How to choose the right blade sign for your shopfront
A blade sign is a wall-mounted sign that projects perpendicular from a building facade, making it readable from both directions along a street. Also called a projecting sign or flange sign, it’s one of the most effective shopfront sign formats for businesses on busy strips — and once you’ve decided you want one, there are a few decisions to work through. Here’s how.
Round or square?
This comes down to your logo and your brand identity more than anything else.
Round blade signs suit businesses with circular logos, organic forms, or softer brand aesthetics. A round projecting sign on a terracotta brick wall outside a café reads differently from a square one — it’s a little warmer, a little less corporate. If your logo sits comfortably inside a circle, a round blade sign [LINK → /collections/blade-signs] is a natural fit.
Square blade signs suit grid-based logos, strong typographic marks, and businesses with a more architectural or geometric identity. The square format gives text-heavy logos more usable face area than a circle of the same diameter, and the crisp 90-degree corners read as deliberate and considered on the right shopfront.
When in doubt, mock up your logo on both formats before deciding. Most businesses that go round go round for a reason — and most that go square do the same.
What size do you need?
For a street-facing shopfront sign that needs to read from a distance, 500mm is the right size. Flossy (round) and Theodore (square) are both 500mm and are sized to be visible at street level from ten to fifteen metres in either direction without being oversized for a standard shopfront.
The 200mm format — Mini Flossy and Mini Theodore — is for a different job entirely. Interior walls, counter spaces, studio doors, suite identification, secondary signage alongside a larger piece. At 200mm a blade sign reads as an interior detail rather than a shopfront sign. Both have their place, and some businesses run one of each.
Black or white?
Black powdercoat reads bolder and is more legible against a light-coloured facade. White powdercoat is cleaner and suits darker walls or interiors where a black sign would disappear. The vinyl graphics go the other way — white vinyl on a black sign, black vinyl on a white sign — so the contrast is always there regardless of which you choose.
If you’re unsure, look at your facade. A white rendered shopfront usually suits a black sign. A dark brick or painted facade usually suits white. When both could work, go with whichever matches your interior fit-out.
Blank or branded?
You can order any Signee® blade sign blank and apply your own graphics, or add your logo at checkout and we’ll cut and apply it in vinyl before it ships. Blank is the right call if you already have a vinyl supplier or signwriter you work with. Branded is the right call if you want the sign to arrive ready to go up.
Either way, the sign arrives with the wall bracket. Installation takes about twenty minutes with a drill and the right fixings for your wall surface.