With the call for signs and banners for advertising campaigns on the rise the need for sign/banner makers is also on the increase. With the variation in signs these days you could go into the art and design side of the career or you could even go down the electrics route.

The requirements you will need vary with the type of sign making you take up there are some more of the traditional forms of sign making that are becoming a lost art. These are for example decorated house signs that are made of wood or slate with the name of the house or number engraved into the slate or wood, or even burnt in if wooden. If engraving pieces it is essential for you to have a full understanding of how the engraving machines you are using work. This also means you would have to have a full understanding on which tools to use for different materials. Some of the formal requirements you may need are below:

Design Technology - This is very useful in the way that if you wanted to design your own signs as you learn how to use a variety of computer tools including those you would use to make a banner or sign. It also gives you the ability to display and plan your ideas in a professional way and having the knowledge to do this makes it a lot easier for you when it comes to actually making the sign or banner. A course in this subject would also make it easier for you to use computerised cutting programmes and printers.

Electrics (if applicable) - This is only really necessary if you are going to specialise in electrical signs. The safety of the signs is as important as it is with any other electrical product so knowing exactly what you are doing before even thinking about building up an electrical sign is extremely important. There are many different courses you can take that start at a basic level of an NVQ to the more advanced courses meaning you can be more adventurous in your designs.

Art and design - This will help you in the way you can create original designs as you will have the ability to draw up the designs free hand. This would give you the best advantage in the making of banners as the materials you would use would be more suitable for this type of design. So long as you had the ability to put these designs into the computer system that would print the design onto the banner, or alternatively if you had the right ink for the material you are painting on you could do these designs free hand.

There are so many types of sign and banner being processed today you need to make sure you have the correct knowledge for the type of signs or banners you want to make.