Friend told me my protest sign was unreadable from more than 10 feet away

I used to write my sign slogans in regular handwriting with a thick marker. A buddy at a climate rally in Portland last month said he couldn't read my sign from across the street. Now I always use stencils and make each letter at least 4 inches tall with a paint stick. Has anyone tried those foam core boards from the dollar store for keeping signs sturdy?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily571mo ago

Gotta jump in here real quick on the coroplast thing. Coroplast is totally waterproof and holds up way better than foam board in rain, you're right about that. But those foam core boards from the dollar store actually do okay if you put them in a clear plastic sleeve or wrap them in packing tape before you go out. The trick is to seal the edges and not just the middle. I've had one survive a whole afternoon in Portland mist that way, no warping at all. Just saying, don't write off the cheap option completely if you're on a budget like most of us are.

samk771mo ago

Stencils are a total game changer for readability. I messed up badly at my first protest where I wrote "No Pipelines" in glitter gel pen and it looked like a sparkly blob from three feet away. The foam core boards from the dollar store are alright but they warp if it rains even a little. I splurged on coroplast sheets from a hardware store and they've survived two marches in Seattle drizzle. Maybe try using a yardstick to measure your letter spacing too, because cramming everything together is what usually kills legibility.

blairc901mo ago

Huh, I never really thought about measuring letter spacing with a yardstick but that makes total sense. I read somewhere that the ideal sign font is something bold and blocky like Impact or Arial Black because the letters don't bleed together at a distance.