With signs providing most of the road information for road users and pedestrians it is very important for the right materials to be used when making the sign to ensure highest visibility. There are a variety of materials used in making road signs both for making it tough in the various weather situations it will be in and also in the way of illuminating the sign. Some of the materials used in making road signs are:

- Retro-reflection materials - These help illuminate the sign when ever a car is going passed in the dark with its lights on. This material is used because unlike other reflective materials it reflects the light back directly to the source rather than acting like a mirror where it would only reflect directly back if the car was standing level with the reflection of light. This has proved very popular in the way that no matter how high or low the vehicle is if they have their lights on it will be reflected back to them from the sign. This technology is even starting to be used in car lights so pedestrians and cyclists wearing high visibility vests are a lot more noticeable.

- Aluminium - This is used as the main body of the sign because it's light weight but also is quite strong it will also last in the weather. It is a good material to either paint images or text onto or to coat in vinyl retro-reflective material. It's also a good material for this purpose because it is easily shaped and cut into any shape you want and with road signs being so many different shapes in different countries its essential for it to be versatile.

- Plastic powder paint - This is often used as a finishing coating over the whole sign as it protects it and its paint work against corrosion and wear due to weather. This paint is applied in a way called Shot Blasting where the paint is fired through a painting system at high pressure cleaning and painting the material at the same time.

In different countries they have variations on the way their road signs catch the attention of road users some have systems that light up signs as the car drives near, others have signs that flash different warnings to the drivers etc. however, they do all work to make them as visible as possible. As road safety is becoming a major issue in a lot of countries it is important that they use the right materials for the signs because the driver being fully informed of the events along the road makes a great difference to how safely they drive.