A Trio of Engaging Dynamic-Digital-Sign Projects

Infrastructure investments have long entailed improving streets, schools, libraries and other civic assets. However, as local officials are compelled to make their towns more desirable, in order to grow their populations and increase commercial investments, cities must also sell themselves. Natu-
rally, the same pressure has always been applied to organizations and companies, for whom the bottom-line focus is a constant.
Dynamic-digital signage (DS) often perfectly fulfills needs for an aesthetically appealing, informative sign. Here are several projects that embody an aggressive DS approach that meets many stakeholders’ needs – visibility, providing information, or increasing brand awareness and customer traffic.
If you design, build or install DS systems, or develop and manage DS content, please consider entering your work in the Electronic Message Centers category of ST’s 2016 International Sign Contest. The deadline approaches on January 27; for more information, or to enter, visit the contest URL: https://form.jotform.com/53153908321956

Skokie Style
Located approximately 15 miles from downtown Chicago, Skokie, IL, with roughly 65,000 residents, proudly proclaims itself “The World’s Largest Village”. “Village” conjures images of a bucolic, one-stoplight blur on the road, but vibrant Skokie houses the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and has earned rankings on lists of fastest-growing U.S. suburbs and most livable cities.
Skokie is large enough to operate a public-transit system, Metra. Skokie officials wanted Metra’s downtown hub to maintain a strong brand identity while notifying residents of local news and events. As such, they hired Chicago Sign Group (Vernon Hills, IL) to fabricate a 17-ft.-tall, V-shaped DS message center with twin, 10-ft.-wide faces that resemble the pages of an open book. Gary James designed the signs; Jovinny Alarran built it, and George Novak installed it.
The system features a Ledman Optoelectronic 10 x 4-ft., 16mm-pixel-pitch display with 8mm capability for moving images because of a half-pixel shift. Chicago Sign Group encased it within a welded-steel cabinet that also features, second-surface, acrylic, LED-lit letters.

Come to the Harbor
Located in Prince George’s County, MD, just south of Washington, DC, National Harbor comprises a 300-acre, multi-use development that stands on the site of a former plantation house. It features a convention center, several hotels, stores and restaurants, and a 175-ft.-tall Ferris wheel that stands on a pier and overlooks the Potomac River. According to the National Harbor website, it attracts more than 10 million annual visitors.
Any destination that attracts such heavy tourist traffic requires an impressive DS system. The Peterson Companies, a Fairfax, VA-based, commercial-property developer that manages National Harbor, hired Ad Vice Studios LLC (Mechanicsville, VA) to build the message center, which overlooks the Potomac and provides informative content and, when needed, a high-definition screen to display World Cup or Redskins games – and specialty advertising.
Installed on a sandy beach, the system was built upon anchor-bolt and granite foundations, and features an 18 x 32-ft., Daktronics DVX 10mm, full-color screen secured to a flexible-face backing. According to Ad Vice’s David Goodwin, a “concert-quality” audio system synthesizes sight and sound into a captivating screen.

Telling the Story
The University of Connecticut’s School of Fine Arts operates the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, which provides instruction for “UConn”’s art and digital-media students, as well as programs and community outreach for kids of all ages inspired by puppetry.
Ballard also provides a performance venue for its own students and community performing troupes, and needed an attractive marquee to inform the community about Ballard’s shows and happenings.
The school hired ARTfx (Bloomfield, CT) to design and build the marquee. After having consulted with local engineer firms to develop a suitable template, the shop built 8 ft. 3-in. x 41 in. x 5-in., radius cabinets that ensconce the display. The DS system comprises twin, 12mm-pixel-pitch Watchfire display systems with a 72 x 192-pixel matrix. Each provides a 3 x 8-ft. viewing area, with a nine-line content grid that accommodates 38, 3-in.-tall characters.
The 1,250-lb. sign includes a welded-aluminum, tube frame with an aluminum roof and underneath canopy, with ½-in.-thick, opaque acrylic that creates a halo-lighting effect with 1W, LED bulbs along all four sides of the Ballard logo. For greater effect, crown molding conceals red, LED cove lighting across the marquee’s length.