little league pee wee banner

[WCSign]

This is the first one we have done for a little league team. the client was a friend of a friend, last minute deal...

They asked for all players names, the team name. We asked them the colors and then we went at it.

We wanted to create a clean, classy image and make our work stand out over any other banners on the field. Hopefully it will lead to more referrals. I was reading a post by SignManiac (I Think?) on here and he was showing how he had redesigned banners for a little league field, I agree with him. Once you have the info and the color scheme, why not take 15 minutes to come up with something "outside the box" for the clients and keep it affordable

obviously all the baseball images are the same image, but you can tell I got a little OCD and rotated them differently... To me, thats the type of stuff that noone may ever notice, but it satisfies my inner artist. the folks who do notice it will definately appreciate.

 

[SignManiac]

In a nutshell, contrast and legibility are you best friends when doing little league banners 300' back from the seats. Gotta use your best judgement when editing a clients requests, and show them by example if you have to that what they think they want, may not be the best thing for them... Takes a firm, confident, authoritative, tactful approach to make your case...

 

[WCSign]

I agree.. its about branding.. brand recognition and associating that "NAME BRAND" as a cool company who sponsors your and your childs chosen hobby.

noone is in the stands writing down the phone number of a company on the outfield fence that they see every saturday

 

[WCSign]

thanks Fred! :Oops:

 

[Gino]

I think you missed his point.

The players’ names are barely 3" tall. Probably no one without binoculars will be able to read them. Then the name itself against the background is about 4 to a 7 on a scale of 0 to10. Again, it will be hard to read that if this sign goes in dead center field.

What looks good on the screen isn’t necessarily gonna be legible from 300’. Anyone doing Lil’League, pretty much knows copy has to be at least 6” or 7” tall and not script to have a chance of being noticed, let alone read or it’s useless garbage.

Just look at your thumbnail…. you’ll get the idea. We do quite a bit a Minor League and those homerun walls are 450’ and the backboards are almost 500’, so our sizes are bigger yet. Of course, the smallest sign is 8’ x 16’, but size, contrast and layout are very critical and you can’t just go artsy-fartsy or you won’t be doing them for anyone else.

 

[parrott]

I think you missed his point.

The players’ names are barely 3" tall. Probably no one without binoculars will be able to read them. Then the name itself against the background is about 4 to a 7 on a scale of 0 to10. Again, it will be hard to read that if this sign goes in dead center field.

What looks good on the screen isn’t necessarily gonna be legible from 300’. Anyone doing Lil’League, pretty much knows copy has to be at least 6” or 7” tall and not script to have a chance of being noticed, let alone read or it’s useless garbage.

Just look at your thumbnail…. you’ll get the idea. We do quite a bit a Minor League and those homerun walls are 450’ and the backboards are almost 500’, so our sizes are bigger yet. Of course, the smallest sign is 8’ x 16’, but size, contrast and layout are very critical and you can’t just go artsy-fartsy or you won’t be doing them for anyone else.

Gino is correct. Here is a photo of the banners we have done at local minor league stadium. They are all 8'x16'.

 

[OldPaint]

gino is totally correct. AND DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE OUTFIELD SIGN... that you have to work with, will determine what info needs to be on sign. yours is nice up to 50 feet.........after that only thing might be read is the name in the middle. all the graphics and player names will only be smudges. i do signs for one here and their size is 32" X 48". so to read that at 300 feet all has to be BOLD, and only what is needed. for mine graphics dont do well.

 

[SignManiac]

Here's a simple way to display the team name and yet appease the coaches requests to incorporate the kids names. I can tell you that nobody would be able to read the kids names at that distance, but at least they would be able to make out the name of the team on an outfield fence.

It's a compromise to keep everyone happy.

