

That said, understanding screen sizing helps you create digital signage content design that maintains clarity and optimises the viewing experience. 

Design content with the right aspect ratio. Scale visual elements appropriately so they are easily readable from the intended viewing distance. Ensure that content is right for each digital screen so that important details are not cropped out.

You may also like: The Benefits of Using Smart TVs for Digital Signage.

10. Keep the message clear and concise

Something to keep in mind when creating content for digital signage is “less is more.” To make your message easy to grasp and understand, keep it short and simple. 

Do not include unnecessary details. Instead, include only essential design elements and text needed to convey the message.

If you’re worried about creating a digital signage design with too much text, the 3x5 rule can help you. The rule says an optimal design should have: three lines of text with five words per line or five lines of text with three words per line. 

Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule. But following it can help keep your design from being cluttered with too much text. 

The important thing is to keep things concise so you can communicate your message in a clear way.

11. Use an attention-grabbing headline

What’s the first thing you see when you look at a sign? Probably its headline. The headline is usually the first point of contact as it immediately captures attention and directs viewers’ focus to the core message. 

Some ways to make your headlines attention-grabbing include using bold fonts, contrasting colours, and strategic placement. So, the design and presentation of headlines contribute to the visual appeal of the whole digital signage content.

12. Add a call to action

A Call-to-Action (CTA) is a prompt designed to make the target audience take a desired action. The message may prompt viewers to “Visit the store,” “Buy Now,” etc.

CTAs are crucial elements for using digital signage to boost sales. This is because, without prompting your audience to take action, they may be unsure about what action to take. And they may end up not taking any action.

To make viewers take notice of your CTAs, a best practice is to make the CTAs stand out. You can do this by using larger fonts, bolded text, more vivid colours, or adding motion to the CTA element.

13. Consider signage location and viewing patterns

Remember that viewers will spend only a limited amount of time in each location. Moving audiences in high-traffic locations may have only about 5 seconds to notice and engage your signs. But captive audiences in locations like waiting rooms can have several minutes to engage with the content.

Thus, another way to make digital signage content design eye-catching is to tailor it to how long viewers will stay in each location.

When designing for high-traffic locations, consider static digital signs and short 3-5 seconds content. 

Keep the content straight to the point. Use exciting visuals and large fonts against a simple background, and make CTAs bold and prominent.

When designing digital signage content for locations with high dwell time, consider longer messages that inform and engage. Use unique visuals, offer helpful information, and keep content engaging using interactive elements.

You’ll also want to put the message on a loop to repeat it several times, giving your viewers more opportunity to see and engage with it. However, it’s important to keep content fresh so viewers do not lose interest in it.

14. Preview your digital signage designs

Your design may look good on the content management system (CMS) of your digital signage software where you created it. But how will it look when it is running live on your screens, especially from the distance your audience will be viewing it from?

The best way to find out is to preview it on the screen before you deploy it fully. Act as though you were a customer. Take a few steps back and view the digital signage from the distance your audience will be. 

Check whether you can see the sign clearly. You may consider asking some people what they think about the overall quality of the new design. 

15. Analyse and refine

At the end of the day, the true test of whether or not your digital signage content design is eye-catching is how many people engage with it.  

Run your digital signage campaign for a while. Use analytics and reporting tools to collect and analyse engagement data. Then, use insight from the analysis to optimise your designs.

For example, you can identify content that attracts more attention and then prioritise similar content. 

You may also identify where on the screen viewers focus their attention the most to help you optimise the placement of key messages. 

You may also like: 9 Ways Digital Signage Analytics Can Reveal Key Insights into Customer Behaviours.

Takeaway: Create eye-catching digital signage content designs with Luna Screens

Digital signage can boost your business, but only if you can create eye-catching designs that can capture your target audience’s attention and make them engage with your content.

The 15 tips mentioned above can help you create eye-catching digital signage designs. However, success also depends on the digital signage software you use. 

This is where Luna Screens comes in! Luna Screens is a cloud-based digital signage system that allows you to transform any screen into a digital sign easily. 

It provides an easy-to-use interface, allowing even people with zero technical skills to create eye-catching signs.

Besides being easy to use, Luna Screens checks all the right boxes. It has almost zero downtime. It is scalable and will grow with your business. 

It offers remote monitoring, allowing you to control your digital signage network from a central location.

Ready to use eye-catching digital signage content to attract customers and boost conversions? Get Started with Luna Screens today!