Creating A Warm Welcome: Crafting An Airport Sign

Airport signs are often creative, funny, and impossible to miss. Whether it's a funny nickname, a pun, or a clever message, these signs show the fun and creativity that can happen in an airport. This article will explore how to make an airport sign that is both eye-catching and memorable.

Choosing the right materials

When making an airport sign, it is important to choose the right materials to ensure that the sign is durable, visible and fit for purpose.

For indoor airport signs, such as those directing people to the restrooms or a waiting room, industrial-grade materials are often used. These signs are designed to be easily noticeable from a distance and can be mounted on walls or doors.

For outdoor airport signs, aluminium alloy is a popular choice as it is both tough and lightweight. This material is often used for LED signs, which are designed to be visible from a distance and can be mounted in a variety of locations.

Other materials used for airport signs include metal, tin, iron, ceramic, plastic, vinyl and wood. These materials are often used for decorative airport signs or for signs that are intended for short-term use, such as those advertising a specific event or promotion.

When choosing the right materials for an airport sign, it is important to consider the intended use, durability, visibility and ease of installation. By selecting the appropriate materials, you can create a sign that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Making the sign big enough to be seen

Making a sign big enough to be seen from a distance is a fun and easy project. You can use scrap wood, old fence pickets, or buy new wood depending on the style of sign you want. If you're buying new wood, you can use inexpensive pine shelves from the hardware store. You can buy the wood in 4-foot sections, which you can cut down to the size you need. If you don't want to cut the wood yourself, you can ask the home improvement store to cut it for you.

Once you have your wood, you can start by laying out the front boards and cutting them to the correct lengths. You can piece shorter pieces together to make a large board if you don't have big pieces of wood to work with. You can also paint an old door or a large canvas to use as your base.

When it comes to attaching your sign, you can use screws to attach it to a wall or header. Make sure to use a level to ensure that your sign doesn't go crooked.

Finally, you can add your message to the sign. You can print out the text you want and use a craft-cutting machine to cut out the letters. Put vinyl on top of the wood board and spray paint it, with the letters exposed in the new paint colour.

Using a clear font

When making an airport sign, it's important to use a clear font that's easy to read from a distance. The three most commonly used typefaces for airport signage are Helvetica, Frutiger and Clearview.

Helvetica, developed in Switzerland, has a 'neutral' vibe and feels both familiar and classic. Its distinctive lowercase 'a' stands apart from an 'o', even from far away. Frutiger, designed by Adrian Frutiger for the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris in 1975, is characterised by protruding letter stems, particularly in letters like 'l' and 'p', and wider space for the openings of letters like 'e' and 'n'. Clearview, the third most common airport font, is also easy to read from a distance.

While these three typefaces are the most common, some airports use different fonts. For example, Dulles Airport uses a font similar to Microgramma/Eurostile, and Berlin Brandenburg Airport uses a font called BER Sans.

When choosing a font for your airport sign, it's important to consider not only readability but also the overall design and aesthetic you're trying to achieve. You may want to choose a font that reflects the contemporary architecture of the airport, as Frutiger does for the Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Including a picture or symbol

Alternatively, you could include a picture or symbol that's relevant to the occasion. For instance, if you're welcoming someone home from a long trip, you could draw a picture of a house or a plane. If you're meeting a friend or family member who's been away for a while, you could draw a heart or a smiley face to show your happiness at seeing them again.

If you're feeling creative, you could even combine a picture or symbol with a clever message or pun, such as drawing a picture of a beach and writing "Welcome back to reality!" Or, if you're meeting a friend who's been away on business, you could draw a briefcase and write "Back to the grind!"

When it comes to the actual design of your sign, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, make sure your picture or symbol is large and clear enough to be seen from a distance, perhaps by using bright colours or bold outlines to make it stand out. Additionally, try to keep your sign relatively simple and uncluttered, as too much detail can make it hard to read from far away.

Adding a personal message

To make an airport sign, you'll need a piece of wood, some paint, a paintbrush, and a permanent marker. You can also use a computer to create your message, a printer, scissors, and a graphite pencil.

First, paint your piece of wood with your chosen colour. If you're reusing an old sign, sand it down first. Then, create your message on a computer and print it out. Cut out each word, and carefully place them on your sign to get a feel for the layout. Next, rub the back of each word with a graphite pencil, and place the word on your sign. Use a ballpoint pen to trace the outline of each letter, and then fill in the letters with your chosen colour. If you want your words to stand out, consider outlining each letter with black paint or a black permanent marker.

If you want to add a personal message to your airport sign, think about what you want to say to the person you're greeting. You could include a funny nickname or a pun, or just a simple welcome home message. You could also add some decorations to your sign, such as stickers or drawings, to make it more fun and creative.

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