Some photos are not only about what’s inside the frame but also about what’s outside of it. They ask you to let your imagination loose and fill in the gaps yourself.

To show you how fun this task can be, we at Bored Panda put together a collection of images with very specific signs, clearly suggesting that they have interesting backstories behind them.

I mean, if a cafe warns you that its syrups aren’t hand sanitizers, there must’ve been something that made them do it.

Continue scrolling to check out the list and upvote your favorite entries—let’s see which pictures prompt the most vivid interpretations!

#1 Hikers Are Warned

Image credits: Imfloridaman

#2 This Sign On My Parents’ Road

Image credits: sheeeeeeshman

However, if you want to make a sign for your garage sale or even business, you need to consider more than just getting your point across.

Adrian Geach, who has been a signwriter since 1980, told Bored Panda in a previous interview that, “a good sign should be eye-catching, easy to understand and not too wordy with enough negative space around the text or logo, and have a good color scheme.”

Geach lives in Wales but can take his brushes anywhere to work on a project. He left school at 16 to undertake a five-year signwriting apprenticeship and said he was lucky enough to be taught by three master craftsmen steeped in the skills of a brush and a pot of paint.

After learning the trade, Geach set up a signmakers business specializing in exhibition and display graphics and embraced the new vinyl and large format technology that was just coming to the forefront.

#3 A Sign Outside A Off Strip Casino In Las Vegas. Talk About Pulling A Ferris

Image credits: LVbellman

#4 Do Not Walk On Rocks

Image credits: YouRebelScumGuy

#5 A Sign At A Windmill Restoration Site In Mykonos, Greece

Image credits: ttseco

Adrian has been successfully involved in all areas of signage and graphics for decades but not that long ago, he went back to his roots and now concentrates on traditional signwriting.

With the current resurgence of interest in signwriting and hand-rendered work, he utilizes his skills to offer clients a more personal, unique, environmentally friendly, and organic signage solution using old-fashioned materials and techniques.

“A sign might only be looked at for a few seconds so it needs to leave an impression within this time frame, hence the less is more approach,” he said.

“There are many factors to take into account when designing a sign but the most important thing is to make sure it doesn’t get lost in its surroundings,” Geach revealed. 

#6 Blursed Worker

Image credits: princessparkles_

#7 In My Local Church

Image credits: violaging

#8 My Local Library Has This Sign On Their Drop-Off Slot

Image credits: WombatJack

#9 Seen At A Local Fest

Image credits: mliazuk

Similarly, writing about signs that raise more questions than they provide answers, my colleague Jonas had a talk about common signage mistakes with Lisa McLendon who is the William Allen White Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and the coordinator of the Bremner Editing Center at the University of Kansas.

“Don’t carve an error in stone. It’s embarrassing and expensive to fix. Proofreading before you produce, whether it’s stone or not, is absolutely necessary,” McLendon said that we should take the time to look over our work before making any permanent decisions.

Lisa also noted that the font that we choose for our sign is incredibly important. “Choose your font with readability in mind. It should be clear and readable at a distance; you don’t want to make people puzzle through a swirly script,” she said.

#10 How Many Karens Does It Take To Make A Sign Like This?

Image credits: embonifi

#11 Sign Recently Erected In My Neighborhood

Image credits: RiggsFTW

#12 Don’t

Image credits: TomKeabsmad

#13 I’ve Never Seen A Hotel Pool Sign So Blunt Before

Image credits: TurtlesTurnMeOn

For another Bored Panda piece about editing, proofreading, and kerning—the spacing between letters—McLendon said that word placement, typeface, and kerning are also crucial for effective, professional-looking logos and layouts.

“If it’s just a few words, all-caps is fine, but it’s harder for people to read longer blocks of text in all caps. It’s also harder for people to read italic or highly stylized type, or type along a curve instead of a line,” Lisa then explained.

