Channel Lettering – LED The Way to Go

There are several types of fascia signs (storefront signs) and some sub-categories, all of which have their place in the world of signs.  The type of business you are in usually dictates the type of sign and the budget for that sign.  High-end retail stores prefer top-of-the-line signage with big price tags.  They are often large channel letters internally lit by LED’s. It’s not hard to see who’s raking in the money!

At the other end of the spectrum is a small industrial shop which must  be identified but doesn’t need illumination or fancy designs.  Here we can suggest a face and frame sign which is similar to an illuminated sign box but without the box. It’s a professional looking sign without the expense of a fabricated box or electrical components.  At ICSigns, we can help you choose the right sign for your needs and your budget.

So, let’s start at the top of the scale – Channel letters.  Usually 5-6” deep with an  acrylic face and internally illuminated.  These used to be predominantly lit by Neon tubes but the expense of keeping Neon working has soured many people on that product.  Many manufacturers refuse to make Neon – lit signs any more because of the potential for damage before the sign is even installed.  LED is so much more reliable, durable and economical.  Like many things that are better for us, LD’s cost more to purchase but the cost savings in power and reduced maintenance costs far outweigh the additional up-front cost.  Power requirements are low as all the energy is turned into light, not heat, as is the case in incandescent or, to a lesser extent, fluorescent and Neon.

Channel letter bodies are usually metal, formed around a template and welded to complete the outline of the letter.  Then a back of metal or wood and a front of acrylic are applied to give it rigidity.  As an added attraction, some channel letters allow light to shine through the back of the letter creating a halo effect on the wall behind.  Another twist is the use of a translucent plastic body through which light shines to give another version of a halo effect.  All of these have their place according to the requirements of the customer.  As is usually the case, the fancier the lettering / lighting / layout, the more expensive the sign will be.  However, I would consider channel letters to be one of the most effective signs for a fascia sign.  The letters are bold and individually lit which makes for a most legible sign.

In future blogs, I’ll discuss other types of fascia signs.  In the meantime, I’d love to get your feedback. What kind of sign do you find most compelling?  Here on this blog, we offer comment luv. That’s great for all you bloggers out there.  When you leave a comment, you can add a link back to your own Blog! That’s great for Search Engine Optimization. But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment. We want to hear from everyone!

Happy Signing,

Drew

ICSigns is a “Cut” Above

If you remember my last blog post, we talked about pylon signs and how their function is to stand out by the roadside and guide customers to your door.  Storefont (or Fascia) signs are the next step in guiding our customers to our place of business.   Once the prospect or client is on the property, the fascia signs now guide the customer to our door.  It can have a little more information than the pylon sign, as the potential customer is now a more ‘static’ audience than someone viewing the pylon sign.  However, if the fascia sign is the only means of attracting customers (for example no pylon sign exists) then my mantra `the best sign says the least` or KISS  – Keep it short and simple is the way to go.  I often think of a fascia sign as the headline on the front page of a newspaper.  At the top is the name of the newspaper in bold lettering and below is the day’s headline.  This is how your sign should look.

Let’s assume we already have a pylon sign and we are now designing our fascia sign.  What is the most important information we can put on it?  Certainly the name of the company is the most important and should dominate the available space.  If the product you sell is not incorporated in the company name, then certainly a one or two word description of your business is desirable.  For example, ‘Feckle Brothers’ could be the name of the business but if the products the Feckle Brothers sell is specialty hardware, then that should also be on the sign.

Phone numbers and/or a web address can also be added in case people are visiting outside your regular business hours.  Beyond this, any more information is just going to clutter the sign, reduce the space for more important information and reduce its over all effectiveness.  Here are two examples: One of a good fascia sign and the other one of a cluttered fascia sign.

Most leased properties have an existing fascia sign on which the lessee can put their graphic.  If the previous tenant had vinyl lettering on the sign, we can usually effectively remove the old lettering, clean up the acrylic and apply new lettering.  There are two advantages to this:

1. The cost of new acrylic is avoided (normally the cost of cleaning off old lettering is only an hour or so of  labour),
2. It keeps the acrylic out of the landfill – something we should all be concerned about in this age of recycling.

New fascia signs can be of several different varieties:

• Illuminated sign box
• Channel letter, illuminated or not
• Face & Frame
• Flat-cut metal or plastic letters

…to name but a few.  I will be elaborating more on the different type of Fascia signs in my next post.

Some landlords require that all fascia signs in a plaza be of a particular variety so that there is some uniformity throughout the plaza.  Typically, when a landlord dictates a type of signage, it is illuminated channel letters.  We’ve seen more of this lately and while it sometimes forces the tenant to re-think the sign budget, there is a definite benefit.  With all the signs being of a similar type, the quality of signage is usually higher and “budget” signage that could bring down the over-all image of the plaza is avoided. You can look forward to many years in a plaza with high standards.

In summary, Fascia signs are the “headline” above your place of business.  They should give a brief but effective hint as to what lies inside.  Keep it short and simple so that it can be recognized quickly.

We, at Instant Custom Signs, have been making fascia signs for over 17 years.  If you have a fascia sign project or a problem you would like to discuss, let me know.  I’ll be happy to pass on any useful  information .

Also, please feel free to leave comments and suggestions here on our blog.  And here on this blog, we offer comment luv. That’s great for all you bloggers out there.  When you leave a comment, you can add a link back to your own Blog! That’s great for Search Engine Optimization. But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment. We want to hear from everyone!

