Signs & Large Format Print
Illustrative visualisationA bookshop or stationer has two peaks a year that you can’t sleep through: late August with back-to-school and December with presents. Add exam season, first communions, Mother’s Day and big title launches. So the window changes several times a year, and it is the window that brings people in from the street, especially in smaller towns where the bookshop competes mainly with online shopping.
What a bookshop beats the internet with is atmosphere and advice. Customers want to spend time between the shelves, browse, ask. Good section signs, staff recommendations by the books and a children’s corner do more here than any price promotion. And a bookmark with your logo slipped into every book goes home with the customer and stays there for months: the cheapest advertising we know of in this trade.
1. Shop sign and window
A bookshop rarely needs a loud light box. Letters on the facade or a classic sign look better, plus a window that tells a story: new titles, the theme of the month, back to school. A few words on the glass are enough; the books arranged behind it do the rest.
- 3D letters with the bookshop name→Dibond or acrylic letters on stand-offs, from approx. €16 net per character at 30 cm high. Calm and elegant, they suit older town-centre buildings.
- Seasonal window graphics→‘Back to school’, ‘Books make great gifts’, ‘Set texts’. Printed film or cut lettering, removed after the season without residue.
2. Sales floor
Bookshop customers walk slowly and read. Section signs help them find their way without asking, and recommendations on the shelves suggest what to pick up. A children’s corner with a colourful wall keeps parents in longer, because the children don’t want to leave.
- Section lettering on the walls above the shelves→‘Crime’, ‘Non-fiction’, ‘Children’, ‘School’, cut from vinyl at approx. €1.40 net per metre of cutting line. Cheap, readable and no drilling.
- Wall graphic in the children’s corner→A full-wall illustration or a section of one. Air-release vinyl goes on without bubbles, approx. €11–19 net per m².
- Display for new titles and bestsellers→Printed card for a short campaign or acrylic for permanent use. Placed at the entrance or by the till, where customers wait in the queue.
- ‘Staff pick’ wobblers on the shelves→A small HIPS shelf talker by selected titles, with space for a handwritten note. Customers trust these more than charts.
3. Back to school
Late August is the busiest three weeks of the year in a stationery shop. Exercise books, pens and rucksacks need to be laid out so a parent with a list in hand can get round the shop quickly. Dump bins and posters bring order to the chaos.
- Dump bins for exercise books and stationery→Foldable, fully printed card bins, UV-printed corrugated board approx. €13–21 net per m². After the season they fold flat until next year.
- ‘Back to school’ posters for the window and the shop floor→10 A2 posters approx. €28 net. The same design on the glass, by the till and on the door.
4. Author events and activities
Author talks, children’s workshops, a book club: these are what people come to a bookshop for rather than an online store. The announcement has to go up well in advance, in the shop and around town: in the library, the school, the café.
- Event posters in small runs→100 A2 posters approx. €85 net, enough for the whole area. A few are plenty for the window.
- Roll-up banner for events and book fairs→85 × 200 cm roll-up from approx. €55 net. It stands behind the author in photos and travels with you to fairs and school book sales.
5. For customers and your own brand
A bookshop has a rare advantage: its customers love paper. A bookmark, a nice bag, a gift voucher in an envelope or a branded notebook don’t end up in the bin. And if there is a local author or a local history waiting to be written, you can publish it and sell it in your shop.
- Bookmarks with the bookshop logo→Slipped into every book sold. 100 magnetic bookmarks are approx. €160 net; paper ones in larger runs are much cheaper, priced by quantity.
- Branded paper bags→Kraft bag 240 × 340 × 90 mm with print, 100 pcs approx. €185 net. Holds several books and doesn’t tear at the corners.
- Gift vouchers in an envelope→Before Christmas and for special occasions a book as a present is a gamble, a voucher isn’t. We print them numbered and with finishing.
- Branded gift wrapping paper→Wrapping in your own paper in December is a service customers come back for. A pattern with your logo and a book motif.
- Notebooks and exercise books under the bookshop’s name→A5 notebook with cover, 50 sheets, 100 pcs approx. €135 net. It sells at the till and can’t be bought anywhere else.
- Printing a local author’s book or a local history→A5 hardback, 164 pages, 100 copies approx. €700 net. A short run, a title only you sell.
- 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.
To start with — an indicative package
Example of getting a bookshop with a stationery section ready for back-to-school. Prices from our price list.
| Dibond 3D letters, 10 characters, h = 30 cm (10 × approx. €16) | from approx. €160 net |
| ‘Back to school’ A2 posters, 10 pcs | approx. €28 net |
| Roll-up banner 85 × 200 cm | from approx. €55 net |
| Printed kraft paper bags, 100 pcs | approx. €185 net |
| A5 notebooks with logo, 50 sheets, 100 pcs | approx. €135 net |
| Magnetic bookmarks with logo, 100 pcs | approx. €160 net |
Indicative net prices. Dump bins, displays and section lettering are priced by size; exact quote after a short description and photos of the shop.
From our experience — what to watch out for
- Order back-to-school materials in July. In the last week of August printers and couriers have their busiest time of the year.
- Put a bookmark in every book, not only when a customer asks. A bookmark with your address and opening hours is your business card in someone else’s home.
- Make section signs from cut vinyl rather than printed cards in frames. They look calmer and don’t need constant straightening.
- Put up an author event poster two weeks ahead, not two days. Readers plan their evenings in advance.
- A gift voucher should have a number and an expiry date. It is easier to account for and harder to forge.