#14 House For Sale

Image credits: mbloomstein

#15 Behind Every Warning Label There’s A Story

Image credits: Boel_Jarkley

#16 There’s A Story Behind Every Sign Like This

Image credits: rjray

#17 Wonder How Many Times It Happened

Image credits: Sensitive_Attitude27

Furthermore, Lisa pointed out that we should look at all the ways in which our words could be misread or read out of order if they’re circled or stacked on top of one another.

If the kerning happens to be too tight, some of the letters could merge into different symbols and result in some (hilariously) embarrassing misreadings.

One example of this is writing the word ‘FLICKERING’ in all caps. If the kerning is too tight, the ‘L’ and the ‘I’ merge into a ‘U’ and you get… That’s right.

#18 No Danish

Image credits: EyeOfTheMemes

#19 This Smoke Shop’s Sign

Image credits: actually_oh

#20 No Bears?

Image credits: LurkyMcLurkfaceperson

#21 Every Warning Label Has Its Story

Image credits: d4m4s74

Of course, you can always get a professional to do it. In fact, for the past few years, many places have been witnessing the revival of the handpainted sign.

Fed up with the chain culture that is slowly making all the streets look the same, city shops are trying to stand out with custom designs.

It’s estimated that there are about 300 full-time signwriters working in the UK alone.

#22 Found In My High School. I Would Not Like To Know What Necessitated This

Image credits: Vantablack_Lotus

#23 Home. Sweet Home

Image credits: Aforaseem

#24 The Fact That This Sign Is Necessary

Image credits: microwaveableviolin

#25 Someone Must’ve Made A Terrible Mistake

Image credits: reddit.com

And it’s not just the experienced painters who may have obtained a now obsolete City & Guilds qualification. There’s also a young generation interested in all things bespoke.

One of them, signwriting enthusiast Sam Roberts, told The Guardian, “This is a generation that has grown up with computers at the heart of their work and who are seeking to engage with the physical processes that go into producing letter forms.”

Whatever you choose, have fun! As you can see, signs don’t have to be boring.

#26 Important Hand Washing Rules To Follow

Image credits: thepowerofgus

#27 What Happened 64 Days Ago?

Image credits: jtllpfm

#28 Sign Posted In Every Booth At A Thai Restaurant In Fargo

Image credits: ohnoh18

#29 Nice To See Some Pushback On Insane Parents From My Local Sports Complex

Image credits: son_of_a_fitch

#30 If We’re Doing Small-Town Bar Bathroom Signs, Here’s One I Saw Recently

Image credits: SuperGuitar

#31 Behind Every Sign There’s A Story

Image credits: AdBlockerPro

#32 Stopped At A Gas Station And Saw This Sign On The Entrance Door

Image credits: timmy0101

#33 If You Only See Two Signs About A Raccoon Room Today, Make It These Two

Image credits: ScottFilmCritic

#34 No Belly Laughs

Image credits: Nudnikorama

#35 When You Thought You Look Cool But You Look Like A Garbage Can

Image credits: 03Shael

#36 What Happened Here

Image credits: igotanewusername

#37 There’s A Story Behind Every Warning

Image credits: mi_be

#38 At A Museum Right Now. Wtf Prompted This Sign To Be Put Up?

Image credits: Magpienificent

#39 A Great Sign I Found At Auckland Zoo

Image credits: Rotten_Eel

#40 Every Sign Has A Story

Image credits: _xXmyusernameXx_

#41 That Happens Enough To Need A Sign

Image credits: reddit.com

#42 There’s A Story Behind Every Sign

Image credits: LFuzz

#43 What Happened Here

Image credits: why-does-it-say-take

#44 Mistakes Were Made

Image credits: ra1phw1ggums

#45 This Sign Has Been Stolen Too Many Times I Guess

Image credits: imgur.com

#46 The Fact They Even Needed To Put This Sign Up

Image credits: Hankman66

#47 Blursed Rules

Image credits: xkelsx1

#48 Behind Every Sign Is A Story. Wicklow Town

Image credits: alexanderishere

#49 You Have To Wonder What Happened To Make This Sign On Your Door A Necessity

Image credits: Oh_hey_its_me_again

#50 I Wonder How Many Times It’s Happened, To Lead To This

Image credits: JustANutMeg

#51 There Has To Be A Story Behind This

Image credits: whatthefrenchtoast2

#52 Environmental Storytelling

Image credits: jillybeees

#53 How Many Times Did This Happen Before A Sign Was Needed?

