Welcome to the sign shop. We churn out dozens every day that must grab attention with a handful of words, provoke action of anyone seeing them and fit into a tight spot, all of them conceived and created under pressure of an approaching deadline.

There are four on the page you are reading now, and chances are if you are reading this far into this editorial, it is in no small part due to the headline. If the headline did not work, you would have gone on to the many other offerings in the rest of the newspaper.

But really — how could you resist that headline?

Headlines are the signs of print newspapers, and each print edition offers an eclectic collection that varies in tone, function, style, size, font, urgency, attitude and purpose that must not only match the unique news and information in each story, but also be provocative enough to attract readers into the story.

It is a fool’s errand to try and write provocative headlines that won’t offend somebody for some reason. Also, headlines are not a summary of the story. An effective headline cannot even begin to parse nuances and give details of a news story.

Headlines are signs. The function of both is to grab your attention to do something. For headlines, it is to read the story to get informed.

Since we know a little about signs, and we’ve covered more than a few bridge marches during the past year, here are some sign-making tips for those who want to march with a message during Saturday’s March for Our Lives over the Portage Lake Lift Bridge:

•Go Big or Go Home: Make the letters on your signs yuuuuuge. Remember your audience — other than the Daily Mining Gazette journalist out there taking photos for Monday’s paper. They’re riding in vehicles, some of them driving. They need to get what you’re selling at a glance.

•Be Brief or Be Gone: Less words, stronger punch. Slogans are good, but make them short. One word can hit harder than six.

•Get Bold or Get Lost: Bold letters, in meaning and font — bright, light-colored letters on dark background — will make your expression of free speech stand out.

Just like with headlines, signs need to have feeling behind them. The cause is righteous. Write your headline, put it on a sign and march.