Design

Best Electric Building Signs of 2012

The bright side of architectural signage

Published

12 years ago

March 5, 2012

Steve Aust Signs of the Times March 2012 Issue

First Place
Fabricator
GableSigns
Baltimore
(410) 255-6400
www.gablesigns.com

Designer
Curtis Arbaugh
GableSigns

Client
Thorn Properties

This sign won praise from the judges as a flawless execution of a wraparound sign. The site of a former iron foundry, Baltimore’s Clipper Mill development gained new life as a commercial and residential development with a heavy concentration of artisans, designers and nonprofit organizations. GableSigns fabricated the 26 x 3 ft. 9-in., double-sided sign from ¼-in.-thick aluminum on its CNC router. The vertical sign is pinned and bolted approximately 4½ in. off the wall, and white LEDs, nestled vertically in the corners, provide a wall-washing effect that creates brilliant nighttime silhouettes.

“The client had unusual sightlines that weren’t conducive to a traditional building sign,” Arbaugh said. “The cogs reflect onsite sculptures, and Thorn’s representatives loved the solution.”

Second Place
Fabricator
DaNite Sign Co.
Columbus, OH
(614) 444-3333
www.danitesign.com

Designer
Keith Sarna
DaNite Sign Co.

Client
The Big Bar & Grill

With his business located near the Ohio State Univ. campus, the customer wanted a distinctive sign to separate this establishment from competing watering holes. The 12-ft.-tall, projecting sign features 13mm Voltarc exposed neon around the face, chaser bulbs and channel letters halo-lit with SloanLED modules. The aluminum cabinet was shaped on a MultiCam MG CNC router. The scroll and curlicue graphics, which were applied to the Plexiglas® acrylic face, were printed on a HP DesignJet 9000s printer with 3M Controltac media that’s laminated with 3M’s 8519 luster-finish topcoat.

The job required approval from the University’s review board, which Sarna said was an arduous process, but well worth the client’s satisfaction.

Third Place
Fabricator/Designer
Pacific Neon Co.
Sacramento
(916) 927-0527
www.pacificneon.com

Client
Pizza Rock

Located in Sacramento’s down-town-redevelopment district, Pizza Rock’s 21-ft.-wide canopy sign reflects the establishment’s edgy character. The flames and cloud-shaped, decorative piece behind the letters were fabricated from 0.125-in.-thick aluminum, shaped with a MultiCam 3000 CNC router, formed with a Miller Weldmaster, and coated with Matthews acrylic-polyurethane paint. Pacific Neon formed the channel-letter returns with a Computerized Cutters Accu-Bend machine, and installed EGL 15mm, pumped-red neon tubing within the letters, which Pacific Neon decorated with silver 3M translucent film. To create a wash of red backlighting, the shop installed red Sloan LED V Series modules.

Honorable Mention
Fabricators
(façade sign)
CorpoGraf
Guatemala City
(247) 74950

(pylon sign)
Distec
Guatemala City
www.distec.com.gt

Designer
DDG
Baltimore
(410) 361-0505

Client
Immobliaria Spectrum

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