Torsen show poster for trade show booth illustrates vehicles equipped with the Torsen Traction Differential

Gleason posters describing the processes of a particular gear cutting machine and it respective tooling.

Graphics created for BMW test car for BGI in Eisenach, Germany

A sign should tell the story in as few words as possible. This is especially true in outdoor advertising. If you don't get the message, it's a bad billboard Outdoor billboards have to be very simple and to the point.
In the old days, posters were effective because pedestrians could stop and take the time to read them. Today, most often the viewer is zipping by a billboard at 60 miles per hour or more. You only have a split second to get your message across. The message has to be brief and the graphics instantly recognizable for the idea to hit home, otherwise it's a big waste of your money.

Signs are location specific. Unlike television and radio, by their physical nature, they only impact or draw the attention of local traffic. Therefore, high-traffic locations are most desirable. Area demographics are important as they are relative to the type of product advertised. The most popular use of signage, posters and displays are trade shows and retail establishments. In the retail environment they are sometimes referred to as point of purchase signs. They can be large wall signs or smaller counter signs combined with a pocket containing coupons or small brochures. In most cases, these signs are specific to a product , a brand name or a special offer.

Outdoor signs are designed to reach a larger audience, and provide higher impact with greater visibility. However, they too have a limited reach. Outdoor signs can be less effective than mass media (TV & radio) or more effective and less expensive than mass media. It all depends on your marketing strategy, your product and your target demographics. A well done outdoor sign can have a big impact especially in coordination with other media advertising. Of course, no marketing is effective if you fail to get the message across. .

A sign is most likely the oldest form of display advertising. As long as man has brought produce to market or needed to promote his establishment, he did so with a sign.
From simple hand made signs to elaborately carved and painted wooden signs, until printing came into being, it was the only way to promote your wares. Unknown at the time, the invention of printing was to foster the beginning of a new form of business...advertising. Printing made it economical to make multiple copies of signs, most particularly in the form of posters.
Without photography or type, the only way to get the idea across was with illustrations. It was the golden age of the illustrator. Everything had illustrations..books, posters, flyers, magazines and newspapers. Poster artists were an egocentric sort onto their own, comparable to today's art directors. They designed and illustrated the entire poster, including the hand drawn text. Today, early original posters are valuable collectibles.

We still make signs. The desire to put up a poster in a movie theatre, concert hall or the walls of a retail establishment has not diminished with the advent of mass media. There is something very unique about a printed poster. Is it the art? Is it the message? Or perhaps it gets our attention because we can stop and look at something static while the rest of the world keeps moving about. Whatever the reason, posters are still an important part of the advertising mix.

Wall mural for BGI Industries, a German gear engineering firm.