Designing a fundraising car magnet might seem like a daunting task. After all, the end results will be sold to hundreds of supporters and seen by thousands of people as a representation of your cause. The good news is the process isn’t difficult at all. This is one case where less is definitely more. You don’t need a lot of elaborate design elements to create a beautiful magnet. In fact, elaborate design can distract from your message and make the magnet difficult to read on passing cars. The most important thing to remember when putting together your magnet design is to keep it simple and recognizable.
Select Easy To Read Fonts
Passing motorist will have mere seconds to both notice your magnet and read it. The font your select has a big job to do in ensuring that your message is instantly readable. Decorative fonts with swoops and swirls might look pretty, but they aren’t up to the task since they can be difficult to decipher. According to Fonts.com, san serif fonts, which do not have small projections at the end of each stroke, are easier to read because of their simpler shapes. This is especially true if your message includes a lot of numbers, such as addresses or phone numbers. Ariel and Copperplate are both good, basic choices. However, to find your perfect font, you’ll need to consider the individual letters you’ll be using, since specific letters may be more legible in one font over another. Pay particular attention to the counters, or white spaces within the letters, to ensure that they are ample enough to form a distinct and legible shape.
Choose High Contrast, Meaningful Colors
According to Kissmetrics, 85% of shoppers say color is a main reason they purchase particular products. This means choosing the right color combination is especially important in designing your fundraising magnets. The most important aspect in finding a pleasing color combination, that is easy to read, is using high-contrast colors that easily stand out from each other. Black text and design on a white background is the easiest way to accomplish this. However, any dark or vivid color such as purple or red, on a white background should work, as long as there is sufficient contrast. Or, you can flip the layout and go with white text on a dark background. This combination can be especially impactful, but will only work if all of the text and design elements are large enough to still be easily read.
Another element to consider in choosing the color scheme for your magnet is the psychology behind color. While your existing logo will play a large role in the color combination you work with, it’s worthwhile to consider how color makes people feel. ColorCombos.com mentions that yellow creates happy feelings, while blue evokes trust and confidence. Likewise, orange is associated with joy and purple is the color of wisdom. Green shades indicate health, and, of course, pink is the color associated with love, romance and femininity.
Include Your Contact Information
The best part about using car magnets as a fund raising tool is that they do double duty because they both raise funds and increase awareness for your organization and cause. However, it’s not enough for people to know who you are; they also need to know where to find you. While phone numbers are the traditional form of contact information, a web address, or even an email address is more effective on a car magnet. Numbers are easily forgotten, especially since people only catch a brief glimpse of your magnet. However, web addresses are easier to remember since they are word based. To ensure that your URL is easily read, capitalize each new word within the address, rather than stringing together all lowercase letters.
As you can see, creating a memorable fundraising car magnet doesn’t need to be complicated. Mix your existing logo or image with readable fonts, high contrast color schemes and the right contact information and you have an impaction, and profitable, finished product.
To browse a variety of design ideas, styles and shapes visit the the gallery and let us know if you have any questions!
