Signs & Large Format Print
The launch checklist – most urgent first
The order matters, because some things must be ready on opening day and some can wait a month. This is how we usually lay it out with clients who are just starting:
Before opening – must have:
- a sign or light box above the entrance (it has to be clear from a distance what is here),
- window graphics, or at least on the door: logo, what you do, opening hours, phone number,
- a name plate by the entrance if the premises are in a building with several tenants,
- business cards.
For the opening – useful:
- flyers or a leaflet with your offer and an opening promotion,
- a roller banner by the entrance or inside,
- a feather flag or an 'Opening' banner on a fence if the premises are on a busy road.
In the first months – once you know what works:
- branding on the company vehicle,
- letterheads and presentation folders, if you send out proposals,
- branded clothing for staff,
- additional directional signs if the premises are hard to find.
Sample budget for a small unit
| Item | Option | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sign above the entrance | 3 mm dibond with UV print, 200 × 60 cm (1.2 m²) | approx. €66 |
| Window graphics | printed monomeric vinyl, approx. 4 m² | approx. €48 |
| Business cards | 90 × 50 mm, 4/4, 350 g matt art board, 500 pcs | approx. €15 |
| Flyers / leaflet | DL leaflet, 6 pages, 4/4, 130 g art paper, 1000 pcs | approx. €90 |
| Roller banner | 85 × 200 cm, with cassette and bag | from approx. €55 |
| Total | approx. €275 |
We costed the sign as 1.2 m² × approx. €55/m² and the vinyl as 4 m² × approx. €12/m². Design may come on top (a simple sign or banner design approx. €43 net, and adapting it to each further format approx. €13 net), plus installation. If you choose a light box of the same size instead of a flat sign, it is 1.2 m² × approx. €320 = approx. €385 net. A Winder Midi 70 × 340 cm feather flag is from approx. €75 net.
Flat sign or light box to start with?
This is the question we hear most often from new businesses. Our answer depends on two things: when customers come to you, and where the premises are.
If you run an office open until 4 pm in a commercial building, a dibond sign is quite enough. 3 mm dibond with UV print is the standard sign material, lasting 10 years or more; it does not rust or bend. If, however, the premises are on the street and customers come in the evening (a shop, a restaurant, a gym) illuminated signage makes a huge difference from day one. Then you choose between a light box and 3D letters; there is a comparison in our guide light box or 3D letters.
A sensible compromise on a tight budget: a good flat sign to start with, and a light box after the first season. Before ordering anything for the facade, check the local planning rules on advertising and whether the building owner agrees – we cover this in does a shop sign need permission.
- 01Brief
Description, sizes, site photos and deadline — a few sentences are enough.
- 02Design and quote
Our designers prepare artwork or a visualisation and you get a price.
- 03Approval
You approve the design; for brand colours we provide a proof.
- 04Production
35+ machines in our own plant in Poland: 3.2 m UV print, CNC, laser, 3D, sewing.
- 05Installation or delivery
Own crews and vehicles across Europe, partner network, couriers worldwide.
One logo, one colour, one file
A new business has an advantage: everything starts from scratch, so it can be consistent from the outset. A few things worth settling before you order your first print:
- The logo as a vector. Get it from the designer who created it. Without a vector we cannot cut letters from vinyl or rout 3D letters; more in our guide on vector logos.
- A brand colour with a number. Ideally a Pantone number. Then the sign, the flyer and the T-shirt will be one shade, not three similar ones.
- One master design. It is better to commission the design once and adapt it to further items than to design each piece separately. Adapting a finished design to another format costs approx. €13 net.
Ordering all the materials in one place has a practical advantage too: one contact, one schedule, one source file from which we can reprint your flyers a year later without hunting for who did what.
- 24 hexpress printing (UV inks need no drying)
- approx. 3 daysstandard lead time
- up to 14 dayslarge and custom projects with installation
Plus courier delivery. Tell us your date — we plan production around it.
What not to order in bulk
New businesses often overspend not on the advertising they need, but on the kind that ends up in the bin after three months. What we watch out for:
- 5000 flyers to start. The offer, prices and phone number can change in the first few weeks. Better 1000 now and a reprint in two months.
- Opening hours permanently on the sign. Hours change more often than you think. Cut vinyl lettering on the door can be replaced in a quarter of an hour; a sign cannot.
- Expensive merchandise without a plan. Logo pens and mugs make sense when you know who you will give them to and when.
- The cheapest banner instead of proper signage. A banner hung on the facade 'for now' often stays up for years, looking worse and worse. If it is meant to be permanent, make a proper sign straight away.