Image credits: Tony-1610

#54 Got It… I Think?

Image credits: C-Beck86

#55 Sign Posted At Staples Office Supply Store

Image credits: GG_Allin_Feces

#56 What Made Them Have To Put This Sign Up?

Image credits: someone_else_900

#57 Please Don’t

Image credits: boobookee

#58 Penguins Steal The Ice Cream

Image credits: basketfullofkittens

#59 Elevator In Sweden. For This Sign To Exist, It Must Have Happened To Some Poor Bastard

Image credits: m00nmuppet

#60 Is It Saying I Should Help The Hitchhikers?

Image credits: FlippantResponse

#61 Behind Every Sign, There Is A Story (Found At Work Today)

Image credits: GingerAndTonic

#62 There’s A Story Behind Every Sign

Image credits: Hawkilles

#63 I Really Want To Know The Story Behind This Sign

Image credits: PilotWombat

#64 Sign In The Bathroom At Girlfriend’s Job. Every Sign Has A Story

Image credits: ElbowRager

#65 You Know This Sign Was Only Put Up After Someone Grabbed A Fistful Of Potato Salad. Seen In Waldwick, NJ

Image credits: willduan

#66 This Is A Real Sign In Washington State

Image credits: seattlegeo

#67 This Ride Only Stops In An Emergency

Image credits: Orkiing

#68 Just In Case You Still Had Any Faith Left In Humanity

Image credits: IgneousAssBarf

#69 The Fact That They Need This Sign

Image credits: buttchugpapi

#70 When A Cat Runs To The Fridge Every Time It Opens, A Sign Is Necessary

Image credits: makinmuffins

#71 This Sign At A Car Wash

Image credits: MrRawmantikos

#72 If Only There Would Have Been That Sign

Image credits: Jonny_Osbock

#73 They Actually Had To Post A Sign

Image credits: GooberThumbFace

#74 Americans Will Measure With Anything But Metric

Image credits: ultramegasuperchamp

#75 Continuing The Small Town Pub Bathroom Signs Theme

Image credits: tehnommonster

#76 Every Warning Sign Has A Story

Image credits: monkeyfighting-snake

#77 The Sign On The Shredding Machine Was Obviously Not Enough To Prevent People Putting Filing There

Image credits: stucu

#78 This Was At An Optometrist’s Office, So Maybe It Wasn’t Obvious?

Image credits: cmography

#79 Each One Of These Signs Has A Story

Image credits: Bee-and-Barb

#80 I Imagine Some Angry Complaints From People With Sore Legs

Image credits: PapayaSF

#81 The Car Dealership In My Town Had To Put This Sign-Up

Image credits: compu22

#82 Do We Really Need A Sign For This

Image credits: Ameerican_punk

#83 Apparently, People Do This Enough To Warrant A Sign. Between 2 Buildings At Work

Image credits: reddit.com

#84 Every Warning Label Tells A Story

Image credits: Cage_and_Fish

#85 As Opposed To What?

Image credits: N0_Th4nk5

#86 Saw This Sign At A Check-Cashing Store In Philly. I Guess They’ve Had Enough

Image credits: SweetDee208

#87 How Does It Get This Bad?

Image credits: nemofish3

#88 I Work With A Bunch Of Savages, Apparently

Image credits: brewerjy

#89 I’m Sure There’s An Interesting Story Behind This Sign That I Don’t Want To Know

Image credits: Spaiduhz

Source: boredpanda.com