 

[Jillbeans]

While I admire your effort, most of the message is completely lost due to lack of contrast.
I would have done the player names in a sans serif font too, not a script, and made them fit onto the baseballs (or softballs)
When legibility is a concern, always opt for clean and simple.
Love....Jill

 

[Pat Whatley]

I don't think this is meant to be seen from 300' away. Around here teams attach banners like that to the back of the dugouts, parents are more like 30' away. Still could have used more contrast but legibility is fine.

 

[signcrafters london]

I doubt the banner is to be viewed from 300' away. My guess is this banner is put on the dugout or on another fence for up-close viewing. Having said that, the kids' names do need more contrast.

 

[Marlene]

While I admire your effort, most of the message is completely lost due to lack of contrast

agree about the contrast. I do love that you put in so much effort to give them a nice banner. it is pee-wee baseball so I think it will be OK if no one but the players can actually see this as it will most likely be the first time these little guys see their names in print which is what this is all about. I am willing to bet this will be a much loved banner amoung the Tigers. next time, just watch the contrasts.

 

[tsgstl]

I doubt the banner is to be viewed from 300' away. My guess is this banner is put on the dugout or on another fence for up-close viewing. Having said that, the kids' names do need more contrast.

Exactly

These lil pee wees will be jazzed when they see this and that's all that matters.
Most of the time these are "time wasters" but sometimes that's just not important.

 

[SignManiac]

I guess the first thing to do would be to ask where the banner is going to be hung. I know jack about baseball and only heard of pee wee leagues for the first time two weeks ago from one of my employees. I just assumed it was a team sponsored by pee wee herman.

 

[Jillbeans]

^I thought that too Bob. I love PeeWee.

 

[SignsonTime]

Parrot how did you attach those to the outfield wall? Thanks

 

[OldPaint]

if you take ride over to the baseball field.............and see where they want to hang them...........THEN..YOU WILL UNDERSTAND how well it will read. its all in your own perspective of the use of the sign. and for being placed on the dugout, yea they put a couple on there........BUT THE MAJORITY OF SPONSORS get put on the outfield fence. the people i work with, will tell me when its a DUGOUT SIGN... these get more donated funds then the outfield signs. AND .......there is only 2 dugouts per field, and depending on sign size, you dont put many on there.

 

[tsgstl]

I'm not the customer or the OP but I have literally done dozens of these. They roll them up and bring them to each game. Then they mount them with zip ties or carabiner hooks to the fence by the dug out. These are not for advertizing (although I have made them with the sponsors of their team on them) You could imagine if they were mounted on the outfield fence there would literally be hundreds of different teams. They use them a lot for team photos and fundraising events as well.

 

[Deaton Design]

I think it looks good, but agree with the others about the contrast on the names. Too dark to be read. But its a nice layout and no doubt they will like it.

 

[WCSign]

sorry for the confusion.. this will not be 300 feet away.. first it will be used in team pics, then close quarters, ie. dugout like someone mentioned. my reference to the signmaniac banners was about "business" banners that are out on the fence

as far as contrast, I would agree, BUT I could defer to the darkness of the pic, I could say it was a 15 minute design that they ultimately approved on the first round and loved it in person etc.. the main reason I didnt brighten the names was to insure that the focal point was the team name - and as I mentioned, its going to mostly be seen at under 30 feet away

I like your design also SignManiac.. my thoughts on design and branding are to go with your first idea, and beyond some simple tweaking it will usually be effective and client will be happy..

I know designers that do great work, but thet are always second guessing themselves and working towards a percieved perfection and doing more and more, or even starting over.. they will waste hours behind a PC doing work that ultimately couldve been approved and loved 10 designs ago.

I strive to do the nicest, cleanest, effective work possible while "knowing my client" This client would have been happy with a white banner with a plotted out logo and baseballs one color with arial lettering for the names


mentioning the font for the names.. I thought about changing, but in the end, I knew my client wouldnt notice.. of course all of us would LOL

thanks for the compliments - if contrast and name font choice is my only flaws, then gracias as well, because that speaks volumes, I dont know you guys background or skill set, but I assume most of you are awesome designers

Cheers!
Thomas