Happy Signing,

Drew

Pylon Signs Help Drive Business To Your Door

That monument, ground or pylon sign standing outside your building should be a reflection of your image and brand.  I once read, “A business without a sign is a sign of no business”.  True enough.  Not many businesses can survive without a sign to direct traffic to their doors unless they are a web-based company that relies on other methods.  Not so the larger retail companies we recognize regularly.  Shell, Esso, MacDonalds as well as The Bay, Sears, Canadian Tire and other bastions of retail excellence.  Their pylon signs are not the only things that bring customers to their doors but it is an important part of the corporate strategy.  It reflects the brand and broadcasts for blocks, where you should turn in.

Not every company can afford a huge pylon sign like the major corporations.  But it still must be a part of the corporate strategy.  Many companies share space on a pylon sign with other tenants or condo owners.  While your space may be limited, don’t give up on making the most of what is available to you.  This means maximizing the available space.  Let’s say you are negotiating a lease for a building in which you share space on a pylon sign.  Try to negotiate with the landlord to increase the number of places or size of space available on the sign. If part of the sign is vacant, you might be able to negotiate using that space until the vacant space is required.  There are benefits to both parties here.  You gain extra signage for the beginning of the lease (when it is most important for customers to find you) and the landlord’s property will appear fully occupied (which benefits all the tenants since prosperity begets prosperity).  I remember my days in the gas station business when, if a station had no customers, we advised the managers to park a car or two at the pumps. You’d be surprised how this technique brought customers onto the lot!  An empty lot looks deserted and forbidding.  But a lot with cars on it attracts other customers.

How much information should go on a pylon sign?  As little as possible!  Remember my mantra: “The best sign says the least.”  Certainly the name and logo of the company must be the largest and most prominent items displayed.  After that, any further information will only detract from the main message.  The pylon sign is there to broadcast who you are and where you are, not give out a lot of information about your company.  There are other vehicles for that.

Let’s talk about the layout of the logo and company name on the pylon.  Sometimes, the configuration of the sign does not allow you to lay out the name and/or logo in the normal fashion.  Unless you are designing and building a pylon sign for your own purpose, be prepared to re-configure the layout to maximize the available space.  For example, your logo may quite square but the available space is long and thin.  If you don’t allow the designer to change the layout of the logo/name, it will be very small and very hard to see from a distance. That’s a short-sighted policy.  I’ve seen this happen in many instances where a corporation, with strict rules on how the name and logo can be displayed, moves into a rented property. The head office refuses to bend on the  layout of the sign.  The result is a smaller than expected presence on the sign and an ineffective sign.

Here at ICSigns, we can help you design and install a great pylon sign for your business. We have the expertise and experience to help you drive business to your door!

In summary:

• Be prepared to negotiate additional space for a short period of time
• Be flexible on the layout so that you maximize the space available
• Only put the essential information on the sign – name and logo

Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions here on our blog.  And here on this blog, we offer comment luv. That’s great for all you bloggers out there.  When you leave a comment, you can add a link back to your own Blog! That’s great for Search Engine Optimization. But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment. We want to hear from everyone!

Happy Signing,

Drew

Digital Signs Are Growing Up

I could write a book about the different materials we use in making signs.  However, my instructions are to be brief, so a few words will have to suffice.  If you need more information, please contact me. I’m happy to share my knowledge.

Let’s talk about digital graphics as this is the hot topic in the sign industry today.  We started making digital signs many years ago when the materials were not as robust as they are today.  Also, the choice of manufacturer and supplier were limited as digital signs were in their infancy.  Things have changed quite a bit in the last 8 years.  There are more manufacturers and more choices so that materials can be more closely matched with the use.  However, not all materials are as good as their manufacturers say they are.  There’s a surprise!

When considering what material to choose for a particular project, there are three things to consider:

1. Indoor or outdoor?
2. Life expectancy
3. Illuminated or not?

We already have many computations and many choices of material within this group.  Add to this, the choice of laminating or not and you double the number of choices. We’ve had great success with some manufacturers and less success with others.  We gauge success by how the sign performs in its chosen environment.

Printing onto vinyl or plastic has other complications.  Like the paper printing industry, we look at the white point of the material.  Some look very white.  Some are on the yellow side and some are on the blue end of the spectrum.  We prefer a true white material so that we can achieve a good match for the customer’s colours.  When you start with a material that has a different colour built in, you really are starting from an unknown point and trying to get to your destination by taking different routes by trial and error.  This gets to be time consuming, tiresome and expensive.

Let’s say the sign we are printing is to be used outdoors in an illuminated sign box.  We need to find a material that has the following characteristics:

• An excellent white point (for colour matching)
• Is translucent (so that it does not hinder the transmission of light)
• Has a clear adhesive (to not introduce any changes to the colour of the light being transmitted)
• Will accept a heavy application of ink (so that the colours remain vibrant when illuminated)
• And will not deteriorate in the UV rays of the sun.

Then we have to apply the laminate, which will add protection from chemicals, abrasion and the sun’s rays. The laminate also has to work with the vinyl.  We find it best to use laminate and vinyl from the same manufacturer. They know which laminate works with which vinyl so we tend to follow their instructions and it has proven successful.  Our customers are often surprised at how well the printed materials perform, both for longevity and colour vibrance.  It took our industry several years to perfect the materials and I dare say there is still some way to go.  However, today we have materials that can be printed in vibrant colours, will last many years outdoors and are reasonably priced.

Here at ICSigns, we work together with our customers to find the best solutions at the best price possible.  We also love to hear from our clients about their experiences. Feel free to leave a reply below! And here on this blog, we offer comment luv, which means, when you leave a comment, there’s an opportunity to provide a link back to your own blog. Great for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Happy signing,

Drew