Business Management

Best Electric Freestanding Signs of 2015

GableSigns’ Cabana Bay entry statement takes Best of Show

Published

9 years ago

April 7, 2015

Steve Aust Signs of the Times April 2015 Issue

First Place/Best of Show
Fabricator/Installer
GableSigns
Baltimore
(410) 255-6400
www.gablesigns.com

Designer
WrenHouse Design
Orlando
(407) 284-7778
www.wrenhouse-design.com

Client
Cabana Bay Beach Resort

With its florid script and shimmering stars, this compelling, 60-ft.-tall sign – its diameter spans 12 ft. 4 in. at its apex — pays homage to Googie-style architecture for this Orlando resort. As always, with such a competitive tourist destination, impactful signage tips the scales. GableSigns fabricated the custom, steel, compound-rolled, perforated cylinder and posts, as well as radius-curved “clouds” of copy. A rainbow of neon colors comprises EGL aqua, clear gold, turquoise, neo-blue and ruby-red luminous tubing that evokes nostalgia for a mid-20th-Century family vacation. To secure the neon and channel letters, GableSigns built custom-rolled ramps, which GableSigns’ Curtis Arbaugh likens to “skateboard ramps”. Secondary text is also shaped and rolled. To reinforce the 1950s feel, GableSigns mixed custom paint colors reflective of the era, such as teal, yellow and peach pastels. Several interior catwalks facilitate servicing the sign.

Second Place
Fabricator/Installer
Diversified Signs and Graphics
York, SC
(803) 628-1121
www.diversified-signs.com

Designer
505 Design
Charlotte, NC
(704) 264-1745
www.505design.com

Client
Vision Ventures

Vision Ventures, which manages Ballantyne Village, a shopping and entertainment destination in South Charlotte, NC, recently executed a rebranding and renovation. Naturally, signage played a role. Twin, 14-ft.-tall, 7-ft.-wide, aluminum cabinets provide a prominent entry statement. LEDs, whose light emanates through perforated, aluminum returns and acrylic “lanterns” on the pylons’ flanks, provide glowing ambiance.

Third Place
Fabricator/Installer
Art Display Co.
Capitol Heights, MD
(240) 765-1400
www.artdisplayco.com

Designer
Younts Design Inc.
Baltimore
(443) 453-9310
www.yountsdesign.com

Client
Bozzuto Construction

Located on 8th St. in Washington, DC, the Monroe St. Arts Walk, a mixed-use development of retail, apartments and visual artists’ studios, is distinctively identified with four signs that feature 10 ft. 3-in. letters, which are bent at a 90° angle around a steel tower and internally illuminated with SloanLED RGB LED modules. The letters comprise 0.063-in.-thick aluminum painted with Matthews acrylic-polyurethane paint and MIG-welded to 0.125-in.-thick, aluminum backer panels. The letter faces comprise 3/16-in.-thick acrylic and 0.125-in.-thick perforated, painted aluminum that’s bolted to them.

Honorable Mention
Fabricator/Installer
Arrow Sign Co.
Oakland
(510) 533-7693
www.arrowsigncompany.com

Designer
Square Peg Design
Oakland
(510) 596-8810
www.sqpeg.com

Client
Catellus

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