Backlit Signage

Pictured here is a project in the works, somewhat of a before and after I guess you could call it.  To be more specific, I am referring to the white space on the lower half of the sign.  The top half is a project completed several years ago for a long time client, Greater Frogtown CDC.

What you are looking at in this picture is a translucent white pan style sign face that is secured in a cabinet frame.  What you do not see are the ballasts and fluorescent tube lighting that will illuminate this sign during the low light and evening hours.

Back in the day these graphics would have been either screen printed or painted on the sign surface.  Today, or I should say 6 years ago in the case of the graphics shown, we use a specialty translucent vinyl film to create the graphics and lettering.  Most of the films we use are made by 3M but there are a few other manufactures that produce a similar product.   As you can see from the photo, the colors are rich and vibrant.  In this case the colors are also spot on with logo color matching.

We are currently working with a new client that will be using the white space for their business logo.  We will help our client develop a layout that obviously fits the space but also displays their corporate identity in a clear easy to read format.  Stay tuned to see how we go about adding the new graphics to this sign.

If the current sign has you curious about what Greater Frogtown is all about you can find more on our client and their Gala in the Garden event on Sept. 16 in St. Paul, MN by clicking the links.

Small Business Rewards

Most of our clients here at Big Idea are small businesses. Some of who have been at it for decades and some just starting out. What they all share in common, unlike Washington, is working with tight budgets and keeping expenses under control.

Pictured here is a store front of Forte Drums. The guys at forte are just opening up shop. They came to us in need of some exterior sign face replacement - one of our specialties. Since these guys are handy with tools and ladders they were willing to do a bit of work to help keep the sign project within their budget. They decided to supply their own sign grade polycarbonate sign face and install it themselves, something we had no problem with. What we provided was some design consulting, translucent vinyl lettering and on-sight vinyl application.

After getting to forte, and moving some of their hand made drums, our installer laid the sign face right there on the floor and carefully worked around the shops inventory. Upon completion of the vinyl application and packing up the truck, our installer turned to snap this shot...the guys at Forte Drum had their sign up and working in no time.

By the way this sign came in at less than 50% off the original estimated project cost. This was done simply by being creative and having a Big Idea.

As you can see the end result turned out great!

Shop Time

Today we have a picture of a custom sign we recently finished for Heartland Animal Hospital.

This sign is a great illustration of our ability to produce custom shapes to our signs. This particular sign is 13' long and just under 4' in height. The material used is a 4mm Dibond® material. Click here for more info on DiBond®

What is unique about this sign is the combination of print and graphic applications. It would have been real easy to have just printed this sign, cut to shape and send off to our client, but that is not how we work. After conversing with our client we determined that the best fit would combine a digital printed background of beige and a light navy border. The graphic and text was produced utilizing 3M high performance opaque and metallic vinyl films.

The reason we went this route was to improve on the sign life, retain an eye catching appeal with the metallic highlights, and to reduce costs. Doing all this required several mock ups and conversations with our client. In the end we were able to produce an outstanding sign while saving our client a few hundred bucks.

Dimesional Signs

Dimensional signs are really any sign that has a 3D appearance. This could be the individual raised letters that you see above a retail store. The logo on a wall at an office reception area, or even blade signs hanging in front of a boutique.

Dimensional signs come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and materials. We have produced signs in everything from sandblasted cedar wood to etched brass and just about everything in between.

Pictured here is a portion of an exterior building sign we produced late this past fall. It incorporated a custom painted aluminum panface with 1/4" thick custom cut and painted aluminum letters and tenant suite signs. The advantage producing this sign with the raised suite signs is twofold: it adds a bit more visual appeal and allows the building owner to easily replace a sign should a tenant move out or need to update there information.

Not only does this sign look great but it functions creatively well and will allow the building owner, and tenants, to save hundreds of $$$ on future sign replacements.

At Big Idea, you get what you pay for.