Sign on a Sign Commission

In August 2020, I was commissioned by Aurora Downtown to create some sign-themed signs. The client was looking for some yard signs to put along the Fox Valley River Trail in downtown Aurora, Illinois. The purpose of the signs was to entice people biking and walking on the path to stop & to explore local businesses. The design concept was to be fun and simple with sayings like “Exit Ahead for…” or “This way for…” and of course, signs. Take a look at the six designs I came up with!

Would you stop for these creative signs? I love the idea of supporting local business this way. The street sign vibe was really fun to work with! I started out with some brainstorming about phrases and sketches of potential ideas. It was nice to be able to bounce ideas off the folks at Downtown Aurora. After my sketches were complete, I began to create the files in Illustrator. I wanted them to have lots of eye-grabbing color. When it came to text, I combined a plain, sans-serif font with a bouncy, handwritten script. The signs don’t truly match but they all still have similar design or color themes. It was a great opportunity and I appreciate Downtown Aurora and Marissa for thinking of me for this creative project.

Thank you for reading,
Laura