Estate agent boards

Three seconds at thirty miles an hour

Passing drivers will take in very little, so a board needs a status word, your brand and a phone number or web address, and nothing else. Resist adding strap lines, awards logos and social icons. High contrast matters more than brand subtlety, and bold colours stand out against brick and hedges. Test the design by shrinking it to postage stamp size on screen. If you can still read "For Sale" and the number, it will probably work at the kerb.

Why boards are usually twin-wall plastic

Most agency boards use fluted plastic because it is light, weatherproof and easy to fix to a post. Our correx printing page explains thicknesses and finishing. It suits the lifespan of a typical instruction, where boards come down and go back into stock. For a long-term commercial letting that may stay up for much longer, rigid aluminium signs are worth comparing, as they keep their shape and look sharper over time. Tell us how you fix your boards so that holes or slots line up with your posts.

Slips, stock levels and the rules on display

Order "Sold", "Let" and "Under Offer" slips with the boards so colour and type match, and size them to overlay the main panel. It pays to count how many boards return to the depot damaged, then plan each reorder around that figure. On compliance, the size, number and placement of property boards can be controlled by advertising regulations and local restrictions, and some areas are stricter than others. Check the current requirements for each area you cover before finalising your board sizes.