Christmas market stall signs
By half past four it is dark, and your sign is competing with a thousand fairy lights. A stall sign that looks good at noon in your kitchen can vanish by teatime.
Your peak trade happens in the dark.
Winter markets do most of their business after work, under string lights, often in drizzle. Colour reads differently there, and subtle tones merge. Before you commit, print your design on ordinary paper, and look at it outside at night under warm light. If the name is hard to read at ten paces, change it.
- Choose strong contrast: cream on deep red or green, or white on near black.
- Use a matt finish. Gloss reflects every bulb on the street.
- Think about a small, battery-powered lamp pointed at the sign, if your organiser allows it.
- Keep lettering bold. Fine script disappears in low light.
Read the trader's pack first
Organisers often want a certain look. Many chalets have their own name board, a style guide or a ban on plastic banners. Your pitch may be a wooden hut, a gazebo or a trestle table, and the sizes differ from one market to the next. Find out what you have, and get the exact measurements. Ask about fixing, too. You usually cannot drill or screw into a hired chalet, so plan for cable ties, cord, or hooks that the organiser approves. Ask about anything that goes near heaters or lights.
Signs for a chalet
| Sign | Position | Material |
|---|---|---|
| Header | Above the serving hatch, seen over people's heads | 5mm Foamex for a stiffer, longer board |
| Price board | At eye height, by the queue | Corex or Foamex, with prices on a separate strip |
| Side panel | Facing the direction most people walk | Foamex board, tied at the corners |
| Counter front | Below the hatch, often hidden by crowds | Use for colour and not for information |
| Card payments sign | Next to the till | A small, simple sign saves a lot of questions |
Cold, wet and short
Self-adhesive vinyl does not like going on in the cold. Adhesive grips poorly on a damp timber surface in December. So apply any vinyl to your board at home, in the warm, well ahead of time, and treat the board as the thing you hang. Foamex copes with a damp few weeks, and a seal gives extra protection against wet hands and mulled-wine splashes. Unprotected paper posters curl and go soft quickly out there.
What boards cost
| Board | A2 | A1 | 30in x 20in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corex | £6 | £10 | £8 |
| 3mm Foamex | £7 | £12 | £10 |
| 5mm Foamex | £8 | £14 | £11 |
Guide prices from our price list. They exclude VAT and delivery and assume print-ready artwork.
Plan for the seasons after this one
Most traders do this every year, so leave out the year and the market's name. Then the signs are good for the next one. Store them flat and dry. Keep a sheet of last year's pitch sizes and fixings, too, and you will have far less to do next November. If you run a shop as well as a stall, see Christmas shop displays for how to tie the two together.
Print that holds up after dark.
Your questions.
Do I need a printed sign if the chalet has a blackboard?
A blackboard is fine for prices, but a printed name reads far better from a distance. Many traders use both.
Can you print something that looks like painted wood?
Yes. Your design can include a wood or hand-painted effect. It will be a flat print, but on a chalet it can look warm and suit the setting.
Can a sign get wet?
Foamex and Corex are fine in the rain, and a seal gives the print more protection. Dry them before you store them away.