What are the best practices for concepting digital signage content?
One of the most important aspects of digital signage isn’t just about the screen, but what goes on it. It is said that “Content is King,” so, when it comes to digital signage, how do you start concepting digital signage content?
How to Start
First, you have to have an understanding of where it will be displayed and how people are going to experience it. For example, a menu board for a local restaurant will have a far different approach and thought process than a large display for a booth at an international convention. Since digital signage today can be approached in a variety of ways, some of which you can directly interact with, this is an important first step for concepting. What is the purpose of the signage? Where is it / will it be installed? Is there
sound? Is it interactive? If so, how do people interact with it?
Parameters
The next major step is to consider your parameters. Is this a concept you have to come up with from scratch, or is there a clear direction? What is the essential information that needs to be conveyed, and does it need to be conveyed in a particular order? Is the content static, dynamic, or some combination of both? Are there any branding considerations that need to be taken into account? Is there a certain style/feel that is preferred? Are there elements (such as colors, photos, etc) being provided/required? You can concept a great deal of beautiful content that will have nothing to do with the final product without knowing the answers to these questions.
Creative Kickoff
Many times, when you start a new project, everyone will get together for a creative kickoff. That way whoever is doing the creating can get all the information they need straight from the source. If the client isn’t entirely sure about a direction (or has entirely no idea where to begin), it’s a great time to talk through the project and get a better idea of how to approach it.
Concepting
Once you have a good understanding of these first two steps, a vague concept will already start to emerge. All that is left is to figure out how all the pieces fit together and relate to one another. For something like a menu board, that will mean the visual balance of all the menu items and how legible they are. It also means thinking about the sections that will have moving parts and how that will look compared to the rest of the board. For videos / attract loops, what is the narrative? How does the information flow
smoothly from one piece of information to another? For attract loops, how does it all come back together in a way that isn’t jarring?
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Concepting, by it’s very nature, doesn’t necessarily have a “one-size-fits-all” approach, so having best practices can be hard to define. However, these are some of the important, fundamental steps on how to focus a concept into something that can be used to create content. It is a similar process for concepting content through many different mediums, and we hope it will help you as well.
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