Design

Best Electric Monument Signs of 2016

Work, food and play…life’s necessities summed up in one category

Published

8 years ago

April 4, 2016

Steve Aust Signs of the Times April 2016 Issue

First Place
Fabricator/Installer
Poblocki Sign Co.
West Allis, WI
(414) 453-4010
www.poblocki.com
Designer
Sarah Watson
Client
City of Milwaukee Dept. of Development
Century City represented a strategic initiative by Milwaukee city officials to transform a long-vacant tract of city land into a thriving business park. Watson and the Poblocki design team collaborated with Graef Anhalt Schloemer & Assoc., the city’s contracted engineering firm, to design the monument with AutoCAD and Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software. The CNC-router-cut, MIG-welded aluminum letters stand 12 ft. tall and 12 in. deep, and span 44 ft. across the base; the logo measures 13 ft. 3 in. in diameter. All components were mounted to curved-steel I-beams, with faces router-cut from ¾-in.-thick polycarbonate. Poblocki decorated all components with Akzo Nobel Grip-Gard acrylic-polyurethane paint, and populated the letters with US LED modules.

Second Place
Fabricators
Jim Dawson
Bryan Gray
Synergy Sign & Graphics
Strasburg, OH
(330) 878-7646
www.synergysign.com

Jeff Tice Metalworks
Williamsport, PA
Designer
Jim Dawson
Clients
Rocky and Courtney Shanower

This sign doesn’t feature cartoonish characters, trendy typography or implore you to like the customer on social media. It’s simple, rugged and attractive, and will carry the customer’s brand for years to come. The Synergy team designed the program using Adobe, AutoCAD and EnRoute Pro 5.1 software. And, given that the Shanowers’ establishment resides within Amish country, it fits its environment well. Against a backdrop of 8 x 8, rough-sawn cedar posts, Synergy installed Tice’s custom-fabricated, hammered-steel letters and steel baseplates, and to install the components, heat-treated lag screws. Coastal Enterprises’ PB Bond adhesive and epoxy glue join the panels. White mini-modules from Hanley LED, which operate on two power supplies, provide a bright beacon to would-be customers.

Third Place
Fabricator/Installer
House of Signs
Frisco, CO
(970) 668-5232
www.houseofsignsco.com
Designers
Roger Cox
Periandros Damoulis
Steve Huyler
Client
Breckenridge, CO, Creative Arts

House of Signs partnered with Breck Create, the local creative-arts council, to create this innovative, five-sided events kiosk. House of Signs cut the HDU on its MultiCam router and assembled the steel-mesh frame with a Millermatic MIG welder, table saw and power tools. The production team decorated the panels with spraygun-applied Modern Masters acrylic paint and illuminated the structure with SloanLED modules. River rocks encased within the kiosk’s mesh frame attest to Colorado’s rustic nature. Cox noted the project was completed within a tight three-week deadline.

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