Let’s start with the basics, do you require your sign to be illuminated or non-illuminated. What type of signage are you looking for on your building?
For your building sign, you may wish to consider how you want the message to come across. For instance, if you only work 9am-5pm you may want to consider a non-illuminated sign whereas if you have evening hours your sign will advertise that you are open so you would want it illuminated as a marker to your location.
Non-illuminated building signs can consist of non-illuminated channel letters (canned) or cabinet style signs. Pin Mount letters are also ideal. Illuminated signs have LED lighting inside of channel letters or cabinet style signs. There are options of back lit or front lit signs to choose from. Other building signs can be push thru letters, halo lit, faux neon and faux exposed bulb. Each type of lighting brings a different element to your signage.
So now let’s delve a bit deeper into why someone would choose a certain type of sign.
To start with the non-illuminated. Pin Mount letters can be used for indoor and outdoor use. They can be used in combination with a lighted sign as a tagline or as a sign by themselves. These are generally flush mounted and thin. For the interior, they work great for an accent wall to put your logo or company mission statement. They come in a wide range of colours to match your logo or wall colour. In my experiences though most clients choose white, black, bronze or silver.
Why would anyone ever want a non-illuminated sign
Well there are lots of reasons really. Budget, no electrical to that side of the building, city restrictions, etc. So, any type of illuminated sign can be non-illuminated by not putting the lighting inside. So now you’re asking yourself why bother with the expense of a sign box or channel letters. Well, it all comes down to how you want to brand your company.
A sign box even non-illuminated holds the face of the sign with your message on it. Most sign boxes come either square, rectangular or circular shape with a lexan or polycarbonate face and vinyl cut lettering. This option gives you the flexibility to change the faces as required. Most strip plazas require these types of signs because it is what property management wants on their buildings. This allows for tenants to move in and out of the building and utilize the sign for the future tenants without having to take the whole sign down and repair the fascia of the building. These signs can be flushed mounted to the building but in some cases can be turned sideways and project from the building.
Channel letters are individual letters to spell out your brand. They mimic the font you use in your logo, colour of your logo and illuminated in either white or in your logo colour. Channel letters can be non-illuminated or illuminated in different ways. For illumination, you can choose a front lit which is where the lighting faces the front of the sign and lights the face. A back lit sign keeps the letters dark but casts a lighted glow behind the sign. You can do a combination of front and back lit letters. Halo lit is where the lighting comes out around the side of the letters which is mostly used for push thru letters on a background. Recently people have been choosing a faux bulb look. There are many ways to achieve this look which we will discuss later. In many cases Channel letters are used in combination with a sign box. A complete package would usually consist of a sign box for your logo, channel letters for your name and pin mount letters for your statement.
How is it that your sign is one colour during the day and another colour at night?
This can be done in a variety of ways. The three most common ways are as follows: Coloured LED’s, coloured fascia substrate or what is known as two tone vinyl and then combinations of the three. If you wanted your channel letters to be green in the day and green in the night, then coloured polycarbonate is the way to go, you could choose to use green LEDs in the sign to make a deeper green colour or white LEDs to make it lighter. Colours in substrates are limited so they would be matched as close as possible to your brand colour. To have your logo green in the day and then at night you will need two tone vinyl which will allow you to have your logo show green when lit. This option allows a digitally printed vinyl to match your colours exactly. And if you want green during the day but white at night then perforated vinyl will work for this application. Again, it can be matched either by colours available or custom digital print to match your brand.
Earlier we touched on other types of signs such as routed push through letters, back lit and halo lit signs and in our next blog we will discuss this further including terminology of the signs when ordering and other manufacturing processes.
In the meantime, should you have any questions about fascia building signage please feel free to reach out to Elevated Signs for more information.