Travel to any large city around the globe and you will encounter some type of digital signage. You may see large LED billboards, projection devices of flat panel screens hanging on a wall but more often than not the content will be irrelevant to the venue or of no real value to the viewer.
So why does this happen?
The first mistake is treating digital signage like broadcast TV. You see, broadcast television can afford to retain a viewer's attention for 30, 60, 90 seconds or longer but digital signage only has a few seconds to make an impression. Next time you encounter a digital signage screen in your local mall or in a public space, check out how many people actually pay attention to the screen. See if you can figure out how long viewers have to notice and absorb the content as you walk by. Chances are it's a lot less than you think.
Knowing how long viewers have to absorb digital signage content should be the first step in the design process. Consider what happens when someone encounters a static (printed) poster or banner. Digital signage impacts viewers in a similar way but you need to consider how long will it take to put the content up on screen and how long it must remain there so it's noticed and absorbed by your target audience. If you are designing for an outdoor venue, also consider people who are biking or driving by.
So the first lesson is: Simplicity and legibility is key. Don't cram too much content on screen at once. Don't overuse content channels and zones because this will impact the viewer's ability to notice, absorb and retain your message. Follow good design guidelines and set your text using a bold, legible font.
If you plan to schedule content based on dayparting, don't overload your playlists with too much content and you may also find it's better to have your content cycle often to ensure more viewers are exposed to it.
Adding live news feeds and weather is also quite popular but this must be done with proper planning and care. For example, do you really need to cover part of the screen with a permanent scrolling news ticker? Sometimes it's better to show news items and weather forecasts as part of your playlist content instead of using a ticker permanently displayed on screen. Remember that mixing informative content with your advertising will help attract and retain a viewer's attention.
It's very important to consider the venue as this will have a huge impact on your content and your layouts. In some cases you can get away with a "denser" screen layout that uses scrolling tickers and multiple content feeds. This would be the case in a hotel or convention center where you need to publish a lot of information for a very broad audience.
If you have in-house creative staff used to work with print media or the web, be sure to have them trained in motion graphics. Your creative team should be familiar with popular tools like Adobe After Effects or Apple Motion.
Another good content creation tool is Flypaper. It lets you create high quality digital signage content quickly and effectively.
It's best to avoid Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote for anything other than corporate or small business applications. These tools can be extended with other third party applications but if you need to create high impact and effective content, stick with the tools of the trade.
I often tell my clients digital signage is the marriage of print media and TV so you must adapt your creative accordingly.
If you don't have your own in-house creative staff or if you are looking for inspiration, check out some of these useful resources:
- Blink Multimedia
- Blue Fox
- ConnectedSign
- Saddle Ranch Productions
- Screenfeed
- Screen Guru
- Wave
- Visible Spectrum
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