When you're developing custom made signs for your business and using them to woo customers, you need to make sure that every aspect of your display works and has a definite purpose. Little things that take away from the overall effect aren't just distractions: They could cost you consumer interest.
In a recent interview with NPR, professional graphic designer Jessica Frease described the impact of a piece of industry jargon called "hairy arms" on art design, especially when it comes to creating specific characters.
According to Frease, this strange term dates back to Disney animators, who would often draw armhair on characters solely so their overseers would tell them to get rid of it—and not notice some of the other, subtler changes that the animators had made at the same time.
"It's basically something you add to a design that you know you may not even want there, but it's a distraction from your client or creative director," she said. "It is a decoy. And I mean hairy arms is literally a decoy. I mean you're covering up what the character looks like."
As she describes it, this is generally a dubious practice that prevents companies from seeing real positive changes in their designs. But when looking to rebrand, companies can think of all of the extraneous bits that already exist in their logo and look to change those instead.
For an example, look at the evolution of the Pizza Hut logo. This company recently announced that it would change its style, and FastCo Design features a slideshow that demonstrates the way it has already changed over the years. It's interesting to note that the logo starts ornate, complete with a mascot, then continuously gets sleeker, smaller and more modern.
In the same way, your business should consider the way that customer screen printing could speed this process.