Bumper stickers are an amazing way to raise awareness about your organization or charity, but the sticker can only do its job if the general public can view it easily. The most beautiful fonts and colors aren't necessarily easy to read, especially when they're being displayed on a moving vehicle. Design a legible and attractive bumper sticker by sticking to these four tips.
Maximize Color Contrast
Start by choosing a color palette for the design that is based on contrast rather than complementary shades. For maximum visibility, black on yellow is the optimal combination, but black on white, blue on white, and yellow on black also work well. It's better to choose legibility over artistic choice when setting colors for your sticker design since bumper stickers are primarily viewed at a distance or while moving.
Limit Graphics
Don't let your desire to show off a logo or photo make your bumper sticker harder to read. Simplify any graphics added to the sticker, preferably to just one or two colors and bold edges. Complex designs will distract from the slogan, name, or message on the sticker, so limit them to just a small portion of the design on one side or other so the text remains the focus. Of course, this tip can be ignored if the entire sticker is a work of art rather than a design meant to be read.
Test Fonts
Try printing out your favorite font choices on a sheet of paper and viewing them from 10, 20, and 50 feet. You'd be surprised at what is legible at 10 feet but impossible to recognize at a longer distance. In general, fonts with straight lines, bold strokes, and few ornamentations are the easiest to read. Don't forget that even the most legible fonts must be relatively large to read while moving, so don't plan to stuff an entire paragraph of text onto a standard sized sticker.
Remember Margins
Finally, request a template from the sticker printing company before working on your design. Unless you're paying for full bleed printing, every printer will have a different margin that is trimmed off after printing for an edgeless look. Allowing some of your artwork or text to stretch into those margin areas results in a clipped design that doesn't look like you planned. You may need to add a little extra edge of background color to compensate for the margin while keeping your design intact.
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